Daily Topic for August 12, 2006
Peter borrows words from the Mosaic covenant (Exodus 19) to describe the believers he addresses in this letter. At Mount Sinai God had identified Israel as “a kingdom of priests.” In other words, Israel was to fulfill a priestly role in bringing men and women from other nations to faith in Yahweh. That same challenge has come to us today. We are royal priests-children of the King with a responsibility to call the peoples of today’s world to be reconciled to the Heavenly King.
Thank You, gracious God, for the high and holy calling that is ours. Use our testimony to reveal Yourself to the nations!
The Waxiang people regularly practice ancient Chinese animistic rituals. They believe that that they can appease the evil spirits and ghosts who live in their villages through these rituals. Others are inclined towards the ancient Chinese religion of Daoism.
Right now their population is approximately 350,000 people. They live scattered throughout the beautiful Hunan Province in southeastern China. Their mountainous homeland lies in an area that covers over 2,340 square miles. Though they are a mixture of several ethnic groups, officially the Waxiang are considered to be part of the majority Han Chinese Nationality.
Among the Waxiangs there are very few believers. Statistics indicate that the Christians total about 500 among a people with over 300,000 souls. In the 1920s a missionary reported, “The good work is moving, but very slowly. The people are as hard as steel…. To them our doctrine is foolishness, our talk jargon… the whole effort falls upon them like showers upon a sandy desert.”
Learn more at joshuaproject.netPray that the Waxiang people will have Heavenly spiritual encounters. Pray that their eyes and minds will be opened, turning them from darkness into light. Pray that many of their leaders will embrace Jesus. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send more workers to this unreached people group.-SL
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