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GEOGRAPHY

Area 108,889 sq.km. A land of mountains, volcanoes and lakes. Mexico's southern neighbour.

Capital Guatemala City 1,925,000. Urbanites 40%.

PEOPLES

Spanish-speaking Latinos 43%. Mixed European and Indian.

Amerindian 54%. Maya – 19 ethnic groups speaking 49 languages (40% as their first language). Largest: Quiche(9) 1,490,000; Cakchiquel(10) 709,000; Mam(7) 442,000; Kekchi 418,000; Pocomam(3) 242,000; Kanjobal(2) 134,000; Ixil(3) 90,000; Pocomchi(2) 80,000; Achi 63,000; Tzutujil 45,000.

Afro-Caribbean 2%. Blacks on Caribbean coast.

Other 1%. Garifuna 25,000; Chinese 20,000.

Literacy 56%, but in practice nearer 30%. Official language Spanish; not used by 40% of population as their primary language. All languages 42. Languages with Scriptures 8Bi 21NT 13por 17w.i.p.

ECONOMY

Agriculture provides 25% of the country's GDP, but two-thirds of its exports – mainly coffee, sugar and bananas. Just 2% of the population owns 80% of the land, marginalizing and oppressing the largely Maya majority. Nearly 80% of the population live below the poverty line. Since the 1996 peace accord, economic growth and living standards have improved. 1998's Hurricane 'Mitch' was a severe setback. HDI 0.624; 117^th/174. Public debt 17% of GNP. Income/person $1,470 (5% of USA).

POLITICS

Independent from Spain in 1821, and from the Federation of Central American States in 1838, but controlled by a few plantation owners through a series of dictatorships and military governments. The poor, particularly the Mayans, suffered years of indignity and deprivation which exploded in 1960 into 36 years of guerrilla war with around 200,000 deaths, mainly at the hands of the US-armed military. The human-rights record during those years was appalling with over 40,000 'disappearances', widespread torture and displacement of one million internal and 250,000 international refugees. The 1996 peace agreement has ended warfare but has not been fully implemented by the authorities. There remains a culture of violence in the country and cynicism about the government. The 2000 elections were won by those who supported the former repressive regimes.

RELIGION

Official separation of Church and state for over 100 years has given great freedom for Evangelicals and increased their influence at the expense of the hitherto dominant Catholic Church. Over 25% of those classified in the census as Catholics are basically Christo-pagan with Mayan gods becoming Catholic 'saints'.

Missionaries from Guatemala
P,I,A 255 in 31 agencies to 17 countries: Guatemala 149, Spain 29, USA 22, Mexico 13.

Missionaries to Guatemala
P,I,A 671 in 73 agencies from 18 countries: USA 572, Canada 27, Korea 18.

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Answers to Prayer

1 The signing of the peace accord to end 36 years of war. Evangelical and Catholic Christians played a significant role in achieving this.

2 Continued growth in the Evangelical percentage of the population from 3% (96,000) in 1960 to 25% (2,900,000) in a 2001 survey. The contributing factors being the devastating 1976 earthquake, the violence and pain of war, the effective witness of believers and the large, dedicated force of missionaries.

3 The growing appreciation of the authorities for the contribution of Evangelicals to the solution of the social problems – such as street children, substance abuse, homelessness and illiteracy.

Challenges for Prayer

1 Recognition of the wrongs committed against the indigenous population over 500 years, and reconciliation after a generation of war with atrocities on both sides has to be faced and carried through to closure of the past. The part played by the USA in arming the oppressors and turning a blind eye to human rights abuses has only been partially acknowledged. There must be a recognition of the multi-cultural character of the country. Christians have an essential role in this. Pray especially for evangelical leaders from both Mayan and Spanish-speaking communities as they work toward the healing of the nation.

2 The Catholic Church has declined in influence and numbers. Defection to Evangelicals and to a revived Mayan religion has been massive. Espousal of liberation theology by some priests and the efforts to discipline the large charismatic renewal movement have further hastened the decline with many charismatics starting new churches or joining evangelical denominations. Pray for new life to permeate the Church, and that charismatics may be rooted in Scripture rather than subjective experience.

