This book inquiries into the religious praxis of Pentecostal missionaries who come from the
South and evangelize in the North following the case of Guatemalan independent Pentecostal
leaders working in Los Angeles. The research focused on the study of their Pentecostal beliefs
and practices and the relationship between their religious praxis and the social context in Los
Angeles. When one speaks of missionaries coming from countries like the United States they are
designated as expatriates. But what about Pentecostal believers who come from countries like
Guatemala with any institutional support? Are they expatriates or simple immigrants? To answer
this question biographical narratives of Guatemalan independent Pentecostal leaders were
analyzed using the Habitus Analysis approach. Table of Contents 1. Introduction
................................................................................. 11.1.
Pentecostalism in Guatemala ....................................................... 21.2.
Inter-American Mobility and New Pentecostal MissionaryFlows: Evangelizing from the South to the
North ....................... 41.2.1. Missionaries from the South to the North:Expatriates or
Migrants? .................................................. 71.3. Guatemalan Independent
Pentecostal Leaders in theInteramerican Social Space Established Between Guatemalaand Los
Angeles: A Praxeological Approach .............................. 101.4. Structure of the
Dissertation ........................................................ 12 2. Literature Review:
Delimiting Pentecostalism and OutliningStudies Dealing with Latino Pentecostalism and
Migrationin the United States..
................................................................... 152.1. Delimiting
Pentecostalism ........................................................... 152.2. Studies on
the Relation Between Latino Pentecostalism andMigration in the United States
..................................................... 232.2.1. The Incorporation Approach
......................................... 252.2.2. The Religion on the Move Approach
............................ 31 3. Description of the Research
......................................................... 393.1. Theoretical Framework
............................................................... 393.1.1. Praxeological Approach
to the Study of Religion ............ 403.1.2. Bourdieu and the Study of Religion:Towards a
Religious Praxis .............................................. 423.1.3. Between Embodied
andObjectified Conditions of Praxis ...................................... 463.2.
Methodological Framework ........................................................ 513.2.1. The
Fieldwork .................................................................. 523.2.2.
Biographical Narratives ................................................... 573.3. Process of
Analysis and Writing ................................................. 61 4. Guatemalan
Pentecostal Leaders in Los Angeles:Contexts of Departure and Arrival since the 1970s
..................... 644.1. Los Angeles in the 2010s
............................................................ 644.2. Historical Trends in Los
Angeles ................................................ 674.3. Guatemalans in Los
Angeles:Changing Migratory Flows since 1970 ........................................ 704.3.1.
The 1970s: The Beginning of Guatemalan Migrationto Los Angeles
................................................................. 704.3.2. The 1980s: Economic
or Political Immigrants?Social Turmoil in Guatemala .......................
