The Church of the Nazarene’s MAC Central Field is composed of the three countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

The Church of the Nazarene came to Guatemala in 1904.  November 10 of that year, Rev. Richard S. Anderson and his wife Ana Maude arrived in Puerto Barrios.  Later they moved to Livingston, a place where they established an English-speaking congregation.  In 1905, they moved to Alta Verapaz. 

Along with missionary Thomas Butler, Anderson began to visit places near the department head (similar to a state capital) of Alta Verapaz, Cobán.  This began the work of the Church of the Nazarene in Northeastern Guatemala.

In 1957, God laid it on the hearts of the Guatemalan Nazarenes that they should travel to El Salvador.  That year, the first attempt was made to open the Nazarene mission in this country.  This effort was initiated by Robert Ingram’s family (North American), Federico Guillermo (Guatemalan) and eight others from the missionary council of Guatemala.

Amidst the chaos of the 1960s a second attempt was made.  The superintendent Federico Guillermo promoted the idea of sending the Guatemalan missionaries Ernestina López and Amparo Ruano, who arrived in El Salvador on May 1, 1964.  The time passed quickly, and two years later on February 25, 1967, the First Church of the Nazarene in El Salvador was organized with 29 full voting members.

In 1969, Rev. James Hudson, Dr. William Sedat, Stan and Norma Storey, Lorenzo Bryant and his wife, Samuel Heap and his wife, and Nazarenes from Guatemala and El Salvador, made an exploratory trip to Honduras.  Later they made an evaluation and analysis regarding the city where they would begin the work and who would be responsible.  This first visit allowed for the opening of the Church of the Nazarene in Honduras.

Two years later, Rev. James Hudson sent the pastor Danilo Sólis to the city of San Pedro Sula to plant the first Church of the Nazarene in Barrio Guamilito.  In July of 1973 the Department of Nazarene World Missions sent the first missionary, Rev. Stanley Storey to lead the mission in Honduras.  In 1989, sixteen years after opening the work in Honduras, they began making the transition to hand the leadership over to the nationals.

Today the Church of the Nazarene in MAC Central has 15 districts, 653 churches and 78,369 full members.

The Church on the Central Field is a healthy church, but the challenges are still great.  Our call is to respond to each need of the people we serve in a holistic manner.  We pray that God would give guidance and wisdom to respond to the challenge that He has given us.

 

Theological Institutions:

Nazarene Bible Institute; Cobán, Guatemala

Nazarene Theological Seminary of Guatemala; Guatemala City, Guatemala