May 2023 Prayer Powerlines

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by his prophets,
but in these last days hehad spoken to us by his Son.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

Praying for the Bouyei

The Bouyei people of southwest China and northern Vietnam are a Tai-Kadai people closely related to other Tai-related people groups like the Zhuang. The largest concentration of Bouyei people is in southwestern and southern Guizhou province, but now many Bouyei communities can be found in factory districts in eastern China. Bouyei people have their own language and a distinct culture with many traditional practices influenced by animism and ancestor worship. Of the 3.7 million Bouyei people, less than 0.1% are followers of Christ.

SUNDAYS • God’s revelation

God has spoken to us by his Son. What an incredible gift it is to possess God’s very Word revealed through his Son! Yet, three in four of the 3.7 million Bouyei people have never had an opportunity to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. God is testifying through his Creation, Scripture that is available in the Bouyei, and Christians that have brought the good news to some Bouyei areas. But millions of Bouyei people still need to hear a clear message of what God has done for them. Pray that God would use these three avenues (Creation, Scripture & Christian witness) to reach Bouyei people.

MONDAYS • A great salvation

God’s salvation is too great not to be proclaimed to and embraced by all peoples. When Bouyei people do encounter messengers of the good news, it is tempting for them to dismiss the gospel as a “foreign religion.” God must give the gift of faith to Bouyei people so that they will trust in Jesus and the power of his blood to save them. Pray for those who evangelize among the Bouyei people to be welcomed and understood.

TUESDAYS • A better way

Bouyei people offer sacrifices to the spirits of the dead. Christ has offered a perfect sacrifice for their sins. Bouyei people trust priests to show them how to deal with spiritual problems. Jesus is the great High Priest who mediates between God and man. Bouyei people invest in earthly homes, but God offers them a more permanent possession. Pray for chances for Bouyei believers to share their testimonies with family members, neighbors and friends.

WEDNESDAYS • Once

People die once (Hebrews 9:27). Many Bouyei people believe that evil spirits that afflict them are the spirits of those who have died and are angry that no one is caring or providing for them. Jesus has appeared once (Hebrews 9:26). In place of waning animism, many cults are making inroads into Bouyei communities. Pray that Bouyei Christians would proclaim the truth of the Savior who came once and will come again one day for judgment.

THURSDAYS • Endurance

Despite many hardships, communities of Bouyei Christians continue to meet. Their house churches are sources of encouragement and of sharpening by God’s word conveyed through oral stories. But due to the hardships of a lack of ongoing support, persecution, and years of pandemic-related restrictions, the faith of many is hanging by a thread. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of individuals and whole house churches, reminding them of God’s truth and strengthening their faith.

FRIDAYS • A city built by God

Education, financial security, opportunity. These are among the factors that drive Bouyei people from their homelands to urban centers to earn a living they cannot earn back home. Through this mass migration, God is building his church as Chinese churches reach out to Bouyei people who have been brought to their doorstep. Pray that more Bouyei people will find a place of rest, not in the city nor in their home villages, but rather in their loving Savior.

SATURDAYS • Strengthen your knees

God has a purpose for the Bouyei people and a plan to multiply faithful believers throughout their communities. It is for us to praise God and work with hope for the church that will come but that we do not yet see. God calls us to rejoice in a future yet to be realized where the cool valleys and misty mountainsides of the Bouyei people reverberate with praise. As we look forward to what God will do, we work together on our knees until God’s kingdom comes. Pray for believers all over the world to join together in prayer on behalf of this people group.

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