Daily Topic for March 24, 2010
God has a purpose for every person and every people. The Khinalug people may seem too obscure to be part of His plan, but they are not forgotten. Could it be that there are many among them who could glorify Him by using their skills for His glory?
Pray that soon this seemingly “obscure” people will serve before the King of Kings.
Photographs of the Khinalug homeland look a little like pictures of the surface of the moon! There are some beautiful mountains and rivers, but there are also vast expanses of bare ground and rocky earth that appear to be uninhabitable.
While “barren” might be the word to describe their environment, the word that defines the Khinalug people themselves is obscure: “not discovered or known about, not important or well known.” For centuries they have lived in a single village hidden away in what is now the Republic of Azerbaijan. There are only an estimated 2,100 Khinalugs.
Like many of their neighbors, the Khinalugs are followers of Sunni Islam, mixing liberal amounts of animism with their submission to Allah. For instance, they often perform rituals in order to bring rain.
The Khinalug are certainly obscure in terms of being unfamiliar and even undiscovered by many. But they are important to God, and He knows them quite well! When Jesus commanded His disciples to go into “all” the world and make disciples of “all” nations, the Khinalug were certainly meant to be included.
Pray for the Khinalugs to appear on the “radar screens” of today’s ministries, churches and missions groups. Ask the Lord to give His laborers a deep and abiding love for the Khinalugs and a desire to see them reached with the gospel. Pray for the Khinalugs to awaken to the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ and be open to hearing the Word of God.