March - 06

COUNTRY :BELIZE Population 201,000 Peoples Afro-Caribbean/Eurafrican 38%. Mainly English-speaking. Mestizo/Ladino 34%. Predominantly Guatemalans and Hondurans, with considerable illegal immigration in the '80s. Amerindian 10.5%. Mayan tribes speaking three distinct languages. Garifuna (Black Carib) 7.6%. Descendants of African slaves and Arawakan Indians. European 4.2% Mainly German Mennonites and British. Other 5.7%. East Indian 3,800; Chinese 2,500; Jews 2,100. Literacy 93%. Official language: English; Spanish spoken by 50% of the population. All languages 9. Languages with Scriptures 2Bi 5NT. Cities Belmopan 3,700. Largest town: Belize 74,000. Urbanization 52%. Economy Underdeveloped yet relatively prosperous. Public debt/person $694. Income/person $1,600 (7.6% of USA). Politics Independence from Britain in 1981 as a parliamentary democracy. British forces remain to prevent annexation by neighbouring Guatemala. Religion A secular state with freedom of religion. Non-religious/other 2.4%. Spiritist/Animist 2%. Hindu 1%. Muslim 1%. Baha'i 1%. Jews 0.5%. Christian 92.1%. Growth 3.4%. Protestant 25.7%. Growth 3.2%. Roman Catholic 64.3%. Growth 3.3%. Marginal 2.1%. Growth 9.5%. 1. The evangelical witness is strong, with most of the mission work of the Baptists, Brethren, Mennonites, Nazarenes and Pentecostals being evangelical. Denominational barriers are high; pray for a breakdown of rivalry and mistrust and the growth of a vision for the completion of the evangelization of every ethnic group and immigrant minority. The Catholic Church is growing through immigration from neighbouring Central American lands. 2. Much of Christianity is nominal and syncretic. The Spanish-speaking immigrants with their superstitions and superficiality, the Mayans with their underlying paganism, and the Garifuna with their black magic -- each need a culturally relevant and sensitive presentation of the gospel. Many settlements still need church-planting ministry, despite the threefold increase in congregations since 1960. 3. The less reached groups. a) The Mayan Mopan (2,500) have only a few Nazarene and Mennonite believers. b) The Garifuna have had their own NT since 1983. Their strong animistic culture has only been marginally penetrated (CoN, Brethren). There are some Nazarene and Brethren believers among them. c) The East Indians and Chinese have no one focused on their evangelization.