Throughout the rest of March, we will be posting daily on Chinese Muslims, our prayer highlight at the next Secret Church gathering on March 29th. Join us as we learn more about who these people are and begin to pray for God to make His name known among this people group.



The Basics: The Hui, made up of at least 13 million people, are the largest and most widespread of China’s Muslim nationalities. They also comprise the third largest minority group in China. Remarkably, Hui live in 2,310 of China’s 2,369 counties and municipalities. Small pockets also live in Taiwan, Myanmar, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia. Only .006% of them know Christ!

Their Beliefs: To be Hui is to be Muslim – it is the core of who they are. Even if they don’t fully understand it, or even follow it the same as some other countries do, it has been hidden deep inside of them from the time they were very young. For the Hui, Islam is more than just a set of religious beliefs – it is a total way of life.

Their Culture: The Hui are some of the most hospitable people you will ever meet. Some of this comes from just being Chinese, and the rest of it comes from just being Hui. Either way – you never want to visit the Hui on a full stomach! Many of the Hui own restaurants. You can find them in cities all over East Asia and they serve some of the best food you will ever eat. As you walk down the street, you can often recognize the men by their prayer caps and the women by their head scarves. Hui with other Hui are like family. Even if they are strangers, you would never know.

Their Language: Mandarin Chinese is the heart language of the Hui, both spoken and written. But the spiritual language of the Hui is a mixture of Arabic and Persian.

Their History: The Hui are descendants of Muslim traders, soldiers and officials who came to China between the 7th and 14th centuries. They settled and intermarried with Arab Muslims and Han Chinese.

The Situation: Although there are more than 12 million Hui scattered throughout China, very few (including the Chinese church) are intentionally planting their lives among the Hui to tell them about Christ. It is estimated that every five minutes one Hui person dies. Currently, more Hui people are dying daily than are hearing the gospel. The Hui are in desperate need of more laborers to boldly proclaim the gospel and reap the harvest that God has prepared.

PRAY




  • Pray for laborers called by God to reach the Hui – laborers from other countries as well as Chinese Christians currently living among the Hui.

  • Thank God for ongoing gospel proclamation efforts among the Hui. Pray that effective strategies can be identified and implemented to make Christ’s love known to the Hui.

  • Pray for God to tear down the barriers that keep the Hui from hearing the Good News of Jesus’ forgiveness and love.

  • Pray that Hui believers will gather together and form churches that will multiply.

  • Pray for followers of Jesus to boldly proclaim the gospel to the Hui, believing that God is at work among them.


 

This post was re-posted from Pray4Hui.com. For more information about and prayer requests for Chinese Muslims, visit Pray for the Hui and follow @pray4hui on Twitter.

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