A Protestant Christian church leader has died after being shot six times following a religious service in northern Colombia on 8 January.
Iván García, a 28-year-old church leader and preacher, his 14-year-old stepdaughter and six other people were walking along a rural, unlit road after participating in a spiritual celebration at the People of God Christian Vision Church where his wife, Pastor Karen Nierles, had been invited to lead a Bible study, when two individuals on a motorcycle stopped, dismounted and opened fire on the church leader, and then left the scene. A woman standing next to him was also injured after a bullet hit her arm.
Mr García had been married to Pastor Nierles, who was the leader of the New Rebirth in Christ Church in northern Colombia, for six months. According to his wife, his active involvement in the small church had contributed to rapid growth, from seven to 30 committed members. Although Mr García was a former member of an illegal armed group before returning to his Christian faith, his wife told sources that he had never mentioned receiving any threats or warnings. “A few days ago, he told me that he was not afraid to teach the Bible, that he had a new life. He told me, ‘For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain’.”
Sources report that around a month ago the couple heard two gunshots as they were leaving Mr García’s place of work. They ran to their home but had not interpreted the event as a threat aimed at them. Mr García’s funeral was held on 11 January in Zulia Department, where he was raised and where his mother still lives.
This is the second targeted assassination of a Protestant Christian leader in northern Colombia in the space of two weeks. On 29 December, Pastor Marlon Lora, his wife and his adult daughter were all killed immediately after hitmen opened fire on them as they ate lunch at a restaurant following a Sunday morning church service. The pastor’s son, Santiago, was hospitalised in critical condition and died a few days later.
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