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Hallum says that the NPCs are found in both rural and urban areas and have grown in number among working class and middle-class professional (1993: 6). This Protestant growth has been registered by different scholars since 1980. Garrard-Burnett has made studies about the Protestantism in rural areas of Guatemala (1989a 2007). In both of her works she analyzed why there was growth and expansion.\u000AIn her work on Protestantism in rural areas of Guatemala she supported David Brintnall\u2019s study on the town of Aguacat\u00E1n, Huehuetenango in the 1980s. This author affirms that traditional indigenous peoples consented more to joining the Protestant churches than the new Catholic Churches as they perceived them to be less hostile and more familiar in their local communities (cited in Garrard-Burnett, 1989b: 8-9). Brintnall gave the following principal reasons for this: a) converts continued using their traditional clothes; b) the churches adopted some of the traditional norms of the culture; c) There were activities which substituted the Catholic festivities, and d) they were given power to confront life. In 1960 there were four Protestant churches, in 1980 fifteen churches, and in 1988 a total of 160 churches. Garrard-Burnett says that \u2018Protestantism, on a spiritual and practical level, is both a conduit for change and a mechanism for dealing with crisis the traditional community\u2019 (1989b: 12).\u000AGoldin & Metz in their study on Almolonga analyze the conversion testimonies and the contributions of Protestantism. They say that the indigenous people found in the Protestant communities new leadership that spoke their language, gave them specific guidelines about appropriate conduct, promoted solidarity, a vision of working together, making goals for life, and a public commitment as a way of behaving following the beliefs (1991: 333-334).\u000AFinally they affirm that Protestantism is only partially responsible for cultural changes. Fajardo illustrates from another case of conversion in the village of Salquil Grande in the Guatemalan Altiplano. His study is based on informants from Catholic Action group and the Church of God. In both cases he confirms that the elemental key in\u000A226\u000A


































































































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