October 06, 2019
Strong Faith, Confident Voices and a Platform to Speak from : Serish and Maheen’s Story
At PAK7 we believe in training and releasing young Christians to tell their own stories. But many young Christians in Pakistan find their faith weakened or eroded by discrimination and prejudice and few can afford an education in media. Their voices will never be heard. Here’s what PAK7 is doing to change that story:
Serish and her sister Maheen were born into a Christian family in Islamabad, Pakistan. They both have a passion for the arts and media and were overjoyed when they earned places on the PAK7 VideoStar Media School.
‘When I was selected I was really thankful to God that he gave me this opportunity.’ -Serish
Living, learning, eating, worshipping and praying together as a community has had a huge impact on the girls’ lives. Sharing life together helped them both grow in confidence. “It was like being part of a family.” says Serish.
The students all studied hard, learning storytelling and technical skills that they know will help them to make quality TV and film in the future and give them a firm foundation for careers in media. But for both girls the biggest surprise was not the excellent training they received, but the strength and life that it brought to their personal faith in Jesus.
Serish explains, “To be honest I wasn’t so much into faith in God in the beginning; but I really liked that we started our classes with devotions… …We did devotions every single day, and it has really, really helped me to grow spiritually.”
At this point, her younger sister Maheen chimes in, “I would say it wasn’t just like this for Serish, it was like it for all of us. It helped us grow spiritually, so much. Now as interns, we start every day praying… A big change for me is in confidence. Now I am confident enough to deal with different people and interact with people. But the main thing is that it’s helped me to grow in my faith. That’s the greatest thing, I think. I am just really thankful to PAK7 and Video Star that it made it possible.”
A place on a media school and subsequent internship for a young person like Serish or Maheen costs around $7,400 USD. Your donations make it possible for us to see their lives transformed so that they become a voice to a generation of Pakistani young people.
Hear Maheen and Serish in their own words here: