LAHORE, Pakistan (UCAN) -- For Christians who want to learn English while deepening their faith, Christopher Paul offers a tailor-made solution.

Christopher Paul (right) teaches English with the use of the Bible, in Lahore, Pakistan.

The 41-year-old Catholic has been conducting free English-language classes five evenings a week since January in a room at St. Dominic School in Lahore, 270 kilometers southeast of Islamabad.

Each 90-minute class starts with a half-hour reflection on a Bible passage, all in English.

"One of the students is asked to read a selected verse from the Bible after which I deliver a short message based on the verse," he told UCA News, showing his English bible in which he has highlighted various verses with a marker. "I encourage the children to do the same at home. It gives them a chance to read the Bible everyday," he explained.

Currently Paul teaches 10 Christian teenagers basic English grammar, essay-writing and reading. On "Bible Day," a randomly selected date once a month, he uses only stories about Jesus Christ and other biblical characters.

For Christian students, free English courses and Bible study are a major attraction. Salman Akhtar, a Protestant, told UCA News, "We are a group of four friends and all of us decided to join the classes."

Akhtar, 18, who studies commerce at university in the local Urdu language, said he could not afford to study English at an academy offering these courses for three months at 12,000 rupees (about US$60).

According to Paul: "Finances are a major obstacle for the majority of Christians, who are poor. This results in unemployment, as many job seekers cannot cope with the interviews, which are generally conducted in English." The layman, who works as a salesperson during the day, said this is what motivated him to suggest to the parish priest the idea of free English classes linking language study with the Bible.

Tania Kiran, 20, a university graduate, took the classes and is now a nursery teacher in a reputable school in Lahore. "The sessions helped me improve my spoken English skills," and this got her the job, the Catholic told UCA News. "It is a skill enhancer that also boosts confidence."

Urdu is Pakistan's national language, but English is its official language, used widely in government, business and academic circles, as well as being considered the language of the elite or socially superior. English skills are necessary to gain admission to prestigious Pakistani universities or to land a good job.

About 80 percent of the Christians in Pakistan live in Punjab, the most populous of the country's four provinces. The 2006 Catholic Church in Pakistan Directory says Lahore archdiocese, which covers part of Punjab province, had 370,000 of the 1 million Catholics in the country. Most Catholics in the archdiocese are agricultural laborers, or sanitation or brick-kiln workers. Some have mid-level office jobs.

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