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Gang Members Demanding 'Protection Tax' Stab and Kill Honduran Pastor

  • Carrie Dedrick Religious persecution, missions, Christianity around the world
  • Updated Apr 08, 2014

A Honduran pastor was attacked by two gang members in Choloma reports Charisma News. The attackers had previously demanded that a “protection tax” be introduced to ensure that church-goers were safe from their violence.

Maria Francisca Sevilla, a Church of God pastor and mother of three was assaulted on Thursday in her home. The pastor was stabbed multiple times before she died in the doorway of the church she co-pastored with her husband Geovanny.

Prior to the fatal stabbing, the pastors had been harassed by gang members on several occasions. Gang members had demanded money from the couple, threatening to hurt their children and congregation if demands were not met. One instance occurred in November of last year when the ministers were kidnapped with one of their children, beaten and left in a ditch in San Pedro Sula.

The city is only 15 miles from Choloma and referred to by CNN as the “murder capital of the world.”

The Sevillas served in the church for 10 years.

Tim Hill, director of Church of God World Missions said, “This dedicated couple...could have moved away for safety, according to what I have been told, but they felt called to the city, and they remained even though they were in danger.”