Attila the Hun, Tamerlane, the Golden Horde—legendary names of nomadic Turkic tribes have struck fear across the plains of Central Asia for millennia. Today the descendants of these tribes number more than 200 million and are called Uzbeks, Uighurs, Kazakhs, Tatars, Turkmen, Azeris, and Turks. Nearly 160 million of these Turkic people are Muslims. They comprise a Room in the House of Islam known as Turkestan.
There are multiple movements of Turkic Muslims coming to faith in Jesus Christ today. In open countries, such as Kazakhstan and Russia, they meet in church buildings. More frequently, however, Turkestan’s persecuted believers meet discretely in homes or private settings. “We often face troubles,” said a Uzbek convert named Bek, “but still we are praising God. We have a saying, ‘If you are arrested, praise God that you have not been beaten. If you have been beaten, praise God that you have not been killed. And if you have been killed, praise God that you are now with Jesus in heaven!’”
This thankfulness in the face of trials has deep roots among believers in Turkestan. I saw it one January nearly 30 years ago among the intrepid pioneers I met serving beyond the Tian Shan mountains of Central Asia. That evening, one of the teachers named John introduced me to one of his students, Abdullah, a Muslim-background believer from the Uighur people. Abdullah was the first known Uighur to come to faith in Christ.
“How did you lead Abdullah to faith?” I asked John. “We didn’t,” John replied. “The Holy Spirit and prayer did.” John explained, “Abdullah came to me
last year with a troubling dream in which someone gave him a sacred book to read. ‘What could this book be?’ he asked.”
“I was nervous,” John said. “In my desk drawer I had an old translation of the New Testament in the archaic Uighur script.” “Could this be the book in your dream?” I asked.
“Abdullah opened the little volume and said, ‘Oh, it is in the old script. My father taught me how to read this.’ I left the book with Abdullah. A few weeks later he came to tell me that he had found Jesus as his Savior and Lord.”
“So you see,” John smiled. “The prayers of God’s people, and the Holy Spirit led Abdullah to Jesus.”
LET’S PRAY
- Pray for persecuted Muslim-background believers in Turkestan, for courage, fellowship and encouragement in their faith.
- Pray for the courageous missionaries who are taking the gospel to each of Turkestan’s 227 Muslim people groups.
- Pray that the nations of Turkestan would promote freedom in matters of religion, so that arrests, beatings and death would not be commonplace for those who are seeking
Post credited to the editors at Worldchristian: visit http://www. worldchristianconcern.org/donate to support mission efforts to reach the unreached for Christ.
