The Tzeltal of United States

The Tzeltal of United States, numbering approximately 86,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Maya people indigenous to the highlands of chiapas in Mexico. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Tzeltal is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Tzeltal

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Maya
Primary Language(s): Tzeltal (tzh)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 86,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG049313
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tzeltal of United States

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

51%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tzeltal
Language Family: Mayan

91%
%
Tzeltal Speakers

Media Resources in Tzeltal:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Tzeltal:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2006 Bible Society of Mexico✓
2001 Bible Society of Mexico✓

2 entries

Or check out the Tzeltal bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tzeltal 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.

Next steps for the Tzeltal:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Tzeltal of United States

For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
readEphesians 5:8

Pray that those who are lost will turn from the darkness they are walking in and embrace the light, becoming children of light who bear fruit in every good work.

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
readPsalm 150:2

Pray for the gospel to advance among those who are living in darkness. Pray that they will come to know Jesus and praise Him for all that He has done.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
readDeuteronomy 7:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know God's faithful love and keep His commandments, experiencing His steadfast care.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Tzeltal Across Countries (ROP3 - 103775) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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 Data Standards section.

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