Its Greek title "Apocalypsis" is a word meaning an "unveiling" or "uncovering" of future events or hidden mysteries of God.
Join us each Thursday as we uncover Revelation together. We will see a frightening preview of what awaits our world, as well as an amazing glimpse of heaven and the glory that awaits Christ's followers.
Beginning September 2, 2010
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Our church has asked every small group to adopt an Unreached People Group. This is a People Group that has no Christian evangelical missionary presence. I'm asking that we pray for them, each of us in our individual prayers and in our group prayers. This is new for us so also be in prayer that God will lead us in this endeavor and that we'll be open to His direction.
This past week we unveiled the group that we had adopted. They are the Miao, Guiyang Northern of China. Several in our small group have had personal experiences regarding China so it seemed natural to choose a Chinese People Group.
Here are some of their facts:
People Name: Miao, Guiyang Northern
Pronunciation: “Gway-yung-Meow” Country: China Language:Miao, Northern Guiyang Population:132,000 Unreached: Yes People Cluster:Miao / Hmong Primary Religion:Ethnic Religions % Adherents:1.00 % % Evangelical:0.90 % Progress Status:1.2 Latitude:26°10'49.04"N Longitude:106° 0'11.99"E Christians:1,000 Scripture:None Christian Broadcasting:None
Status of Evangelization: 74% Have never heard the gospel
25% Were evangelized but did not become Christians
1% Are adherents to any form of Christianity
Scripture: None Christian Broadcasting: None
Identity
A part of the official Miao nationality in China, Northern Guiyang Miao is one of four distinct Guiyang Miao languages. There are said to be more than 70 tribes of Miao in China, "each one with a distinctive costume." The name Miao comes from the Chinese. The character used in the Chinese Book of History means "tender blades of grass or sprouts." One historian notes, "The various subgroups of Miao have no love for each other, and the Chinese have in the past been able to get some Miao groups to serve as mercenaries against other Miao groups."
The Guiyang Miao language group is divided into five distinct languages: Northern, Northwestern, South Central, Southern, and Southwestern.
History
In 1924 Father F. M. Savina of the Paris Foreign Missionary Society published his book Histoire des Miao, which caused a sensation in the Western world. Savina claimed the Miao were of Caucasian origin. He wrote, "In appearance [the Miao are] pale yellow in complexion, almost white, their hair is often light or dark brown, sometimes even red or 'corn-silk blond', and a few even have pale blue eyes."
Customs
A Miao mother is not allowed to help her daughter during the delivery of a baby. The mother's sister-in-law is not even allowed to enter the delivery room, for if they do, Miao superstition dictates, the new mother will have no milk. When visitors come to see the new baby, often they will remark how ugly or dirty the baby is, so the demons will be tricked into thinking the baby is not worth their trouble and will leave the child alone.
Religion
The worldview of some Miao groups states that heaven is a flat land on top of the sky where the deceased souls of their ancestors live. It is a wonderful place, with no sickness or death, no mountains to climb, and no fields to plow. The sun always shines, and although it never rains, there is an abundance of water available.
Christianity
The Northern Guiyang Miao were first visited by Protestant missionaries in the late 1800s. Several Protestant families lived in the Guiyang-Anshun region, but the Miao were described by the missionaries as "utterly indifferent to things spiritual." The 1900 Boxer Rebellion broke out just as the work was seeing its first fruit, causing the mission to close and the missionaries to flee China. During the years the missionaries were gone, a military official and a noted village headman went throughout the entire district and threatened people with death if they joined the "foreign religion." A small church remains today among the Northern Guiyang Miao.
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