Introduction / History The Chinese government has combined the Enger Yugur, who speak a Mongolian language, with the Turkic-speaking Saragh Yugur to form the official Yugur minority in China.
Most scholars believe the Yugur are descended from a nomadic tribe known as the Huiqu. The government first recorded the Huiqu during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). In the mid-800s, heavy snowfall, combined with an attack from the forest-dwelling Kirgiz people forced the Yugurs to flee their Mongolian homeland. They moved to Gansu where they came under the control of the Tibetans. The world knew little of the Yugur and cutoff the region from the rest of the world for centuries until the completion of the Lanzhou- Urumqi railway line in 1963 which passes through the Yugur area.
What are their lives like? The Yugur practice bird burials, similar to the Tibetans. They cut up dead corpses into pieces and take them to a mountaintop where ravens and other birds of prey come and devour the flesh. Historically, the Yugur divided themselves into nine separate clans. Each clan controlled its own herding area.
What are their beliefs? Tibetans converted them to Buddhism. Today, most Yugur remain followers of Tibetan Buddhism. In recent years, they have revived the ancient shamanistic religion and the cult of the "Emperor of Heaven," Han Tengri.
Although few Enger Yugur today have ever heard the name of Jesus Christ, in the past, many Christians lived in their region. The Ongkuts developed a widespread Christian culture, witnessed to by the many Christian crosses found by archaeologists. The Yugur descend, it is thought, from this tribe. When Marco Polo visited Dunhuang, near the Yugur's homeland, he reported, "It is true there are some Turks who hold to the religion of the Nestorian Christians." In 1992, the first Enger Yugur people believed in Christ.
What are their needs? Like people everywhere, the Enger Yugur people need to allow the loving Savior to direct their lives. They need his forgiveness for sin.
Prayer Points Pray for the Lord to intervene in their families, calling people to his side.
Pray for loving, Holy Spirit led workers to go to them.
Pray for the Lord to raise up persons of peace to welcome Christ's ambassadors.
Pray for a church planting movement to thrive in their communities. * Pray for translation of the Bible to begin in this people group's primary language. * Pray for the availability of the Jesus Film in the primary language of this people.
The small Yugur (not to be mistaken for the Uygur) minority live in the Gansu corridor. They are one of the most unique people groups in China, speaking two completely unrelated languages. The Enger (Eastern) Yugur live in the eastern part of the Sunan Yugur Autonomous County in northern Gansu Province. A 1987 study listed 4,000 speakers of Enger Yugur, representing about a third of all Yugur. (Source: Operation China, 2000)
JP Unreached of Day
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