Cash Luna
| Cash Luna | |
|---|---|
 Luna preaching in the Estadio Flores in 2008 | |
| Born |
Carlos Enrique Luna Arango February 4, 1962 Guatemala City, Guatemala |
| Alma mater | Universidad Francisco Marroquin |
| Occupation | Televangelist, Pastor & Faith healer |
| Spouse(s) | Sonia de Luna |
| Children |
Carlos Enrique Luna, Juan Diego Luna, Ana Gabriela Luna |
| Religion | Charismatic Evangelical Christian |
Carlos Enrique Luna Arango popularly known as Cash Luna (born 4 March 1962) is a Charismatic Evangelical pastor in Guatemala and along with his wife is the founder of the Casa de Dios, one of the largest megachurches in Latin America. Luna is known throughout Latin America for his Televangelism and Faith Healing.
Early life
Luna studied at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín, where he graduated with honors Cum laude and holds a bachelor's degree in Information Systems Management.[1]
Casa de Dios
Luna and his wife founded Casa de Dios in Guatemala City in 1994. The church is today one of the largest growing congregations in Guatemala with a claimed 25,000 in weekly attendance.[2] In April 2013 a massive new church was unveiled with an area of 270,000 square meters and the capacity to fit 12,000 worshipers at a time.[3]
Influence and legacy
Luna is well known for his televangelism and presence on social media. His Facebook account has a million and a half fans as of 2015.[2] In addition to his naturally large congregation in his native Guatemala, Luna has a significant number of followers and fans in Mexico as well among Hispanic Americans in the United States.[2]
Shortly after the unveiling of the new Casa de Dios complex in 2013 Luna was presented with an award by the then President of Guatemala Otto Pérez Molina. Pérez stated that Luna had provided an example of what Guatemalans could achieve through faith and working together. He also praised Luna's efforts to end violence and drug abuse.[4]
False reports of death
In August 2017 rumors started spreading on social media that Luna had died after a prolonged absence. Luna latter rebuked these rumors on his Instagram page, stating that he was "alive and kicking".[5]
Criticism
Luna has been criticized for his faith healing activities and amassed wealth. In June 2014 Luna staged a faith healing event in Villahermosa, Mexico where he claimed that the blind would see, the deaf would hear, and the disabled would walk out of their wheelchairs. Despite initially promoting the event as being free, attendees where charged 500 pesos for the event. Luna ended up making a profit of 15 million pesos from the event (roughly around 1 million US dollars at the time).[6]
The same event was also highly controversial because of the death of Nancy Hernández Álvarez. Nancy's parents, inhabitants of Chiapas, had brought their disabled daughter to the service in hope that she would be healed. During the service Nancy was brought up to Luna who proclaimed her healed of her ailments while the crowd applauded what they perceived as a miracle. Shortly afterwards however Nancy suffered from a heart attack and died the following day. Luna refused to admit that his healing had not worked saying that God had created Nancy and it was God who called her back.[6]
References
- ↑ ""El pastor Carlos Luna [...] Obtuvo una licenciatura "Cum Laude" en Administración de Sistemas de Información en la Universidad Francisco Marroquín en la ciudad de Guatemala [...]"". cristianosaldia.net (in español). Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- 1 2 3 Chapa, Sergio (25 August 2015). "Televangelist Cash Luna expected to draw thousands in Hidalgo". Valley Central News. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ↑ "Cash Luna inaugura megatemplo Casa de Dios en Guatemala" (in Spanish). Acontecer Cristiano. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ↑ "Cash Luna es reconocido por presidente de Guatemala tras inauguración de nueva sede Casa de Dios" (in Spanish). Noticia Cristiana. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ↑ ""Aquí ando, vivito y coleando", dice pastor Cash Luna al desmentir la noticia de su muerte ("Here I walk, alive and kicking," says Pastor Cash Luna in denying the news of his death)" (in Spanish). El Salvador Times. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- 1 2 "Acusan a Cash Luna de falsificar un milagro tras la muerte de una Mujer" (in Spanish). Noticia Cristiana. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2017.