The Kekchi Mennonite Education Center Bezaleel is located in Alta Verapaz, a provice in north-central Guatemala. It is one of the most isolated regions of the country and has very limited access to health and development resources and formal education beyond the sixth grade,. The population is made up of approximately 500,000 K'ekchi' of Mayan descent who live primarily in rural communities. Many of these communities have no schools, and few rural students learn functional Spanish, the national language.

This lack of education and inability to speak Spanish has rendered the K'ekchi' people more vulnerable to oppression and injustice. To address these serious concerns, the K'ekchi' Mennonite Church with the support of Canadian, US, Belizean and Nicaraguan volunteers and donations, built the center to educate the youth of the church. Students now travel to Bezaleel from their rural homes, many as far away as ten hours by bus, to live, learn and work together at Bezaleel. Bezaleel began offering classes in 1999.