Escaping the Fire

How an Ixil Mayan Pastor Led His People Out of a Holocaust During the Guatemalan Civil War

Tomás Guzaro, Terri Jacob McComb

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780292722842
• eBook ISBN: 9780292779204
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religious Biographies

A Mayan evangelical pastor recounts his harrowing experience before and during the Guatemalan Civil War and the heroic action that saved hundreds of lives.

During the height of the Guatemalan civil war, Tomás Guzaro, a Mayan evangelical pastor, led more than two hundred fellow Mayas out of guerrilla-controlled Ixil territory and into the relative safety of the government army's hands. This exodus was one of the factors that caused the guerrillas to lose their grip on the Ixil, thus hastening the return of peace to the area.

In Escaping the Fire, Guzaro relates the hardships common to most Mayas and the resulting unrest that opened the door to civil war. He details the Guatemalan army's atrocities while also describing the Guerrilla Army of the Poor's rise to power in Ixil country, which resulted in limited religious freedom, murdered church leaders, and threatened congregations. His story climaxes with the harrowing vision that induced him to guide his people out of their war-torn homeland.

Guzaro also provides an intimate look at his spiritual pilgrimage through all three of Guatemala's main religions. The son of a Mayan priest, formerly a leader in the Catholic Church, and finally a convert to Protestantism, Guzaro, in detailing his religious life, offers insight into the widespread shift toward Protestantism in Latin America over the past four decades.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Maps
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Exodus: August 1982
• 2. Son of a Mayan Priest: 1960s
• 3. Catholicism in Ixil Country: Late 1960s–Mid-1970s
• 4. The Curse: 1975–1976
• 5. Conflict of Cultures: October 1976–1977
• 6. Reconciliation: 1977–1978
• 7. Protestant Growth and the Guerrilla Takeover: February–September 1979
• 8. Between Two Fires: October 1979–August 1980
• 9. Targeting the Evangélicos: September 1980
• 10. Given a Little More Time: September–December 1980
• 11. Narrow Escapes: January 1981–February 1982
• 12. Desperate for a Way Out: February–July 1982
• 13. The Vision: July–August 1982
• 14. Escaping the Fire: August 3–4, 1982
• 15. A Taste of Freedom: August 1982
• 16. Life in a Refugee Village: September 1982–May 1983
• 17. Lifting Up Ixil Country: June 1983–2009
• Afterword. Tomás Guzaro in Historical Context
• Notes
• Glossary
• References and Further Reading
• Index