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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Purepecha of United States

The Purepecha of United States, numbering approximately 13,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Amerindian group indigenous to the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico and can also be known as Tarascan. They are an Diaspora people, in the Central American Indigenous people cluster of the Latin-Caribbean Americans affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Purepecha.

Purepecha in United States photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Kerry Olson Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: American Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Central American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Purepecha (tsz)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Population: 13,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047225

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Pray for the Purepecha of United States

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Roman Cath… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Purepecha
Language Family: Tarascan

%
Purepecha Speakers

Media Resources in Purepecha:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Purepecha:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Purepecha bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Purepecha

The Purepecha are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Purepecha

The Purepecha are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Next steps for the Purepecha

The Purepecha are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Purepecha of United States

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise).
readEphesians 6:1-2

Pray that God will bring young men and women to faith in Jesus and that the fruit of their faith will be a powerful testimony as they honor their parents. 

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
readPsalm 51:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence that God has turned His face from their sins and forgiven their iniquities.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Purepecha reported in the following countries (ROP3):

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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