Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16 ESV)
“Although I am Hui, I prayed to receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior just before I graduated from a university in China. As I returned home my heart was filled with dread; I feared that my new identity in Christ would be discovered so I did everything possible to hide it. But to my surprise after two months of being home, my mom, a single parent, also prayed the prayer of repentance. I then admitted that I too believed. In my mother’s great joy at her own salvation she told my grandmother. But grandma was drastically opposed to this news. She told the extended family and they put pressure on my mom to renounce Christ, which she did through an Islamic ceremony. She then kept close watch over me, confiscating my Bible and few Christian books. I really love my mom who has sacrificed many things to give me a good education so I cannot bear to hurt her now by continuing to follow Jesus. I feel guilty if I try to meet up with other Christians and I feel guilty if I attend our Hui religious ceremonies. Confusion reigns in my heart!”
This young lady has since married and her husband has become interested in the gospel enough to ask for a Bible to read! Praise God for being faithful to her. Many of the Hui who have come to faith in Jesus are young women who are not leaders in their communities. Some of them are no longer in fellowship with other Christians because of family pressure to recant; some of those who have turned back to Islam are now more devout Muslims. Others are in cell groups that use Han Chinese or other forms of worship that their Hui relatives find very foreign. Very few Hui who are decision makers in their communities have heard a clear presentation of the Gospel and so far we have yet to see a church planting movement among the Hui.
Prayer Requests:
- Beseech God to enable all Hui believers to maintain a pure and simple devotion to Christ.
- Pray for a reawakening and re-commitment to Jesus for the Hui who have once believed.