People group profile · PG024702
The Achi of Guatemala
The Achi of Guatemala, numbering about 176,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Maya people of Baja Verapaz who conquered the region from Poqom speakers in the late 1300s to found their capital Kajyub, still performing the centuries-old Rabinal Achi dance drama, the only pre-Columbian dynastic theater to survive intact.
They are an indigenous people in the Central American Indigenous people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Catholicism, and they primarily speak Achi.
Fast facts
- Country
- Guatemala
- Population
- 176,000
- Affinity group
- American Peoples
- People cluster
- Central American Indigenous
- Primary language
- Achi (acr)
- Primary religion
- Folk Catholicism
- Strategic Progress Index
- No Longer Unreached
- Evangelical
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5%
- GSEC
- 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
- Lostness priority
- Minimally Reached People Group
- Region
- Central America, Americas
- Location
- Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, and El Progreso departments; Quiché department: Uspantan municipality
Where they live
Gospel status
The Achi are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Achi
- Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
- Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
- Send out laborers from this people to the nations
Primary religion
Folk Catholicism · Christianity
95% adherents
Primary language
Achi · Mayan family
77% speak Achi
Gospel resources in Achi
- Bible available, published 2019
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Films
Bibles
- 1992 Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc. · video, audio, text
- 2009 Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc. · video, audio, text
- 2009 Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc. · video, audio, text
- Asociación Educativa y Cultural Maya · audio, text
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Achi
- 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
- Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
- Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.
- Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.
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