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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Western Tarahumara of Mexico

The Western Tarahumara of Mexico, numbering approximately 25,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Tarahumara (Rarámuri) people in northern Mexico, distinguished primarily by their use of the Western Tarahumara dialect of the Rarámuri language and can also be known as Ralámuli. They are an Indigenous people, in the Aztec people cluster of the Latin-Caribbean Americans affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Folk Catholicism. They primarily speak Spanish.

Western Tarahumara in Mexico photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Mike Huckaby - Flickr Mike Huckaby - Flickr Licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: American Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Aztec
Primary Language(s): Spanish (spa)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Folk Catholicism
Population: 25,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG024940
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Western Tarahumara of Mexico

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Folk Catho… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Spanish
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Spanish Speakers

Media Resources in Spanish:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Spanish:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Spanish bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Western Tarahumara

The Western Tarahumara 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 Western Tarahumara

The Western Tarahumara 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 Western Tarahumara

The Western Tarahumara 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 Western Tarahumara of Mexico

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRom 6:23

Pray that those who haven't heard yet will hear and believe that the wages of their sin†is†death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.
readHebrews 10:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will love and encourage one another, spurring each other on to live lives that honor God.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:19-20

Ask God to bring people among this group to faith in Jesus who will be obedient to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded.

Tarahumara, Baja (ROP3 - 110804) 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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