The Eastern Kanjobal of Guatemala

The Eastern Kanjobal of Guatemala, numbering approximately 227,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Mayan ethnic group indigenous to the Huehuetenango department of northern Guatemala. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Q'anjob'al is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Guatemala
People Cluster: Maya
Primary Language(s): Q'anjob'al (kjb)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 227,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024729
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Pray for the Eastern Kanjobal of Guatemala

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Q'anjob'al
Language Family: Mayan

80%
%
Q’anjob’al Speakers

Media Resources in Q'anjob'al:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Q'anjob'al:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1989 Bible Society of Guatemala✓

1 entry

Or check out the Q'anjob'al bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Eastern Kanjobal 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.

Next steps for the Eastern Kanjobal:
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

Pray specifically for the Eastern Kanjobal of Guatemala

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or?rulers?or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
readColossians 1:16

Pray for those who are lost among them, that they will come to know the One who created all things and holds all things together.

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

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.

Kanjobal, Eastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 102845) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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