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Mexico's Riches is in its
People
 MAP OF THE MOTHER
TONGUES FROM WHICH HUNDREDS OF VARIATIONS ARE
SPOKEN
53 major family groups with 285 variants
From 13 unreached,
10 of them have
no missionaries in the field
When it comes to ethnic
missions...
WE DON'T HAVE TO GO VERY
FAR!
Just look at the tribal
groups we have in Mexico!
AMUZGO-CHATINO-CHIAPANECO-CHICHIMECA-CHICOMUCELTEC-CHINANTECO-
CHOCHO-CH'OL-CHONTAL- OCAPÁ-COCHIMÍ-CORA-CUICATECO-HUARIJÍO-
HUASTECO-HUAVE-HUICHOL-IXCATECO-KICKAPU -KILIWA-KUMIÁI-LACADON-
MATLAZINCA-MAYA-MAYO-MAZAHUA-MAZATECO-MIXE-MIXTECO-MOCHO-
NAHUATL-
OPATA-OTOMÍ-PAIPAI-PAME-PÁPAGO-PIMA-POPOLOCA-POPOLUCA-
PURÉPECHA-SERI-TARAHUMARA
(Raramuri)- TEPEHUA-TEPEHUÁN-TLAPANECO-TOJOLABAL-TOTONACA-
TRIQUI-TZELTAL-TZOTZIL-YAQUI-ZAPOTECO-ZOQUE.
After over
60 years of missionary and Evangelical Ministry effort many of these
groups have received the Good News with joy. It is estimated that
123 of the 290 groups have been reached. In fact, they have a
percentage of Evangelicals over their national rate. In these groups
their churches are independent, self-governed, and plant other
churches. There are
about 98 ethnic groups considered non-discipled. These have churches
in a development process, but their membership is still low, among
other things, they need to be reached with specific prayer, training
for their Pastors, and use of appropriate equipment. We have to
recognize that the 90% of the evangelization of these groups is
being done by people from the same group, working without any type
of help from outside. Many times these workers have no knowledge of
any resource made in their language such as tapes, New Testaments,
and the movie Jesus which have been translated into their
dialect.
Besides these native
Mexican groups, there are some others that have recently arrived,
such as Chinese, Arabs, who also need missionary work focused on
their needs. We also have some Guatemalans. We call 24 ethnic groups
"unreached" because the seed of the Gospel has not been planted yet,
you may ask why? There are several aspects that take place in these
groups isolation. Among these are the following:
*Geography ŕ Many
of them live in the mountains.
*Language barriers ŕThere
are critical variants in most of the language
families.
*Culture ŕ
Resistance to change, fear for what is outside their atmosphere,
which sometimes turns into hostility.
*Religion ŕThey
have been taught to hate and fear towards Evangelicals, and are
persecuted for religious reasons.
*Politics ŕ Many
people in power that are rather keep their local ethnic groups in
ignorance and poverty.
*Spiritual warfare
ŕ The
practice of witchcraft, santeria, idolatry, old traditions and
superstitions that still linger among them going against the gospel
teachings.
THE CHALLENGE
Missionaries called to work in this field, should be
strong enough to live among these hostile communities, willing to
learn the language and culture, be able to give up their own way of
life and live a humble way of life in service, showing the love of
Christ wisely in a culturally and sensitive way. We will have to
find God's provision, cultural resources that give them a better
understanding of the Word of
Salvation.
CONTACT SPEAR MISSIONS FOR MORE DETAILS
ON SERVING IN SHORT-TERM TRIPS PROGRAMS IN
MEXICO.
For more details on how
to get involved and get to know more about the Native
Indians of Mexico, CLICK
HERE
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