'We are united when Christmas comes'

Carols are an essential part of Christmas for many people. At a church in Bradford, a multilingual nativity service is ensuring no one misses out, regardless of the language they speak.

On Saturday, Grace Urdu Hindi Church held its annual multilingual Christmas service, including a nativity and carols in English, Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi.

Leader Nathan Javed said the church, which is part of the Baptist denomination, would be celebrating its third anniversary in February.

He said the multilingual service, which was staged at the Beacon Community Church, was about bringing communities together.

"It's not an easy thing but we are so grateful that this is joining the hearts together – people from Muslim, Hindu, Sikh communities and then Asian Christians.

"When they come here together, we're all one.

"It's not easy translating from one language to the other, but we manage to do so, and we're grateful to God that he's made it possible that I'm able to speak both languages and relate to people with different languages."

He said the message of the Christmas service was peace – and the importance of unity between cultures.

"There is nothing better than saying we are bringing peace to the community and one another," Mr Javed said.

"Jesus came to help us bring peace to one another. That's the whole message of Christmas.

"But peace doesn't build in a day's time."

Teenager Sarah, who performed a reading about Jesus's flight to Egypt from the Book of Matthew, said the multicultural service was an opportunity to celebrate her English and Asian heritage.

She said: "It's a really big privilege and I'm blessed to be here."

Alongside her, teenagers Tabitha, Jennifer and Eshal said the church helped them share their culture and faith.

Jennifer said: "You balance other cultures and your own, everyone was singing together and worshipping God together."

Eshal added: "Bradford is a multicultural city, so we are united when Christmas comes."

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