This is day 3 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.
For you, choosing to follow the Way seems simple. Just believe and confess that Jesus is Lord, right? But for others like me, it’s not that easy. Do you know me?
My name is Wang Li* and I am 23 years old. I recently graduated from a university not far from my hometown. It was at this university that I first heard about the Way. You see, my situation is a little different. I didn’t choose what I would believe as I grew up … instead I was born into a culture and community that had already chosen for me. I was Hui, and therefore I was Muslim. There was no reason to question it, because there were no questions – this was my family.
During my fourth year of studies, I kept hearing whispers about the Way. I was intrigued by what I heard and one day I was invited to the home of someone who could tell me more. She gave me a Book and said that the answers to all the questions I had could be found between its covers. For weeks I searched through the pages of this Book. The stories were more exciting to me than any I had ever heard. Yet I knew there was a much deeper meaning than what I could grasp and I had to figure out what it was.
Several times I returned to the house of the friend who had given me the Book. Each time she answered more of my questions and told me how I too could follow the Leader of the Way. I knew that I was hearing the truth – everything within me knew it and longed to follow, but I agonized over the consequences that were sure to come.
If I gave up my traditions and decided to follow the Way, I might never be able to be married. Finding a job would be nearly impossible. I quite possibly would even be arrested. But worst of all, if I chose to follow, my family would no longer call me their own. How could I bring such shame to my family?
Prayer Requests:
- As the consequences of following Jesus in Hui communities are understood by people like Wang Li, pray that they will realize that following Him is the only choice that brings true life and hope.
- Pray that those who have been disowned by their families and removed from their communities will find a new family and new community inside the church. Pray that communities of Hui, Salar and Dongxiang believers will form all over East Asia.
*name changed
Did You Know? Islam is at the core of who Chinese Muslims are — it has been engrained in them from childhood, even if they don’t fully understand it. Far more than a set of religious beliefs, Islam is a total way of life. For many Hui, Salar and Dongxiang, rejecting Islam is as radical as rejecting their families and their ethnic identities.