The Uighur
Praying for Pure Growth
KAZAKHSTAN from the archive, 2002
There are a growing number of Uighur Christians in the world today. Most of them live in Kazakhstan where they are free to form their own churches and cell groups. In China, where 95 percent of the world's Uighurs live, most Uighur Christians fear persecution from their Muslim communities and government authorities and will only speak about their beliefs with trusted friends.
However, in the relative openness of Kazakhstan, the Uighur's rich heritage in music and dance make apartment-based worship services anything but quiet. Gray Soviet-built apartment complexes lose their morose atmosphere when even the smallest group of Uighur Christians pull out tambourines and two-string dutars for worship.
Foreign Christians who work with the Uighurs believe this people group's music will be a defining mark of their Christian expression. The Uighur's energetic sounds have long influenced styles of play across Central Asia.
No where is this more evident than in a centuries-old musical piece called the Mukam. Books, paintings and even a doctoral dissertation view this set of musical scores and dances as the crown of Uighur culture. However, few people have actually sat through a full performance because it takes more than 24 hours to play the complete piece. Still, like the revered, if not read, United States Constitution, the musical work is seen as a defining element of Uighur society.
Another universal mark of Uighur society has been Islam's unquestioned status as the only religion for the Uighurs. While Islam pervades today as the religion of the Uighurs, history shows that this is not the first time for the world to see a Uighur church emerge.
The history of the Christian church among the Uighur
In the seventh century Nestorian Christians established several Uighur churches and even placed bishops in the cities of Kashgar and Hami. However, by the end of 15th century, the growth of Islam ended the work of these churches. Then in the late 1800s, a group of Swedish missionaries brought the gospel back to the Uighurs. At the height of the Swedish involvement, there were nearly 50 missionaries working with about 300 Christians in four cities.
The work ended in 1938 during a time of anti-Western persecution in China. The Swedes left behind a translation of the Bible that was later completed in India in 1950. The translation is still used today, but it needs updating. The Swedes used a now outdated script and dialect of Uighur for the translation.
Today, many of the Christians working with the Uighurs believe the success the Swedes experienced was because of their love and faithfulness to God, and not because of a grand church-planting scheme. The Swedes' hard work and deep concern for the people they came to serve won the respect of the Uighurs, noted a mission journal, which also quotes a Uighur Christian from this era.
“During the next years I thoroughly examined the Muslims and watched the deeds that were produced by their religion, and I also watched to see what deeds the religion of the Christians produced, until I felt I really knew them both,” Ali Akhond, the Uighur Christian explained in the journal.
“Then I said to myself, 'This will not do. I can no longer refrain from becoming a Christian.' So I accepted salvation, and when I had been baptized, my heart received peace,” said Akhond, who watched this Christian community for 18 years before making his decision.
Akhond did not take breaking with his community lightly—or his new commitment to Christ. After his conversion, Akhond became an evangelist to his people. It is this type of response that Jonathan and his team pray for.
A vision for the future
“Our vision and prayer is to see Uighur believers, both inside and outside China, develop deep burdens to share the gospel with their own people in a culturally relevant way,” said Jonathan.
Like the glory of the Mukam and the stability of Islam, Uighurs cherish the strength of their communities, Jonathan explained.
Centuries ago the Uighurs lost control of Central Asia's rich plains and had to survive in the deserts of the Tarim and Junggar Basins, in northwest China. They learned to thrive on land no one else wanted as communities. In time they found that the basin's unforgiving Taklamakan desert offered better protection than city walls or standing armies.
The peace of the desert allowed the Uighurs to create systems of living—both relational and physical—that are still in place today. The desert city of Turpan, China, exists because of underground channels that siphon off snow melts of the Tian Shan mountains, more than 30 miles away. Centuries ago families in Turfan united to dig these vital aqueducts.
The ancient reverence for community dwells deep within the Uighurs. Anything that threatens ones' ties to the community is usually rejected quickly, explained Jonathan. And this, of course, impacts the Christian message, which struggles in the harsh climate.
“Their culture keeps the walls high,” Jonathan said. “'We are Uighur, so we are Muslim. It is our way and there is no other choice.' This is what you hear over and over.”
But this is not all that Christian workers hear, he added. There is a sense of expectation spreading among the Uighur and foreign Christians. The number of mature Christians is growing. “Team members and different groups I work with have noticed signs of change. God is working with people like we have never seen before,” concludes Jonathan.
The outcome is sure to be a Uighur church. But the look—and sound—of this desert church remains a compelling mystery. For now Jonathan and other Christian partners are consumed with foundational work as they lay solid stones of faith in this sea of sand.
*Names changed to protect believers.
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