This is day 23 of 32. Throughout April, we will be posting daily. We invite you to learn about Chinese Muslims and pray with us for God’s glory to be made known among them. If you would like to read other posts in this series, you can find them here or download the prayer guide here.
Abraham is a Muslim-background believer (MBB) from an average Muslim family in China. He allowed us to interview him recently and share his story. He desires for people to understand more about Chinese Muslims and to pray intentionally and passionately for them. His real name and location are removed to protect his identity. This is part 1 of 7.
Share with us about your life before hearing of and following Jesus.
I was in second grade when I began to fast during Ramadan. My father used to take my brother and me to the mosque to worship. In the beginning, we did not know what to say, read or recite – we would just copy everyone else. My whole village would go to the mosque together and worship. If you did not do as everyone else, people noticed and it was a problem.
In third grade, we learned to recite “the belief ” (Iman). “I believe in God … I believe devils exist … In the doomsday which questions will be asked …” It was very long. This was mixed between our local language and Arabic.
In this area (memorizing and learning the rituals), people teach their kids that if they don’t do this good thing, they will go to hell. If they do a bad thing, something bad will happen to them. For example, we are taught not to waste the food that we eat. Food that falls on the floor, we have to eat or give to the animals. If you waste food, you will become blind. If you do not do your prayers and the other rituals you will face hell, fire, death, etc.
I was very afraid. If a disaster happened to someone, everyone thought that he must have done something bad. So I feared God. I didn’t really fear God, but I feared how He was going to punish me. This way of teaching forces you to focus on what will happen to you. You try to fix it rather than to know who God is. You don’t focus on any good things about God.
Until I went to college, I never heard “Jesus” in the way that I should hear Jesus’ name. Isa (Jesus in Arabic) we know because he is one of the major prophets. He has no father. We hear how his mother raised him in a poor area. We are told that Jesus will return on the doomsday to judge the evil and rescue the righteous. So we know Jesus as Isa, but I never heard that Jesus is the Son of God.
Many Chinese Muslims like Abraham are taught as a child to fear God’s punishment. They are taught how to do the prayer rituals, but most do not understand the meanings. They are told that if they do bad things, they will go to hell, but if they do good things, they can go to heaven.
Prayer Requests:
- Please pray that Muslim men, women and children will all question what they are taught about God. Pray that God will confront them with the truth that He is also a loving God who desires a relationship with them through Jesus.
- Please pray that God will show “good” Muslims that actions cannot save them. Pray that God will show them how desperately they need Jesus’ sacrifice to cover their sins.