Western Kanjobal of Guatemala (PGID: PG024701)

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Western Kanjobal of Guatemala

The Western Kanjobal of Guatemala, numbering approximately 72,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Mayan people of Guatemala's Huehuetenango Department centered on San Miguel Acatan, whose Akateko language split from the Qanjobalan language group between 1400 and 1500 AD, later disrupted by displacement during the Guatemalan Civil War. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Western Kanjobal is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Acateco

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Guatemala
People Cluster: Maya
Primary Language(s): Western Kanjobal (knj)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 72,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG024701
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Pray for the Western Kanjobal of Guatemala

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

70%

Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Western Kanjobal
Language Family: Mayan

84%

Akateko Speakers

Media Resources in Western Kanjobal:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Western Kanjobal:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
2001 Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc.		✓	✓
2016 Asociación Educativa y Cultural Maya		✓	✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Western Kanjobal bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Western Kanjobal 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 Western Kanjobal:

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 Western Kanjobal of Guatemala

Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
Isaiah 45:24

Pray that those who are weary and burdened by their own righteousness will find rest in the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ alone.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12

Pray for God's Word to be accessible to everyone in this people group in a way they will resonate with so that many will engage with it, receive it, and share it with others.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
Lamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
Mark 7:15

Pray for Christians to take any opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with lost people here, praying they will be wise like Jesus as they share the truth about what can defile people and what can make them clean.

Kanjobal, Western Across Countries (ROP3 - 110785) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

2 people groups

Photo	People Group ID	Name	Country	Population	Strategic Progress Index ▲	Language	Religion
	PG024701	Western Kanjobal	Guatemala	72,000	No Longer Unreached	Western Kanjobal	Folk Catholicism
	PG039087	Kanjobal	Mexico	10,500	No Longer Unreached	Spanish	Folk Catholicism

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