God is our great Leader and Provider!

In April and May of 2005, Heart Sounds International sent four representatives to Pakistan for a two-week project. During this project, it was evident to everyone, including our generous hosts, that God was its great Leader and Provider. Although there were countless things that could have “gone wrong,” none of them seemed to happen. The Lord provided for all our needs, including costs. The hospitality and servant hearts of our hosts reflected Christ’s love in every way. We can only attribute this blessing of God to the prayers of His people and His faithfulness in answering.

We found the Pakistani people to be warm-hearted and friendly – don’t rely on Western media to form a true picture of this country and her people! Ideally, you should go and see for yourself. North India and Pakistan share many aspects of culture, including languages and cuisine.

Much activity was packed into 2 weeks, including:
• a seminar on worship;
• instruction in Western music literacy;
• recordings of some Punjabi songs with lyrics that represented the entire book of Psalms;
• basic training on recording equipment;
• church visits and relationship building.

worship seminar

HSI had been asked to give practical teaching for worship leaders and musicians in local churches. To fulfil this request, HSI led a worship seminar. About 40 people, including a sizable number of pastors, attended.

The seminar involved five sessions in a period of two days. The first three sessions examined general aspects of worship: “what is worship,” “why should we worship,” “components and actions of worship.” We sensed that some crucial truths about worship were not being reinforced in their situations. We wanted to communicate that leading worship or being involved in worship music requires people to be wholehearted worshippers, practice servant leadership, and realize that the focus is on God, not on them.

There is a tendency in the churches to copy Western ways. For example, pastors do not wear clothes that are traditional in Pakistan but Western shirts, ties and trousers. The seminar emphasized that the Pakistani church needed to develop its own theology, church culture, and songs, rather than unthinkingly adopt music, theology, and cultural practices from the West. For times when the Pakistani leaders do decide to make use of Western ways, the importance of cultural contextualization was discussed. A few pastors expressed their thanks for the discussion of these points.

About half of the seminar participants were under 25 years old. As representatives of the emerging generation of church leaders, their challenge is to lead the church to a new level that will involve teaching about true worship and using music effectively in worship. We are encouraged that we were able to challenge them to think outside of their current box.

western music literacy class

The HSI team also held a class on Western music literacy. About 35 students attended this evening class that was taught over four days in a central part of the city. This class aimed to teach people how to read and write Western. One hope of the class was that participants could eventually relearn the Punjabi Psalms that Western missionaries had commissioned, notated and published early in the last century. Music literacy is a new skill for many Pakistani musicians. Across the subcontinent, there is an aural, rather than a written, tradition. Music is learned by listening, not from notation. As a result, students are musically skilled and knowledgeable but do not know how to read or write musical notation.

Class members included both school-aged children and music teachers. The group was enthusiastic and responsive to the instruction given and enjoyed the different style of teaching and the high level of interaction. The completion of the class was celebrated with a church service and graduation ceremony.

open the door, turn the fan on

The recording sessions took place in a storeroom on the rooftop above the team’s accommodations. First, the team acoustically treated the room to reduce internal sound reflections and minimize outside noises. Then recording began. Ten songs that are based on the first nine Psalms were recorded over seven consecutive days. Musicians and singers rehearsed, and then endured the heat of a closed room to lay down the tracks. How wonderful to hear the sophisticated tones of the sitar, the melodious tabla and dholak, violin and traditional flute combined with more Western-flavored keyboard sounds! Between takes, everyone automatically exclaimed, “Open the door, turn the fan on!” When it was time for recording to resume, the refrain was, “Close the door, fan off.” Any casual observer was pressed into service as “doorman” and fan operator, an important role in a hot and stuffy rooftop recording studio!

The Punjabi Psalms are a forgotten heritage of the Pakistani church. Altogether, there are about 400 of these songs based on the Psalms, but the church only knows about 50 to 60 of them. No recordings of these “forgotten Psalms” exist. An emphasis on recording these Psalms is what sets this recording project apart from other worship recordings already made in Pakistan.

We were so very blessed and grateful not to have the major technical problems that have been so prevalent in other HSI projects. Everyone involved in the project worked 10 to 12 hours a day to finish the necessary work for the recording. After the tracking on location, the mix down and mastering will be completed in the USA by our engineer.

leaving it behind.

The local ministry we partnered with is the Tehillim Academy of Church Music and Theology (TACMT), and our local coordinator is the director of this institution. He has a vision to develop a residential college where students can come and live, learn and then return to their churches. Part of the desired facility is a small recording studio where recording projects can continue. HSI was able to provide TACMT with a Roland VS1680 digital audio workstation and some basic instruction.

departing thoughts.

HSI is privileged to serve God’s kingdom in many different places, and this was no exception. We continue to pray and trust that the Lord will continue what he started with us in the worship seminar, Western music literacy class, the recording, equipment left behind and the new relationships forged. The future is brimming with further ministry opportunities for HSI and others. Discussion occurred about possibly helping TACMT develop it’s school by providing training in audio recording and equipment. Other possibilities are helping the TACMT director develop an academic course on “Worship and Music” that he has been asked to develop and teach at the 130-year-old Gujranwalla Seminary; the possibility of further recording projects in Karachi or other parts of the country and many other items. Our greatest challenge is to wait on Him and discern what specifically he might have us further involved with. We hope to see even more great things growing out of the church in Pakistan.