Monday and Tuesday were full of meetings with people from Diocese of Sialkot, the Church of Scotland’s historic centre of mission work in the Punjab. Connections go back to 1857 when the first Church of Scotland missionaries arrived. Rev Thomas Hunter and his family were killed in the uprising that is known as the Indian Mutiny in Britain and sometimes called the First War of Independence in Asia.
(I am reading William Dalrymple’s The Last Mughal about the fall of the Mughal dynasty that was caused by the uprising – thoroughly recommended).
The first meeting was with the leadership of the church. They are unhappy about the proposed changes to the way Church of Scotland property will be managed. This isn’t surprising as they have been used to the old arrangements and see the changes as a threat. However, it was disappointing to meet such resistance to change.
Tuesday was quite different. People came from Jalalpur Jattan, Wazirabad and Gujrat, places whose names resonate through the Church of Scotland’s mission history. Some were elders, some were sweepers, some were young, educated professionals, some were farmers. (I could keep up with the conversations in Urdu but the Punjabi was a struggle!)
These people are excited about the proposed changes. They see this as an opportunity for more control and more responsibility over how the property is managed, used and developed. They see the changes as offering them more security for their homes and institutions that are on church land. They see the changes as an opportunity for mission and service to the wider community, Christian and Muslim.
It was profoundly moving to hear these people talk so warmly about the Scottish missionaries from the 1950s and 1960s and how they cherish the land that the Church of Scotland acquired for the Christian community. This was their inheritance and they wanted to ensure the land would be used in way that honoured the past and would be a resource for the community and for the church in the future.
One man said that in the Punjab a farmer knows the land as his mother, and so the Church of Scotland’s land was the community’s holy mother.
It was impossible not to be moved by the enthusiasm of these people, but equally I was touched by their courage. Many of those who spoke were poor, nearly all were quite powerless but their commitment to their church and their community was tangible.
How often do people in authority need to listen to and learn from those they claim to lead and represent?
On Monday evening I took Catherine Nicol out for a meal. After a sumptuous Chinese dinner Catherine took the rare opportunity of having a bit of a walk through the bazaar. We eventually stopped at a rickshaw stand to get transport back to Christian Town and asked a driver about the fare. He thought for a moment and replied, “Christian Town? Miss Nicol’s school? Eighty Rupees.” He didn’t know that Miss Nicol was about to get into his rickshaw but Catherine is so well known in Sialkot that she has become a landmark!
(I am reading William Dalrymple’s The Last Mughal about the fall of the Mughal dynasty that was caused by the uprising – thoroughly recommended).
The first meeting was with the leadership of the church. They are unhappy about the proposed changes to the way Church of Scotland property will be managed. This isn’t surprising as they have been used to the old arrangements and see the changes as a threat. However, it was disappointing to meet such resistance to change.
Tuesday was quite different. People came from Jalalpur Jattan, Wazirabad and Gujrat, places whose names resonate through the Church of Scotland’s mission history. Some were elders, some were sweepers, some were young, educated professionals, some were farmers. (I could keep up with the conversations in Urdu but the Punjabi was a struggle!)
These people are excited about the proposed changes. They see this as an opportunity for more control and more responsibility over how the property is managed, used and developed. They see the changes as offering them more security for their homes and institutions that are on church land. They see the changes as an opportunity for mission and service to the wider community, Christian and Muslim.
It was profoundly moving to hear these people talk so warmly about the Scottish missionaries from the 1950s and 1960s and how they cherish the land that the Church of Scotland acquired for the Christian community. This was their inheritance and they wanted to ensure the land would be used in way that honoured the past and would be a resource for the community and for the church in the future.
One man said that in the Punjab a farmer knows the land as his mother, and so the Church of Scotland’s land was the community’s holy mother.
It was impossible not to be moved by the enthusiasm of these people, but equally I was touched by their courage. Many of those who spoke were poor, nearly all were quite powerless but their commitment to their church and their community was tangible.
How often do people in authority need to listen to and learn from those they claim to lead and represent?
On Monday evening I took Catherine Nicol out for a meal. After a sumptuous Chinese dinner Catherine took the rare opportunity of having a bit of a walk through the bazaar. We eventually stopped at a rickshaw stand to get transport back to Christian Town and asked a driver about the fare. He thought for a moment and replied, “Christian Town? Miss Nicol’s school? Eighty Rupees.” He didn’t know that Miss Nicol was about to get into his rickshaw but Catherine is so well known in Sialkot that she has become a landmark!
