Guatemala is the northernmost country in Central America. Its 42,000 square miles are made up of high mountains, volcanoes, jungles, costal plains and tropical forests. Guatemala could fit into the area of Canada 92 times, and yet has a population of 13 million, approximately one third the population of Canada.Twenty-three different indigenous people groups inhabit rural Guatemala. These groups each have their own languages, and some have as many as ten different dialects.  This diversity has lead to cultural, social and economic isolation. As a result, the rural, native people of Guatemala have many needs.

The indigenous people have suffered greatly as a result of the 36 years of civil war. Many children have lost parents, witnessed atrocities and grown up in an atmosphere of fear and apprehension. The country's preoccupation with internal conflict has drained its resources and rural medical services and educational facilities are inadequate or nonexistent.

Guatemala was freed of Spanish colonial rule in 1821. During the second half of the 20th century, it experienced a variety of military and civilian governments as well as a 36-year guerrilla war. In 1996, the government signed a peace agreement formally ending the conflict, which had led to the death of more than 200,000 people and created some 1 million refugees.

To learn more about Guatemala, visit these websites:

CIA World Factbook
Infoplease
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Impact Ministries is working in the mountainous Tactic area (pronounced 'tahk-teek' with the emphasis on the second syllable) focusing on the Q'eqchí and Poqomchí people. 27,000 people populate the municipality of Tactic. In the rural areas around Tactic, more than 80 percent of the people are illiterate and this debilitates and isolates them from the 'outside' world. Impact Ministries' primary goal is to open up the Word of God to these precious people through Christian School Education.

The people of Tactic are very, very poor. The average man in Tactic earns a wage of 35 Quetzals ($5 Canadian) for an 8-hour day of heavy farm labor, dairy work or cutting and selling firewood. Many families have 5 -7 children and approximately 40% of these children are living in a home with only one parent. Many parents don't understand the value of education and prefer to put their children to work, to help earn money to sustain the family. Often, these children have never had a pencil or crayon in their hand.

Guatemala has seen a revival that has brought more than 35% of the people into evangelical Christianity. Tactic, on the other hand, has been dominated by a religion that combines Roman Catholicism, ancient Mayan traditions and witchcraft. This oppressive religious spirit has kept them in fear, bondage and ignorance. Although the evangelical churches of Tactic have grown in number and size, today, only 16% of the people in the Tactic area are Christians. Impact Ministries is committed to loving, serving and discipling the people of Tactic.

To learn more about Tactic, visit these websites:

Spanish site on the Municipality of Tactic
Same site as above (translated into English by Google)
Weather in Tactic from fallingrain.com