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A young Colombian pastor, his wife and their daughter are dead after they were attacked following a church service late last month.
Pastor Marlon Lora, 43, his wife Yurlay Rincon, 40, his daughter Ángela, 24 and their son, Santiago, 21, were enjoying lunch together on Dec. 29, 2024, when a group of gunmen on motorcycles began shooting at them.
The attack killed, Marlon, Yurlay and Ángela and left Santiago severely injured.
Pastor Lora was the lead pastor of Prince of Peace Villaparaguay Church. Lora also oversaw 35 urban and rural churches throughout the region and other parts of the country.
The couple's assistant, Pastor Giovanni Bermúdez, told Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a United Kingdom-based watchdog organization, that previous to the attack, Pastor Lora expressed concerns about possible threats to another pastor.
According to friends, family and colleagues. Pastor Lora and his family were well-loved in the community.
Both kids were involved in the church. Santiago is an engineering student, while Ángela worked as a communications and journalism professional for Aguachica’s public utilities company.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened in this community. On Nov. 13, 2024, a pair of brothers, active in the faith community, were fatally injured by three men on their farm. Two days before that an evangelical pastor was killed while watching a football match, and in, August, the home of a pastoral couple was set on fire by neighbours who did not like them holding religious gatherings on their property.
A march for peace was held the day after the tragedy.