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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Tzeltal of Mexico

The Tzeltal of Mexico, numbering approximately 843,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Maya people indigenous to the highlands of chiapas in Mexico. They are an Indigenous people, in the Maya people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Folk Catholicism. They primarily speak Tzeltal.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Lon&Queta - Flickr Lon&Queta - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: American Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Maya
Primary Language(s): Tzeltal (tzh)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Folk Catholicism
Population: 843,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG039165
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Tzeltal of Mexico

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tzeltal
Language Family: Mayan

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Media Resources in Tzeltal:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Tzeltal:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tzeltal bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Tzeltal

The Tzeltal 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 Tzeltal

The Tzeltal 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 Tzeltal

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.

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 Tzeltal of Mexico

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
readLuke 15:7

Pray that God will convict the lost of their sin, give them an urgency to run to Him for forgiveness, and feel His welcoming arms around them when they turn to Him.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
readMatthew 13:8-9

Pray that they will have open hearts and minds to the Word of God, and that it will take root in their lives and bear fruit for His glory.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
readMatthew 6:9b-10

Pray that God will raise up Christians who are driven by a desire to see God's name worshiped, His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Ask Him to send them to the lost in this people group and sustain them.

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

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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