(2026 Ramadan) Day 1 Uyghur, who will unite all nations through the cross!

The Uyghur people, whose name signifies “union” or “alliance,” are among the least evangelized Turkic peoples globally. Currently, approximately 16 million Uyghurs reside in China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region—where the ancient Silk Road began—and in Central Asian nations including Kazakhstan.

The Uyghur people, who developed a Buddhist civilization across the Mongolian Plateau and Central Asia in the past, converted to Islam around 960 CE following the eastward expansion of Islam. For over 1,000 years thereafter, Islam became the most crucial aspect of Uyghur ethnic identity. The Uyghur are a strongly Islamic people, with over 99.99% being Muslim.

The majority of Uyghurs live as an ethnic minority within China. Under China's repressive policies, they experienced a large-scale bloody incident in July 2009 in Urumqi, the main center of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, which resulted in over 3,000 casualties. Since then, ongoing anti-government actions have deepened the conflict between the Uyghurs and the Chinese government, making unresolved anger and hatred an integral part of Uyghur life.

Since early 2018, Uyghurs have been forcibly subjected to Chinese-style communist indoctrination under the guise of “re-education.” Consequently, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has stated that at least one million Uyghurs are currently detained in over 1,000 secret political re-education camps, enduring severe torture. Even during Ramadan, the Chinese government's religious suppression policies prevent them from performing special religious practices. Amidst this, Uyghurs living in China's border regions fear the Chinese government and outwardly claim they do not believe in Islam. Yet, inwardly, they yearn for Islam even more, personally fasting and striving to reclaim their Islamic identity.

The Uyghur diaspora in Kazakhstan is outraged by the oppression faced by Uyghurs in China and is uniting under their Islamic identity, asserting that Uyghurs must stand as one.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19)

Most Uyghur Christians also endure hardships, either being detained in forced re-education camps or released after prolonged imprisonment. Yet their faith persists. Even in circumstances where gathering is difficult, they fight the good fight of faith, holding fast to Jesus to the end. When the gospel is shared, people respond by accepting Jesus as their Savior.

Currently, severe surveillance and control prevent missionaries from entering the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. However, the Chinese church remaining there stands alongside the Uyghur people, bearing this fight of faith.

Furthermore, the gospel continues to be proclaimed in Kazakhstan, home to a 500,000-strong Uyghur diaspora. A Uyghur ethnic church has been established in Kazakhstan. While evangelizing, we often encounter Uyghurs who mention traces of the 1990 Central Asian Great Revival, saying, “Actually, I used to attend church,” and that they have heard about Jesus.

Recently, a Uyghur living in Kazakhstan served as a one-year student missionary to the nations and returned. Since then, Uyghurs in Kazakhstan have been sharing the gospel among their own people. One sister who had accepted Jesus experienced spiritual wandering and declared that being Muslim was her identity. However, she came to a mission camp, personally encountered the Lord, attended a vision school, and went on a short-term mission trip to Türkiye. The vision of the Uyghur people, who have been running toward the vision of 10,000 missionaries, is finally being fulfilled in Kazakhstan. Hallelujah!

The revival of the Uyghur people, facing the greatest hardship among the Turkic peoples with the world's lowest evangelization rates, will be a revival preparing for the final wedding feast to complete God's work—like the wine Jesus made that illuminated the wedding feast in Cana!

[Today’s Prayer]

1. The Uyghur people live without hope under the world's surveillance and oppression, dying spiritually without knowing the truth. Lord, now begin a new work among the Uyghur people. May the powers of darkness binding the Uyghur people depart, and may they become a people preparing for the revival of the Silk Road.

2. May the Holy Spirit's work arise more powerfully in the ministry to the Uyghur diaspora, including Kazakhstan. May unceasing prayer and worship flow toward the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, where the Uyghur people are the majority. May the Uyghur people take up the task of reaching all nations and uniting them under the cross to fulfill the vision of Missions Uyghur.

3. Raise up the global church to remember and pray for the Uyghur people during the month of Ramadan. May the suffering Uyghur people encounter Jesus Christ, not Islam, through the prayers of the global church and become disciples of Jesus. May the prayers of the global church for the Uyghur people never cease. May prayers that save the Uyghur people be offered unceasingly, so that they may be used—from death to life, from suffering to glory.