Secret Church

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An Invitation to Pray Posted: 08 Mar 2013 01:15 PM PST PRAYER HIGHLIGHT OVERVIEW For many years much of the prayer and work among Muslims in the world has been focused in Africa and the Middle East. Most people do not realize there are over 22 million Muslims of 10 distinct ethnic groups living within China without access to the Gospel. The Hui are the largest of these people groups with a population of more than 12 million. "Hui" means Muslim in China. This also includes other people groups such as the Salar and Dongxiang peoples. Of the 12 million Hui in China there are fewer than 1000 believers. Many of those believers suffer great persecution for their belief in Christ. Familial persecution is the greatest form of suffering as individuals are pressured to recant their faith and disowned if they do not. For the Hui of China, to be Hui is to be Muslim. To not be Muslim is to not be Hui. Workers among the Hui are trying to share the gospel and make disciples, but the task is difficult. For Secret Church 13, our goal is to expose others to the forgotten faces of the Silk Road and introduce people to the Hui. Over the past few decades God has protected and grown the Church in China on a scale unforeseen by anyone. Persecution designed to destroy the Church actually served to purify and strengthen her. Networks of underground churches have flourished and have been the dynamic core of the Chinese Church, especially on the eastern seaboard. But while the church has grown, it has predominantly been with the majority people group, the Han Chinese. The Han make up 90% of the 1.3 billion people in China. The challenge now is the great divide between Han and Hui. Evangelical House Churches have forgotten to look outward and reach out to their Muslim neighbors with the gospel. Through a series of interviews with Muslim Background Believers and Christians working among Muslims, Secret Church participants will get a glimpse into the challenges that face those who are believing in Christ in China. Our desire is to mobilize the church—not only in the West but all over the world, including the Chinese church—to pray for persecuted brothers and sisters among the Hui of China. THE APRIL PRAYER EMPHASIS Join us by mobilizing your church, small groups, or smaller groups of friends to pray for the Hui beginning at the Secret Church event and then throughout the month of April. Listed below are resources to help you pray and learn more about the Hui. Join in, share with others, and anticipate what God will do among the Hui as we pray and lift His name high among this unreached people group. Pray for the Hui Secret Church Blog Global Disciple-Making Blog for The Church at Brook Hills SHARE WITH OTHERS To download this information about the Hui and the April Prayer Emphasis in PDF format, click here. Please share with your family, friends, small group, and/or church. We want as many people as possible to be praying between now and the end of April. For more information about and ways to pray for Chinese Muslims, please visit Pray for the Hui and follow @pray4hui on Twitter.

The Hui Need Your Prayers Posted: 08 Mar 2013 03:00 AM PST Throughout the month of March, we will be posting daily about Chinese Muslims, the prayer focus for our upcoming Secret Church gathering. 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 blog series, you can find them here. "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation." Colossians 1:15 Photo courtesy of Pray for the Hui Many Hui do not know that "no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by observing the law rather through the law we become conscious of sin" (Romans 3:20). Like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, some Hui are confident of their own righteousness and look down on everybody else (Luke 18:9-14). They have devised a set of rules that are comprised of a mixture of tradition and Islamic precepts. They have detailed rules about how to shower or to complete the ritual washing before prayers. The emphasis is on outward actions rather than the need for purity of heart. Those who keep the rules feel superior and this religious pride prevents them from acknowledging their need for a Savior, as well as causing God to oppose them (James 4:6). The Hui have few models of true godliness in their circle of relationships. This is one reason why there is a great need for more workers among them. Not having access to the gospel has kept the Hui in spiritual darkness. Prayer is the key to breaking down the barriers and opening doors of opportunity for these people to hear and respond. PLEASE PRAY Pray that God would lead Christians to go to China for the specific purpose of prayer walking in Hui areas to "till the soil" and prepare these areas for witness. Ask God to bring conviction of sin to all Hui people so they will see their need for a Savior.   This post was re-posted from Pray4Hui.com. For more information about and prayer requests for Chinese Muslims, please visit Pray for the Hui and follow @pray4hui on Twitter.

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