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For part of Pastor Elfre’s story, please see
and the brujos in Guatemala
Brujos (witches) have a significant influence in Guatemala, especially in the state of Santa Rosa SE of Guatemala City, in which Nuevo Tulate is located.
Guazacapán is near Chiquimulilla, is primarily Xinca and known as Tierra de los Brujos/Land of the Witches, and is not far from Guanagazapa and Nuevo Tulate.
Nuevo Tulate is one of 3 small aldeas (villages) next to each other; the others are Guaymango and Brasil. The later two are primarily Nativo; Pocomam & Xinca. Brujos live in Guaymango.
In 2019 the ministry supporting the church and Pastor Elfre chose to abandon the effort, much to his disappointment and of the people.
Then the Pandemic hit. Latinos had an increased risk of severe illness and death, and Guatemala was hit particularly hard.
We had planned a trip in April of 2020, but in February visits and non-essential travel were prohibited. Businesses & offices were closed, and the streets were deserted. This had a devastating financial impact on the people, many of whom were day laborers; working today, then being paid today, so they could buy food tonight. No work meant no money. Closed tiendas meant no money for the proprietors. Food delivery was also affected.
In 2020 & 2021 we helped Pastor Elfre purchase and distribute food for the people in Nuevo Tulate. He was able to travel despite the restrictions as “Ayuda Humanitaria” (Humanitarian Help).
In 2021 Pastor Elfre started Iglesia Camino, Verdad y Vida, Ministerios de Gracia with our monthly support; in an abandoned house, with which he shared bats, snakes & scorpions at night!
Opposition from the brujos started immediately, with both personal physical threats and curses. He would find a small basket on the church doorway with a lemon cut in half, then cut again to make a cross, with chrysanthemum flowers.
In November we were able to travel and distribute food and clothing at the church
I asked Pastor Elfre to take me, Pastor Mauro and Pastor Medardo to Guaymango so we could pray to not only bind Satan and the witches, but to “open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Jesus].” (Acts 26:18)
On the way back to the truck I saw the left taillight glowing like fire. The truck was not running, the lights were not one, and the taillight was not in the sun.
Betty sitting at the church with Lourdes, Cesar, Osmin, Pastor Mauro in the truck, Hanny & Nathaly
I didn’t know what to do…so I prayed.
We left Nuevo Tulate on the way to San Luis (about 1 1/2 hour away) and almost to San Luis Osmin stopped the truck and said the clutch was frozen. We waited for some time for it to cool, and were then able to drive to Pastor Jose’s church and home where we spent the night. I was able to call Beth and asked her to send out an emergency prayer request email.
The next morning we drove to Casillas, on a winding mountain road between Chiquimulilla and Barberena. In the middle-of-nowhere the clutch froze again. The road had no shoulder, and all Osmin could do was to pull to the side while trucks whizzed past us. And the taillight was glowing again! After a bit, the clutch released, we made it a few more miles, and it happened again…and the taillight was glowing again. It happened one more time before we limped into Casillas.
The next day Osmin, who is a trained mechanic, changed the fluid in the clutch.
On the drive to Guatemala City the clutch froze again, on another winding mountain road with no shoulder, but we did make it to Las Vistas eventually.
The next month, one of the brujos DIED, which got the attention of the community. And shortly thereafter his wife, Lis, joyfully joined the church and has been a faithful member ever since.
In 2022 a church member gave a piece of land, and men in the church built a building
In March 2023 we made another trip to Nuevo Tulate and this time Pastors Elfre, Mauro & Medardo and I followed a dirt path to the site in Guaymango where the brujos have ceremonies and sacrificed chickens.
It was simply a flat place, with no visible alter, but did have an odd stele on the far left of the image. The day was warm, with no wind, but as we were standing there a cold wind started to blow in our faces, and two white pigs ran past.
We prayed, earnestly, and left.
The next weekend Pastor Elfre was met on the road into Nuevo Tulate by the brujos, with machetes, and they said “OK. You leave us alone and we’ll leave you alone.” And the open threats stopped.
This is the church in January 2024, with the team.
Lis, with a big smile, is on the far left & Pastor Elfre on right. The church had also built a small casita (far left) for Pastor Elfre.
In February 2025 shortly after our trip to Guatemala, Pastor Elfre, in his mid-50s, was found dead in his little cell phone repair shop in Las Margaritas (down the hill from Las Vistas). The coroner’s certificate stated that his death was presumed to be a sudden cardiac event.
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