Christmas in Pakistan is a special time for the nearly 4 million Christians that live there. It is also a time when the presence of Christians is highly visible to all around – with lights in windows and Christmas trees on display. If you live in Europe or the USA that may not compute, after all, everyone has Christmas decorations up don’t they? Well, not in Pakistan… there it is a statement about who you are and what you believe, that you are one of the tiny minority who follow Christ.
This Christmas, PAK7 is making a couple of programs that are designed to help people learn about what Christians are celebrating…
Christmas Documentaries
One project we are working on is a series of mini-documentaries about how different Christian denominations celebrate Christmas. The aim is to show the diversity and the unity of Christians, regardless of denomination. Many Pakistanis would never have been in a church and seeing this diversity will probably be really interesting to them.
This is being produced in two ways: (1) Seven mini documentaries, lasting 5 minutes each, about a different denomination. (2) One forty minute documentary with clips from the short programs combined with readings and dramatised video of the Christmas story.
This time round we are featuring:
- The Church of Pakistan
- The Catholic Church
- The Salvation Army
- Full Gospel Assembly
- Assemblies of God
- Presbyterian Church of Pakistan
- Agape Pentecostal Church
It is somewhat challenging to film with the ever-changing regulations during this Corona-Christmas, but the PAK7 team are doing a great job scheduling in Socially-distanced interviews, and attending Church services where possible.
The videos will be edited in the new year and ready for Christmas 2021!
Christmas Carol Competition – Sana Gao (Sing Praise)
Another exciting project that we have been running this year is Sana Gao. This carol competition was run in 7 cities where regional heats took place, with a grand final in early December in Rawalpindi.
It was a chance for PAK7 to identify some talented performers, but also an opportunity to record a number of Christmas music videos… as well as having a bit of fun, celebrating Christmas together.
Regional events took place in:
- Gujranwala
- Martinpur
- Faisalabad
- Wah
- Peshawar
- Rawalpindi
- Lahore
The Grand Finale was a great success and a winner was crowned, with two runners up. Videos will be edited in the new year and ready to be shown at Christmas 2021.