The Yucatec are a Mayan indigenous group who have migrated from the Yucatec peninsula and who maintain their pre-Columbian language and culture. They are an ancient people who survived disaster, drought, internal struggles, and ultimately, the Spanish colonization of their homelands in the Mexican states of Yucatán and Quintana Roo and the country of Belize.
The Yucatec are often not heavily integrated into the majority hispanicized Mestizo culture and continue a more traditional, culturally distinct life with a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs resulting from the merger of pre-Columbian and post-Conquest ideas and cultures.
The primary religion practiced by the Yucatec is ethnic Mayan religion rooted in the reverence of their gods and spirits in nature. Mayan religion is expressed through traditional rites, customs, and worldview, and conversion to Christianity essentially equates to cultural assimilation. Yucatec speak their native Yucateco language, and may also speak Spanish.
Yucatec have immigrated to the USA in significant numbers due to economic, social, and political challenges in their homelands. Numerous Mayan cultural associations exist in the USA with the goal of promoting and preserving Mayan culture, language, and religion, and Yucatec may be found participating in these associations.
Prayer Points
Pray for Yucatec believers to boldly proclaim the gospel to their people.
Pray that the barriers of traditional Yucatec Mayan religion would be broken down.
Pray for more workers for the harvest, both for the Yucatec in the United States, as well as those in their countries of origin.
Learning Resources
Learn more about "Learning Paths" Online Courses for embracing, encountering and engaging diaspora people. Work at your own pace. Begin anytime and complete the course according to your schedule. Interactive, Hands-On Application.
Learn more about "Reaching the Nations" This book delineates five disciplines Christians should develop in order to effectively reach the nations. More specifically, it will guide Christians to develop an engagement strategy in their locale.
"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb."