Purepecha, Sierra Occidental in Mexico

People Name:	Purepecha, Sierra Occidental
Country:	Mexico
10/40 Window:	No
Population:	223,000
World Population:	276,000
Primary Language:	Purepecha, Western Highland
Primary Religion:	Ethnic Religions
Christian Adherents:	45.00 %
Evangelicals:	5.00 %
Scripture:	New Testament
Ministry Resources:	Yes
Jesus Film:	No
Audio Recordings:	Yes
People Cluster:	Central American Indigenous, other
Affinity Bloc:	Latin-Caribbean Americans
Progress Level:

Introduction / History

The Western Highland Purepecha were christianized as part of Spanish Conquista. The church ideas were assimilated by Purepecha people but not understood well until the 20th century. Mass was held in Latin until the 1950s, then Spanish. More recently Mass is sometimes in Purepecha but usually still in Spanish. Evanglicals use more Purepecha, but even there it is often Spanish because there are no Bible schools in Purepecha yet.

Scripture portions were translated in the 1580s, the New Testament in 1968 and the whole Bible is now being translated as a United Bible Society project. The people are open to the Gospel when presented appropriately. The Purepecha are mostly modernized (mobile phones, CD, television, radio, post-secondary education, etc.) but there are also areas that are still less developed (no plumbing, minimal education, etc.).