Tricksters, Gods, and Global Pentecostalism in Almolonga, Guatemala

Chapter 2 visits the Guatemalan village of Almolonga, a K’iche’ Maya town known throughout the region both as the “food basket of Central America” and the “city of miracles” due to its high economic productivity and overall prosperity. Residents of Almolonga, who are overwhelmingly Pentecostals, attribute their success to the global Pentecostal practice of Spiritual Warfare. In return for casting out the demons and pre-Hispanic idols that controlled their town and reclaiming it in the name of Jesus, Alamogueños believe that God has transformed their village beyond measure, building a religious modernity that both reified their local Maya habitus even as it directly repudiates key elements for their traditional identity.