People group profile · PG024747
The Tacaneco Mam of Guatemala
The Tacaneco Mam of Guatemala, numbering about 41,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Mam-related people of Guatemala's San Marcos highlands near the Mexican border, whose hunter-gatherer way of life ended with Cortes's 1523 conquest, which killed 90 percent of the population within a century.
They are an indigenous people in the Maya people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Catholicism, and they primarily speak Mam.
Fast facts
- Country
- Guatemala
- Population
- 41,000
- Affinity group
- American Peoples
- People cluster
- Maya
- Primary language
- Mam (mam)
- Primary religion
- Folk Catholicism
- Strategic Progress Index
- No Longer Unreached
- Evangelical
- 15% or Greater but Less than 20%
- GSEC
- 10% or Greater Evangelical
- Lostness priority
- Moderately Reached People Group
- Region
- Central America, Americas
- Location
- Huehuetenango department: San Sebastián and other towns; Quetzaltenango and Retalhuleu departments; San Marcos department: Ixchiguán, San Juan Ostuncalco, San Martín Sacatepéquez, Sibinal, Tectitán. Dialects in San Miguel Ixtahuacán (18,000) and Concepci
Where they live
Gospel status
The Tacaneco Mam are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical.
- Congregations exist Yes
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Tacaneco Mam
- 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
50% adherents
Primary language
Mam · Mayan family
70% speak Mam
Gospel resources in Mam
- Bible available, published 2013
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs not available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Films
Bibles
- 1980 Bible Society of Guatemala · audio
- 1993 Bible Society of Guatemala · audio
- 2000 Wycliffe Bible Translators · video, audio, text
- 2008 Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc. · audio, text
- 2009 Bible Society of Guatemala · audio
- Asociación Educativa y Cultural Maya · audio, text
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Tacaneco Mam
- Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
- Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
- Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
- John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
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