Part of the Engage the Hui series.

We are absolutely dependent on God to accomplish His mission among the Hui. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, there is no need for us to live among the Hui or spend time traveling among them on a short-term trip. Our money, time, influence, skills and charisma do not turn Hui people to Jesus; it only happens through the work of the Holy Spirit.

“‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6 ESV). A small band of Israelites had returned from the exile to Jerusalem, and they were delaying rebuilding the temple when Zechariah received a vision from God promising that the temple would be rebuilt. The Israelites were surrounded by enemies who did not want to see the temple or Jerusalem rebuilt, but God promised the temple would be rebuilt by His power not their power. God intentionally used a small band of Israelites who were weak, small and powerless compared to the nations around them. The temple was rebuilt and all the surrounding nations had to acknowledge that the God of Israel had helped them.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD of hosts.

Zechariah 4:6

Sometimes our affluence, resources and manpower lead us to believe we have all the skills and tools necessary to take the Gospel to unreached people groups and plant churches. However, the most important ingredient is not our resources, strategies or methods but the Holy Spirit. We must daily humble ourselves and pray for God to move among the Hui people and open their eyes to see and ears to hear.

We must also remember the reality that the Hui are 15 million strong. They are spread out across China in every county as well as several other countries. The Hui people speak one language (Mandarin), but within Mandarin they speak many different dialects. Culturally, Hui from Northwest China are quite different from Hui in Southeast China. Some Hui are very religious going to their local mosque five times a day while other Hui have never been to a mosque. Religious Hui are even segregated amongst themselves, as Hui from one Islamic sect often refuse to interact with Hui from another sect. The Hui are a culturally and geographically diverse people group. Its diversity leads some people to think they should be classified as several different people groups.

This remind us that the Hui will not be reached with the Gospel due to our might or power. Our best methods, strategies and resources are not going to bring Hui people into the kingdom of God. The power of the Holy Spirit will bring Hui into the kingdom of God, and this is how God wants it – so that He gets the glory. He wants Hui and people around the world to look at what He is doing and realize that the only one who could be responsible is God himself.

We challenge you to be a church, team or family that humbly approaches God on your knees seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and begging the Spirit to open eyes to see and ears to hear among the Hui. We challenge you to spend more time praying together than you do planning and training. May all your plans, ministries and relationships be bathed in prayer and dependent on the power of the Spirit.

We have some suggestions depending on your specific situation.

For faith families…

P4H guide imageThe first step in adopting a population segment among the Hui is for your faith family to begin praying corporately. We encourage you to spend 30 days praying together for the Hui. During this time, you may also want to choose one day a week to pray and fast for the Hui. To guide your prayer time we encourage you to use the 30-day Chinese Muslim Prayer Guide. There is a digital and print version available. Both are free, but shipping charges apply for the print version. During this month, we also encourage you to pray that God would identify individuals who will lead your ministry among the Hui. We are currently developing short videos that can be used each Sunday in conjunction with the 30-day prayer guide. If you are interested in using the videos, please contact us.

After your faith family has prayed together for 30 days and committed to adopt a Hui population segment to engage with the Gospel, we encourage you to continue gathering at least once a month to pray for the Hui and the plans, preparations and/or ministry that is currently happening among the Hui in your population segment.

Furthermore, as you send short-term teams and/or long-term teams remember that prayer is a vital part for both those who are going as well as those who remain at home. Those who remain home should desperately pray for those who are going and the Hui they will meet. Those who go must remember that every day of their trip and all their activities should begin in prayer asking God to move and use their plans and actions to point many to Jesus. Each trip should always include prayer walking around neighborhoods, schools, places of work and mosques asking God to move in each of these areas of the community.

For teams and individuals…

If you are a team or individual preparing to live among the Hui, hopefully your first step is gathering prayer supporters. As you gather supporters, we challenge you not just to ask them if they are willing to receive monthly prayer updates, but to ask if they will join you in 30 days of prayer for the Hui before you leave. Planning an intentional month of prayer for your prayer supporters before you move is a great way to educate your supporters about the Hui while you are still close to home and more easily able to answer people’s questions. You may want to consider having a weekly prayer meeting that allows you to share more about the Hui and your specific plans as well as answer questions that people have as they are praying daily. A hopeful side effect of these weekly prayer meetings would be a monthly prayer meeting that continues after you have moved. We encourage you to use the 30-Day Chinese Muslim Prayer Guide that is available digitally and in print (the print version is free, but shipping charges do apply).

It is easy once you move to neglect prayer when you get wrapped up in learning a new language, making new friends and adjusting to a new culture. We challenge you to remember that prayer is the foundation of all your plans and goals. Intentionally set aside time to pray daily. Choose a day each week to pray and fast for the Hui. Gather as a team at least monthly to pray together for the salvation of the Hui. Prayer walk the neighborhoods, schools, business districts, and mosques of your new community. Send out (at minimum) monthly prayer updates to your support network. Regularly organize days and months of fasting and prayer for the Hui. Develop resources like prayer cards, prayer photo books, and prayer videos to help your partners more intentionally pray for the Hui.

Conclusion

We believe that God desires for faith families all over the world to humble themselves and pray for God to make His salvation known among the Hui. We believe God loves to answer the prayers of His children. We believe that God wants churches to form among the Hui. Therefore, we desire a multitude of voices crying out to God and pleading for Him to pour out His Spirit among the Hui to open eyes to see and ears to hear.

Prayer Requests

  • Pray that churches around the world will commit to pray together for the Hui for 30 days.
  • Pray that as churches pray for the Hui that God will call many to adopt unengaged, unreached population segments among the Hui.
  • Pray that God will open eyes to see and ears to hear among the Hui.

 

Written by Dirk Dubose (pseudonym). Dirk Dubose and his family live among the Hui where they seek to shine for Jesus. 

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