03 - Uighur, in Central Asia & China Get to know the Uighur people in 4 parts - learn, see, act, pray! 1 - Learn The Uighur people are a group who mostly live in northwestern China. The name “Uighur” means “unity” or “alliance” and became their official identity in 1921. They speak a Turkish language, and their language was once written in Arabic script. Over time, they used other writing systems like Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, but in 1983, they returned to the Arabic script. The Uighur people are descended from nomads who settled between the 9th and 13th centuries. Today, most live in villages in mountain valleys like the Tien Shan and Pamirs. In recent years, the Chinese government has heavily controlled the Xinjiang region, claiming it is to stop extremist groups. Over a million Uighur people have been sent to camps where they are forced to give up their religion, culture, and language. People who try to escape face severe punishment. The United Nations has asked China to stop, but the Chinese government denies the camps exist or that they are violating human rights. 2 - See 3 - Act Uighur Laghman (hand-pulled noodles) Recipe Go To Activity 4 - Pray Please pray for the completion of the Bible. The translation has been finished but the final checks; type, setting, and conversion between two scripts continues. Pray for the ongoing social media work. Pray particularly for a new project launched to reach the Uighur people in Central Asia who speak Russian as their strongest language. Please pray for those who have gone to very closed areas to spend time praying and if possible to share truth. Pray for more to walk this hard ground to reach the least reached. The Uighurs are still under heavy oppression. Please pray that they would come to know the love and freedom found in Jesus. With no official homeland and heavy oppression, it is common for Uighurs to cling tightly to tradition and culture. While they are very warm and hospitable, they are often closed to accepting the good news for themselves - and facing isolation from their community and family. Pray that the Father would prepare hearts < Back to PRAY - Christmas 2024 Manage Cookie Preferences