| · Population: 10 million
Initially, the Uyghurs came from Mongolia, but for the last 1,300 years they have been living in a region previously visited by caravans travelling the "Silk Road".
Today, approximately 10 million Uyghurs live in Xinjiang, the most north-western province of China, together with Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Mongols, Uzbeks, Hui and Han Chinese. The very sparsely populated Chinese province of Xinjiang covers 1.65 million km2. Since 1940, there has been a massive influx of Han Chinese immigrants, who now make up over 33 per cent of the population. About half a million Uyghurs live in the neighbouring countries of central Asia, in Pakistan and in Turkey.
The mixing and intermarriage of many peoples living in this region during the past few millennia can be seen in many of the Uyghurs. Some look like Indians, others like Uzbeks, Tajiks or Pashtuns. The Uyghurs originally practised animism and then Buddhism, which spread from India along the Silk Road in the 2nd century BC. Islam arrived in the 7th century, through commercial ties, followed by Islamic teachers. The 8th century saw intensive Islamisation.
Three different types of Uyghurs can be identified:
The first group comprises intellectuals, public servants and political leaders. They are indoctrinated by atheistic teachings, yet many of them follow Islamic cultural traditions.
The second group follows orthodox Islam strictly; some are influenced by Islamic reformation movements, such as Wahhabism. They desire to introduce Islamic sharia law.
The third and largest group is composed of farmers, craftsmen and merchants who are involved in "folk Islam". They use occult practices based on animism and Buddhism for healing, prosperity, successful pregnancies and protection from evil spirits.
History of the Uyghurs
At the beginning of the 7th century, the Nestorians brought Christianity to the Tarim Basin, though no evidence of their efforts remains.
The Uygurs embraced Islam in 934 AD, during the reign of Satuk Bughra Khan. He was the first Turkic ruler who embraced Islam in Central Asia, and instead of temples, mosques were built.
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It was only in the 19th century that Russians and Jesuits brought the Orthodox and the Catholic faith to this region, without making any converts. At the beginning of the 20th century, the China Inland Mission in Urumqi and a Swedish mission in Kashgar started working among the Uyghurs, supporting orphanages and doing medical work. In the 1930s, most Christians in Kashgar were killed. Today, there are about 200 Christians among the Uyghurs in China. In neighbouring Kazakhstan, there are possibly 400.
A complete Bible translation in Uyghur became available in 1939. The New Testament has been translated once again, this time into a modern-language version, and a new translation of the Old Testament is under way. The Jesus movie is also available. There are indications for an increasing number of Uyghurs turning to Jesus.
Pray for the Uyghurs in China:
* Pray for the distribution and use of the Jesus film and the newly-translated Uyghur New Testament (Rom 10:17).
* Pray for the Han Chinese churches to proclaim Christ to the Uyghurs living in their areas.
* Pray for the Lord to protect the Uyghur believers in Xinjiang, and empower them for witness among their people (2 Thess 2:17; 3:3).
* Pray that young believers may find Christian marriage partners (Gen 24:12-28).
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Testimony: A Christian studying in Xinjiang in 2006 was housed with a local young man in a dormitory. His local roommate had just recently become a believer because he had met Jesus in a dream, however he did not understand the Bible. So the Christian became his mentor and teacher. Every day, they immersed themselves in the Truth. Then in 2007 the Christian went back to Xinjiang and he discovered that the man had already started a group of believers, however he was afraid that his Muslim family would find out about it and would kill him. Please pray for him!
AMEN FOR THIS CONVERSION!
I am working on an documentary to encourage young people to take their own journey on the silk road of China, with a focus on the missions need of the people groups in Western China, particularly the Uyghers.
check it out at
Pray for the Uyghur of China:
* for the encourgment of the few Uyghur believers
* for visions, dreams, and reveltions of Jesus to Uyghur
* for a breakdown fo the barriers to Uyghur accpeting Christ
* for the Old Testment in Uyghur to soon be complete
* for effective use of the JESUS "film" in Uyghur
I have one comment now, the Muslim Chinese people as they are the next part of my book as Amina is promised by the emperor she can come along and learn military skills alongside his soilders once they arrive China.
As the author, I have to travel to China myself and meet these muslim Chinese people as documented they were in Africa. Though my book is not claiming to be historical by any means, I just took a legend and wrote her in the form of a child. There are many, many versions of the legend however it is fictional and I do not claim it to be historical rather its imagination for kids to learn from.
However i know that Islam is very widely celebrated in China and the next book is about Amina visiting China. I will most likely go to the area that is widely populated with Chinese muslims so I can learn as much as possible from them.