Daily Topic for June 26, 2009
Once when I was in South Africa, a young man was blaming me for the oppression of black people because I’m white. It was tempting to blame him for the Watts Riots, just to use the same logic. But my sarcasm would have put walls between him and the Lord rather than building bridges to the Lord. I had to remember that I am Christ’s ambassador. An ambassador is not only a representative of what a higher authority wants, but he must be kind and diplomatic, so as to build bridges, and show the true character of God.
Pray that missionaries in Southeast Asia will show His character by being loving and diplomatic to the lost, even when it is difficult.
How can you tell the difference between China’s majority Han Chinese, and China’s largest minority, the Zhuangs? Your probably can’t! They are virtually indistinguishable. Like the Han Chinese, you can find the 19 million Zhuangs farming wet-rice on picturesque, terraced hillsides of rural mountain valleys, as well as in most of the major cities of southern China’s Guangxi Province.
In actuality, the Zhuang are in a fierce competition with other ethnic groups in China. Though they have occupied parts of China for some 2000 years, they have struggled to maintain their identity. As the Hans migrated into southern China, the Zhuang people fled to the mountains where they were forced to farm the rocky soil. Though some have endured, many eventually migrated to the cities where they have largely been assimilated into the Han culture.
The Zhuang people have struggled to survive in a spiritual sense as well. As animists, they serve the spirits of nature and dead ancestors, whom they believe hold the power to bless and to curse. They often turn to witchcraft and shamanism in their attempts to appease these fickle, malevolent gods.
Learn more at joshuaproject.netPray for the Zhuang people to be set free from fear and from the bondage of demons. Ask for the Lord of the Harvest to reveal to His laborers effective and appropriate ways to reach the Zhuangs.-CL
Next day: Northern and Southern Dong Peoples of China
Previous day: Kham Tibetans