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Belize today.

Belize in the 18th century.

Toledo District.

San Jose Village (2005).

Geography -

With an area of 22,965 sq. km, Belize is bordered by the Caribbean on its east cost, Mexico to the north, and Guatemala to the west and south. It has the world's second-largest coral reef. The capital city is Belmopan (pop. 6,817). As a former British colony, Belize is primarily an English speaking country. However, one will often hear Indian dialects, Spanish, Creole, and even German.

Population -

Belize is Central America's most sparsely populated country, having only about 250,000 people (10 per sq. km).

Challenges for Prayer -

1.   Belizeans are largely professing Christians, but nominalism and syncretism (the combining of Christianity and local non-Christian religious practices) are common. 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 five-fold increase in congregations since 1960.

     Evangelicals have steadily grown from 4.6% in 1960 to 14% in 2000. There has been exceptional growth in some denominations. Challenges to be tackled:

a) Few full-time workers, most must work part-time due to lack of congregational support.

b) Much evangelism but little evidence of 'converts’ in the churches because of poor follow-up.

c) The 'rice-bowl' syndrome of people attending church services only to receive handouts. This is largely due to unorganized and short-sighted mission work, which has contributed greatly to the nominalism in the nation.

3.   Cultural diversity and denominational variety make unity and common goals for Christians difficult to attain. Pray for:

a) The Mennonites, many of whom live in introspective communities with their own dialect of German. Belize has a higher percentage of Mennonites than any other country. Pray for revival in their communities.

b) Effective fellowship between Spanish- and English-speaking believers.

4.   The less-reached:

a) The Mayan peoples — there are 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 Chinese have increased through immigration from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, but only a few are evangelical believers.

d) The East Indians are almost entirely Muslim or Hindu.

*Information in this report has been taken from the Operation World prayer book.