People group profile · PG039225
The Tejalapan Zapotec of Mexico
The Tejalapan Zapotec of Mexico, numbering about 5,300 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indigenous people of southern Mexico, primarily concentrated in the state of Oaxaca, with a long history of cultural continuity from pre-Columbian times to the present.
They are an indigenous people in the Zapotec people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Catholicism, and they primarily speak Spanish.

Fast facts
- Country
- Mexico
- Population
- 5,300
- Affinity group
- American Peoples
- People cluster
- Zapotec
- Primary language
- Spanish (spa)
- Primary religion
- Folk Catholicism
- Strategic Progress Index ?
- Engaged yet Unreached
- Evangelical
- Less than 2%
- GSEC ?
- Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
- Lostness priority ?
- Frontier Unreached People Group
- Region
- Central America, Americas
- Location
- Oaxaca: Etla district, San Felipe Tejalapan
Where they live
Gospel status
The Tejalapan Zapotec are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.
- Congregations exist No
- Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted
Next steps for the Tejalapan Zapotec
- 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
Primary religion
Folk Catholicism · Christianity
94% adherents
Primary language
Spanish · Indo-European family
100% speak Spanish
Gospel resources in Spanish
- Bible available
- JESUS Film available
- Radio programs available
- Gospel recordings available
- Audio resources available
- Bible stories not available
Films
- Magdalena (Spanish, Castilian)
- Magdalena (Spanish, Latin American)
- The Savior (Spanish, Latin American)
Bibles
- 1569 Sagradas Escrituras · text
- 1602 Reina-Valera Antigua · text
- Biblia de América · video, audio, text
- Dios Habla Hoy · audio
- La Biblia · text
- La Palabra de Dios para Todos · audio
- La Santa Biblia, Nueva Versión Internacional® · video
- Lenguaje Actual · audio
- Reina Valera 1995 · audio
- Reina Valera Contemporánea · video
- Reina Valera, Revisada y Corregida (1865) · text
- The Word of God for All - 2000 World Bible Translation Center · audio, text
- The Word of God for All 2014 · audio, text
Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.
Pray for the Tejalapan Zapotec
- John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
- 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.
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