April 2002

Welcome to the IMB Collegiate eNewsletter for April 2002!  This month's eNewsletter focuses on the Gujur people of South Asia.
What's Inside: 
People Group Info: The Gujur of South Asia, Prayer Points, "Did you know...", Mission Projects in South Asia, Urgent Project Requests, God's Heart for the Nations Bible study

Unreached People Group (UPG) focus: The Gujur of South Asia

Personal Story about a Gujur believer:

"Abram" has seen his own tombstone. When he embraced Jesus, his Muslim family disowned and "buried" him. Though beaten and chased, he confronts Muslims with the gospel daily, and God continues to win souls through him. "One day I know that those precious ones will stand with me around the eternal throne," Abram says.

Who are the Gujur?

In the 11th century, various Muslim groups began invading two countries where the Gujur called home prompting the Gujur Hindu to convert to Islam. When this happened, their Hindu neighbors began to rise up and take control of the area. The Gujur were forced to leave the region and search for good pastures elsewhere. Their wanderings took them into Central and Southern Asia, where thousands have remained until this day. Most of the Gujur live as law-abiding shepherds and farmers.

The Gujur are divided into hundreds of clans. Their societies are patrilineal, which means that inheritances are passed down through the males. Marriages are usually arranged by the parents, and a "bride price" of either cash or buffalo is paid to the girl's family. They are permitted to marry outside their clans, and young couples generally live near the grooms' parents.

What are their beliefs?

The majority of the Gujur are Muslim, but about 30 percent of them are Hindu and have greatly influenced the others to blend Hindu practices with Islam. For instance, most Gujur have copies of the Quran in their homes; but in spite of that they may also worship a "family deity" and observe some of the traditional Hindu feasts. Because the Muslim Gujur share Hindu customs, they are not well accepted by other Muslim tribes in Southern Asia.

What are their needs?

The Gujur currently have no written script. Either a written language must be developed or they must be taught to read and understand one of the regional languages. Perhaps this will open a door of opportunity for Christian teachers to live among the Gujur and share the love of Christ with them. Copies of the Scripture in the Gujur language are needed in recorded form, such as audiocassettes, to share the gospel with the Gujur.

For more information about the Gujur, go to: http://www.ksafe.com/profiles/home.html and search by the name "Gujur."

Prayer Points:

• Ask the Lord to send Christian workers to live among the Gujur as they share the gospel with them.
• Pray that God will encourage the small number of Gujur believers and help them reach their own people.
• Pray for linguists to develop a written script for their language.
• Ask the Lord to raise up strong local churches among the Gujur.
• Pray for a responsiveness to the gospel among the Gujur people.

For more info about praying for the nations, go to www.imb.org/CompassionNet/default.asp

Did you know...

•  World population in 2000 6 billion
•  Population of The Last Frontier* peoples 1.7 billion
•  People groups of The Last Frontier 2,161
•  People groups engaged 1,015
•  New churches started in 2000 6,525
•  Overseas church membership in 2000 5.6 million
•  Overseas churches in 2000 60,988
•  Overseas baptisms in 2000 451,301
  *The Last Frontier peoples: Unreached people for which the majority of its members have little, or no, access to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Project List

• Details on all projects are available on the web at www.thetask.org/students on the mission projects link.

• There are MANY MORE projects in Southeast Asia! Check them out at www.thetask.org/students/projects

Urgent project requests:

Students needed in Paris and Mexico this year!

• Project #11711 : Two people with French language skills needed to come work with prayerwalk teams among the Muslims of Paris.
  Dates: 5/15/02 - 8/03/02; Cost: $2560.00
• Project #48921: We need 10-15 students to spend fall semester in Guadalajara with Rick Jenkins. Must have good experience in a local university ministry to participate in evangelism and discipleship on campuses in Guadalajara and in local churches. The goal is to create a distinct movement of student evangelism in Guadalajara and surrounding campuses.
  Dates: 9/12/02 - 12/12/02; Cost: $2070.00
• More info about these projects at www.thetask.org/students/projects
• To apply for these or any other projects, go to www.thetask.org/students/apply
  

Bible study: "Praying Jesus' Way" (Luke 10:2)
by Felicity Slemp

It's crunch time. Your last papers are coming due, all-nighters are a main event, and the final exams before the final exams are upon you. You can, however, see the flicker of light at the end of the long, dark tunnel of those last few weeks before summer vacation. Your plans for summer -- work, summer school, or maybe missions -- are beginning to gel. If you are going on mission this summer, you've probably begun asking friends and family members to pray for you and to pray for the people whom you will serve this summer. Jesus had a few tips for his followers about prayer and other things before He sent them out on mission in Luke 10:1-16. These verses are basically a blow-by-blow account of the orientation class Jesus led for the 72 disciples who went out on mission.
In verses 4-9, Jesus tells disciples not to worry about what they will wear or where they will stay. He also tells them to eat the food that is set before them. That advice is as practical today as it was in Jesus' day. Related to eating the food set before you, you could add the little "missionaries' prayer," that says, "Lord, I'll put it down if you'll keep it down."

Verse two is the one that captures my attention, though. In this verse, Jesus tells the disciples what to pray for as they go out on mission. My prayers at that time tend to go something like this: "Lord, please prepare the hearts of the people with whom we will share so that they will be open and receive you as their Savior." Jesus didn't say anything like that, though. He didn't say, "Ask God to touch the people's hearts so they will follow me." He simply said, "Ask God to send more workers."

My prayer was not a bad prayer or a wrong prayer, but it was not the kind of prayer Jesus told his disciples to pray as they went to serve God. I want to pray the way Jesus asked his disciples to pray in Luke 10:2. This is only one of several ways Jesus taught His disciples to pray, but it is important. Jesus' priority in prayer is now at the top of my list of prayer priorities. As you go on mission this summer, will you pray that God will send more workers to the place where and the people whom you will serve?