page_title: Juanita García Peraza
section_title: "Mita"
hierarchical_section_title: Juanita García Peraza / "Mita"
caption_attribution_description: English: Casa de la Diosa Mita, 251 Fernandez Juncos Street, Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
context_page_description: Juanita García Peraza, also known as "Mita" was the founder of the "Mita congregation", a spin-off of the Pentecostal church with Puerto Rican origins which is described in Melton's Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Erik Camayd-Freixas, a sociologist considers this group to be a cult. The group had and still has a large following. When Peraza died the Senate of Puerto Rico closed their offices for three days in her honor.
context_section_description: García Peraza left the Roman Catholic and converted to the Protestant religion of the Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal M.I., and then left the church with 11 other members who followed her to start their own religion. In 1940, she and her followers founded their own church in Arecibo, and in 1947 she relocated to the current location of Hato Rey, a suburb of San Juan. They claimed that "The Holy Spirit Spirit of Life" revealed to García Peraza the new name of "Mita". They started calling themselves "Mitas" and their religion "the Mita congregation". According to the Mita faith, Mita is the new name of the Holy Ghost on earth and Mita God has chosen a successor before (Peraza) dies.
  Under García Perazas' leadership, the church founded many small businesses which provided work, orientation, and help for its members. The first branch of the church outside of Puerto Rico was established in New York City. The church has expanded to Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, El Salvador, Canada, Curaçao, Ecuador and Spain.
caption: Peraza's house in Arecibo
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