3 Widespread evangelism is by many means – city crusades, nation-wide efforts, 20 Christian high schools, two Christian television channels, many local Christian radio stations, numerous Christian magazines and newspapers as well as the fervent personal witness of individual Christians. Pray that the fruit may be conserved, the believers matured, and the new generation won for Christ. Shallow professions of faith and an increased rate of backsliding are becoming common as Evangelicals become more 'popular'.

4 Vision for advance was stimulated by national and international conferences over the past 20 years. There are now over 17,000 evangelical congregations. Pray that:

a) Guatemala become the first country with over 50% Evangelicals within the next 20 years.

b) Every community might have an evangelical congregation. There is one town, Almolonga, that is reckoned to be 60% Evangelical.

c) PLAN 1000 DIAS of COICOM is the major cooperative thrust of evangelical churches in 2000-2002.

Pray that unity among evangelical leaders might continue to improve and be maintained – an aim of the Evangelical Alliance of Guatemala.

5 Leadership training is well provided for with six seminaries (notably the Central American Theological Seminary founded by CAMI and now under Guatemalan leadership with 1,700 graduates in 26 countries), numerous denominational Bible schools (including 27 of AoG) and over six TEE programmes. TEE was pioneered here by Presbyterians in the 1960s and has now spread worldwide. Pray for humble and effective leaders who will rise above the pettiness, divisions and carnality now all too common in the Body of Christ. Pray also for effective ways of training leaders for rural churches.

6 Mayan culture has had a re-birth with the recovery of their ancient civilization (science, mathematics and writings) which emerged during the war. For some, this has led to a resurrection of the old, long-submerged Mayan religion, but to others a blossoming of indigenous Christianity with the many new translations of the Bible in their languages. Churches among the Mam, Quiche, Kekchi and others have grown rapidly and there has been outreach to every tribe. Notable in this have been the Presbyterians, CAMI, CoN, UWM and the Mennonites. Pray for these churches to become mature, effectively-led and a vital contribution to the Church in the nation.

7 Bible Translation. SIL has made a significant contribution to 38 Amerindian peoples in providing New Testaments for many of them. Work is in progress in a further 17. SIL has made the decision to hand over all remaining translation projects to national believers. Pray for the successful completion and effective use of these translations.

8 The less reached:

a) Amerindian peoples with fewer active believers – the Pocomam, Pocomchi, Ixil, Jacaltec, Chorti and Upsantec have shown less response to the gospel yet there are active, growing churches among them.

b) Garifuna (Black Carib) who are descendants of Africans and Carib Amerindians. The JESUS film has been dubbed in their language, and the whole Bible is in preparation.

c) The Chinese – there is only one small fellowship of believers known.

d) Students are a ripe field; both CCCI and GEU(IFES) have campus ministries. The GEU has a strong evangelistic ministry and also a weekly radio outreach.

e) Children in crisis – 27% of the under-5's are underweight; there are 56,000 war orphans and over 5,000 street children in the capital. The latter have been severely traumatized and persecuted. Pray for local and international ministries seeking to help them.

9 The Guatemalan missionary movement began in 1982 with a vision for the world. In 1984 the Agencia Misionera Evangélica (AME) was founded and since then other denominational and international missions have been launched. There are at least three missionary training centres. CONEMM (the National Commission of Mission to the World) coordinates the national missions effort. More than 100 cross-cultural missionaries have been sent out over the last 15 years, and the momentum is building up.

10 Foreign missions have lavished attention on the land. The hard battles in faith of the pioneers sowed today's harvest. Special note must be made of the Presbyterians, AoG, ICFG, CAMI, Brethren and Nazarene pioneers. Much of foreign input is being phased out, but still there are key areas where mission input is important.

11 Christian media:

a) The JESUS film has been widely used by many churches. It is available in 9 languages and is in preparation in a further 26.

b) Christian TV/Radio programmes are widely available on national and local stations. TWR and HCJB cooperate in using satellite broadcasting to Guatemala.

c) Audio cassettes are vital for the many illiterates. GRN has recorded 42 out of the 52 languages. Scripture tapes produced by SIL and others are a key contribution to teaching.

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