History

Pastoral Maya began in the early 1990s from the efforts of Maya who succeeded in obtaining help and official recognition from the Office of Pastoral Care of Migrants and Refugees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The First Maya Conference was held in Los Angeles March 5-7, 1999, and the Second was held in Phoenix, Arizona, July 27-29, 20001 with sponsoring coming mainly from the Catholic Church. In 2004 and 2005, Kennesaw State University became a major partner. The organizational style of the conferences has been to bring together Maya leaders form across the United States to engage in inspirational discussions and workshops, resulting in ideas and strategies to take home to their communities. Conferences generally include discussions on the urgency of education, the desire to maintain important aspects of Maya culture and spirituality, the needs of the communities (such as health and safety), and the need of the communities and families still in Guatemala. In the third and forth conferences, discussion included matters of human rights and legal rights. There are approximately forty communities associated with Pastoral Maya National Board of Directors and each with its local leadership, there is an annual meeting of the board of directors held at various locations.

1999 - First Maya National Conference; Los Angeles, California

2001 - Second Maya Conference; Phoenix, Arizona

2004 - Third Maya National Conference; Kennesaw, Georgia

The third Maya National Conference was held May 1 - 2, 2004, at Kennesaw State University in Georgia. Leaders of organized Maya Communities from various states participated in this event. Objective: To propose an event among leaders of the Maya Communities who are active within the Pastoral Project and to assess their community and contributions for the future.

2005 - Fourth Maya National Conference; Kennesaw, Georgia

The Fourth Maya National Conference was held in August 27 - 28, 2005, in the KSU center of Kennesaw State University. Leaders representing various Maya Communities in the United States participated in the conference.

2006 - Fifth Maya National Conference; Kennesaw, Georgia

2007 - Sixth Maya National Conference; Kennesaw Georgia

To be held on October 27th & 28th at Kennesaw State University