AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for Belize - Latin America

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)

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Belize

Belize

Latin America

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 22,965 sq km
A Caribbean coastal enclave bordering Guatemala and Mexico. It has the world’s second-largest coral barrier reef.
Population: 312,928    Annual Growth: 2.08%
Capital: Belmopan
Urbanites: 52.7%
HDI Rank: 93 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 14 (7% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: English. Spanish spoken by the majority of the population    Languages: 12 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	262,672	83.94	1.9
Evangelicals	58,782	18.8	4.8

Challenges for Prayer

Evangelicals have steadily grown from 4.6% in 1960 to 19% in 2010. Challenges to be tackled:
a) Widespread legalism in churches, where appearances and knowledge hold sway over true spiritual transformation. Pray for revival and a holy dissatisfaction with the spiritual status quo.
b) Pastors are stretched, with 70% of pastors forced to work bivocationally. They recognize a great need for training – but distance and cost prohibit centralized, formal training programmes.
c) Belize is an “over-evangelized” nation with few true disciples and little fruit. A high proportion of Christians are claimed by multiple denominations, but only 10% of the population actually attend regularly – indicating that nominalism is a problem, even among evangelicals.
d) Unity is an uphill battle against significant cultural and denominational diversity. Barriers among churches are formidable and persistent. Pray for initiatives that will break down these walls and draw together Hispanic, English, German and Mayan-speaking believers.
e) The less-reached peoples need clearer and more culturally appropriate ministry. These include the Garifuna, Mayans, Indians (almost entirely Hindu or Muslim) and Chinese.
     For an additional 2 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Belize.