Church of God In Guatemala Celebrates 80 Years
The Church of God of in Guatemala, Central America will be celebrating its 80th anniversary, Friday, April 13, 2012. The first Pentecostal church in Guatemala was planted on Wednesday, April 13, 1932 in the charming city of Totonicapán. This congregation served as the powerful instrument that the Lord would use to break many religious and economic barriers to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to every segment of Guatemala’s culture and societal structure. Many devoted pioneers were wholly dedicated to this missionary enterprise, including Thomas Pulllin, Carlos and Carolina Furman, among other Pentecostal pioneers.
“The evangelistic fervor that was birthed eighty years ago in the Guatemalan Church of God has expressed itself in many ways including sending missionaries to its neighboring Central American countries, Europe; and, just a few months ago it adopted seven unreached people groups in Rajastan, North India. God has blessed and prospered the Church of God in Guatemala with more than 240,000 members, 3400 credentialed ministers and 3300 churches,” said Carlos S. Moran, director of Hispanic Ministries for the Church of God.
According to Moran, there are about a million Guatemalans living in the United States. Many of them make California, New York, Illinois and Texas their home. Most of our Spanish-speaking congregations in the United States include Guatemalans and in a few instances, a congregation may be comprised primarily of indigenous Guatemalans whose first language is a dialect like Quiche or Mam. These members of the Church of God are first-generation migrants that represent the various indigenous populations of Guatemala. As they acculturate they eventually learn Spanish and English as secondary languages. Moreover, Hispanic pastors of Guatemalan descent have headed successful church plants in the United States. For example, Pedro Urias leads a congregation of about 800 members in the Northeastern Hispanic Region. Carlos Ramirez of Dallas, Texas leads a congregation of about 400 members that has planted a few churches in the Dallas-Forth Worth area.
“We join the Latin American Church of God in congratulating our brothers and sisters in Guatemala as they celebrate their 80th anniversary,” Moran concluded. “We pray the Lord would continue to use them to fulfill the Great Commission in the power of Pentecost.”
