Hakka Chinese -

We worked for six years among the Hakka Chinese in Taiwan. Please continue to pray for these precious people that God will open their hearts to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Below is a transcript of our blog video about the Hakka Chinese. 
The Hakka Chinese are a unique ethnic group of "Han" Chinese thought to be one of the earliest "Han" settlers in the Yellow River Area of Ancient China. It is believed that the Hakka Chinese gradually migrated south and settled in the Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong Provinces of China. They were called Hakka, pronounced as "haagga" in Hakka and "kejia" in Mandarin, meaning the “Guest People” by the local peoples during their migration from Central China. During the last three hundred years, Hakka Chinese have further dispersed to Taiwan and areas beyond China.

The Hakka Chinese are recognized as an insular and conservative group. Although outwardly, the Hakka Chinese have adopted many trappings of modern society, they still preserve customs that were practiced in before the Qin Dynasty in Ancient China at least 2200 years ago.
Of the 23 million inhabitants of Taiwan, between three and four million are Hakka Chinese, mostly living in predominantly Hakka enclaves such as the City of Toufen. Whereas the percentage of Christians in Taiwan is approximately 3% or 3 out 100 people, the percentage of Christians among the Taiwan Hakka Chinese is .3% or 3 Christians out of every 1000 people. The Hakka Chinese are therefore regarded by Operation World, an authoritative guide on World Evangelism, as an unreached people group.

The Hakka Chinese are fervent in their worship of idols, spirits and the ghosts of their ancestors. Ancestor worship is regarded as the glue which holds the society together. Even those who accept Christ, find it difficult to give up this practice, because virtually all holidays and customs include the practice of ancestor worship. Refusal to practice ancestor worship is basically unacceptable. It is believed that the families of those who do not worship the ghosts of their ancestors may be visited with disease, financial hardship and other calamities.

Another feature of Hakka society is the position of married women in society. A woman who marries generally moves into the house of her husband's family. At times this custom can give rise to persecution within the household of women who accept Christ.