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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Highland Mazatec of Mexico

The Highland Mazatec of Mexico, numbering approximately 186,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Mexico and can also be known as Huatla Mazatec, Mazateco, Shuta Enima. They are an Indigenous people, with Mazatec as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Zapotec people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Catholicism. They primarily speak Mazatec, Huautla.

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Anonymous

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Zapotec
Primary Language(s): Mazatec, Huautla (mau)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 186,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG033553
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Pray for the Highland Mazatec of Mexico

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

86%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mazatec, Huautla
Language Family: Otomanguean

95%
%
Mazatec, Huautla Speakers

Media Resources in Mazatec, Huautla:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mazatec, Huautla:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mazatec, Huautla bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Moderately Reached People Group, (LPI: 5), 6% to 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical (GSEC: 5), this people group is greater than or equal to 5% evangelical

Next steps for the Highland Mazatec:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Highland Mazatec 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.

Next steps for the Highland Mazatec:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Highland Mazatec 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.

Next steps for the Highland Mazatec:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Highland Mazatec of Mexico

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
readPsalm 150:2

Pray for the gospel to advance among those who are living in darkness. Pray that they will come to know Jesus and praise Him for all that He has done.

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
readHebrews 10:35

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hold unswervingly to their faith and to their confidence in Christ, which has a great reward.

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations.
readPsalm 67:1-2

Pray that as God blesses believers from among this people group or from nearby cultures, He will raise them up to share His saving power among the nations.

Mazatec, Huautla Across Countries (ROP3 - 103771) 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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