Something like a fifth of the world's people are Chinese. Woven into the fabric of the largest population on earth is the rich thread of China's ethnic minorities, numbering more than 100 million people. They are vastly outnumbered by the majority 1.2 billion Han Chinese.
'Operation World' has proved a great help in stimulating prayer for world-wide mission. But there is another book, 'Operation China', by New Zealander Paul Hattaway, published by Piquant, which introduces the reader to these hidden minority peoples within China. They account for only 6.7% of China's population, but they inhabit 62.5% of the territory.
The book makes fascinating reading and fuel for prayer. Here we have selected just a few of the entries to give a taste of what the Lord has been doing among these people and what yet remains to be done for the gospel.
Achang
Pronounced: Ah-tsung.
Approximately 30,000 Achang inhabit an area along the Yunnan-Myanmar border near the Chinese town of Ruili. Although they are nominally Buddhist, the older generation of Achang exhibit many traits of polytheism and animism in their rituals and everyday lives.
A 1989 report commented that the Achang had 'at least one known Christian'. The situation appears to have improved rapidly; by 1992 the same source reported there was a church in nearly every Achang village in China. It is estimated that there are now about 2,000 Christians among this people group. A strong vibrant church also exists directly across the border among the Achang of Myanmar. Members of the new Achang church are often invited for training in northern Myanmar. The Achang New Testament was completed in 1992.
A-Hmao
Pronounced: Aho-Maow
A Chinese study reported in 1990 around 300,000 A-Hmao people in Southern China. They live in the mountains of NW Guizhou Province. When missionary Samuel Pollard first arrived in 1904 he found the A-Hmao trapped in slavery to the Nosu people and overwhelmed with poverty. Together with Francis Dymond he worked under God to bring many of them to faith in Christ. He invented an alphabet for their language and taught them to read and write. A New Testament in their language was printed in 1917. After the departure of the missionaries with the advent of Communism, the A-Hmao church stayed steadfast to Christ. In 1974 many A-Hmao believers were massacred by Chinese troops when they secretly met for prayer in a cave at Xinglongchang. Instead of destroying the church, the massacre caused a doubling of the number of Christians over a short time. Today it is estimated that there are 200,000 believers among the A-Hmao.
Guiqiong
Pronounced: Gway-chee-ong
This group of 7,000 people inhabit the tablelands along the banks of the Dadu River in the Garze Tibetan Prefecture in Western Sichan Province. In the 1930s the place was violent and lawless and few outsiders dared to enter. One of the reasons for this extreme violence was the drug trade. Large quantities of opium were manufactured throughout the region until the Communist takeover in the early 1950s. There are no known Christians among the Guiqiong, and no Scriptures or gospel broadcasts in their language. They have no understanding of the gospel or the name of Jesus Christ, having been cut off from the message of eternal life for centuries.
Hmong Daw
Pronounced: Hmong-Doh
There are about 220,000 speakers of Hmong Daw in China of which 200,000 live in Wensham Prefecture of Yunnan Province north of Vietnam. Others live in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. For centuries the Hmong Daw were animists. Few in China had heard the gospel, though many churches had been established among their relatives in Thailand and Laos. In 1993 an old Homong Daw man heard his language being spoken while tuning his radio. Soon thousands of Homong Daw were listening to gospel broadcasts daily from FEBC, learning about the Lord Jesus Christ and the path of salvation. After a few months 18 villages in Southern China turned en masse to Christ. Thousands of people reported receiving a 'new heart'. Radio broadcasts have proved a highly effective tool for evangelising the Hmong Daw. In the mid-1950s hundreds of Hmong Daw in Laos came to Christ as a result of radio broadcasts. The recent 'radio revival' has been fuelled by the delivery of Bibles in their language in 1997. It is now estimated that there are some 20,000 Hmong Daw Christians in China.
Lawa
Pronounced: Lah-wa
The Lawa communities are located in thickly forested areas in SW China's Yunnan Province. There are now 10,000 Lawa Christians but the group first received the gospel in the 1920s from William Young of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society and later from his two sons. The Lawa's conversion was attained not only by preaching but by Young's self-sacrificial concern for the people. At the onset he was fiercely opposed by the Lawa who threatened to cut off his head if he ever dared approach their settlement again. Once in 1924, Young discovered the body of a dying woman lying in a ditch outside a village. She was apparently a victim of smallpox who had been left for dead. Young immediately erected a shed and brought in the woman for treatment, washing her sores continuously for three days. To draw out the pus Young did not hesitate to use his own mouth. His devotion and compassion opened the hearts of countless Lawa people to receive his message.
Limi
Pronounced: Lee-mee
The majority of the 30,000 Limi inhabit areas within Yongde County in Yunnan Province. There are no known Christians among them, no Scriptures or gospel broadcasts in their language. Polytheism, animism and ancestor worship prevail among them. The independent mindset of the Limi has contributed to them being largely unreached today. Few missionaries worked in the area prior to the expulsion of foreigners from China in the 1950s. If the Limi had been so fortunate as to have workers like Gladys Aylward focusing on them, things could have been different. Aylward described the hardship of her daily life in China: 'Life is pitiful, death so familiar, suffering and pain so common, yet I would not be anywhere else. Do not wish me out of this, or in any way seek to get me out, for I will not be got out while this trial is on. These are my people, God has given them to me, and I will live or die with them for Him and His glory.'
Lisu
Pronounced: Lee-soo
More than 700,000 Lisu live among the massive mountains and deep valleys of the Nujang, Salween and Yangtze river basins of SW China. Before they embraced Christianity the Lisu were described as 'utter savages'. They were so given over to alcohol that when one newly converted village threw out their liquor all the pigs of the village got drunk! They were also inveterate gamblers.
The conversion of the Lisu is one of the greatest stories in mission history. A number of missionaries laboured sacrificially among the Lisu prior to the Communist takeover in 1949, including James Fraser, A.B. Cook, John and Isobel Kuhn and the Morse family. In 1916 and 1917 alone Fraser baptised some 60,000 Lisu. Today there are an estimated 300,000 Lisu believers in China and the Lisu church has reached out to many other groups in the area.
The information in this article is taken from 'Operation China' by Paul Hattaway, published by Piquant at £20 and is used with permission of the publishers.
For more information or to order copies: 01228 525075, info@piquant.net or visit www.piquant.net
