The Salar
Callie
Throughout the rest of March, we will be posting daily on Chinese Muslims, our prayer highlight at the next Secret Church gathering on March 29th. Join us as we learn more about who these people are and begin to pray for God to make His name known among this people group.
The Basics: Located in the mountainous regions of north-central China, these 120,000 Salar people descended from Uzbekistan still retain some of their Central Asian appearance and proudly cling to their cultural roots. The majority of these Muslim people live in mud-baked homes and center their lives around agriculture, family and the local mosque, just as their Central Asian cousins still do.
Their Beliefs: About 99 percent of the Salar people are Sunni Muslim. Like other Chinese Muslims, their faith is the foundation of their identity. Being a Muslim is everything to them, and at the same time it means nothing. They would never easily give up their Muslim heritage and identity, but practically, their faith has little impact in their everyday lives and decision-making. Outside of the fact that they abstain from pork as all Muslims do, their Muslim culture is most evident through their dress, Muslim holidays, and dedication to the mosque.
Their Culture: The Salar people are quite warm, friendly, and hospitable, often offering a stranger tea or perhaps even a complete meal. Salar people are quite approachable and are usually smiling.
Their Language: The unwritten Salar language is closely related to Uighur and Uzbek, and is typically spoken only in homes and businesses. But while Salar is the official language, it is slowly dying, and even now only a fraction of the people still speak it. In families where there has been intermarriage between ethnic groups, even Hui Muslims, the Salar language is not used. It also cannot be formally taught in the schools, another reason that more younger Salar only use Mandarin, while some older generations, especially in rural areas may only speak Salar. About 80 percent of the Salar speak the local dialect of Mandarin Chinese, and many others also speak Amdo Tibetan.
The Situation: The Salar people are overlooked, unreached, and basically cut off from the hope of the gospel. “How can they know if they don’t hear? And how will they hear without someone to share? And how will someone share if they don’t go?” (Romans 10:14-15).
This post was re-posted from Pray4Hui.com. For more information about and prayer requests for Chinese Muslims, visit Pray for the Hui and follow @pray4hui on Twitter.
The Basics: Located in the mountainous regions of north-central China, these 120,000 Salar people descended from Uzbekistan still retain some of their Central Asian appearance and proudly cling to their cultural roots. The majority of these Muslim people live in mud-baked homes and center their lives around agriculture, family and the local mosque, just as their Central Asian cousins still do.
Their Beliefs: About 99 percent of the Salar people are Sunni Muslim. Like other Chinese Muslims, their faith is the foundation of their identity. Being a Muslim is everything to them, and at the same time it means nothing. They would never easily give up their Muslim heritage and identity, but practically, their faith has little impact in their everyday lives and decision-making. Outside of the fact that they abstain from pork as all Muslims do, their Muslim culture is most evident through their dress, Muslim holidays, and dedication to the mosque.
Their Culture: The Salar people are quite warm, friendly, and hospitable, often offering a stranger tea or perhaps even a complete meal. Salar people are quite approachable and are usually smiling.
Their Language: The unwritten Salar language is closely related to Uighur and Uzbek, and is typically spoken only in homes and businesses. But while Salar is the official language, it is slowly dying, and even now only a fraction of the people still speak it. In families where there has been intermarriage between ethnic groups, even Hui Muslims, the Salar language is not used. It also cannot be formally taught in the schools, another reason that more younger Salar only use Mandarin, while some older generations, especially in rural areas may only speak Salar. About 80 percent of the Salar speak the local dialect of Mandarin Chinese, and many others also speak Amdo Tibetan.
The Situation: The Salar people are overlooked, unreached, and basically cut off from the hope of the gospel. “How can they know if they don’t hear? And how will they hear without someone to share? And how will someone share if they don’t go?” (Romans 10:14-15).
PRAY
- Pray for laborers called by God to reach the Salar — laborers from other countries as well as Chinese Christians who are willing to move and live among the Salar.
- Thank God for ongoing gospel proclamation efforts among the Salar. Pray for effective strategies to make Christ’s love known to the Salar.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to move among the Salar people and draw many to faith in Christ.
- Pray that Salar believers will gather together and form churches that will multiply.
This post was re-posted from Pray4Hui.com. For more information about and prayer requests for Chinese Muslims, visit Pray for the Hui and follow @pray4hui on Twitter.
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