Pastor Humberto Lay Sun (; born 25 September 1934) is a Peruvian

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

minister, architect, and politician belonging to the National Restoration Party. He is of Chinese descent. He studied at the Colegio San Andrés ( Anglo-Peruvian School). He was also a commissioner on the

Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...

that investigated abuses by the

Shining Path The Shining Path (, SL), self-named the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru, following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the ...

, Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, and the

Military of Peru The Peruvian Armed Forces () are the military services of Peru, comprising independent Army, Navy and Air Force components. Their primary mission is to safeguard the country's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity against any threat ...

during the 1980s and 1990s. He was a

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

representing

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

for the 2011–2016 term.

Education

From 1953 to 1957, he studied at the

Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería The National University of Engineering (, UNI) is a public university, public engineering and science university located in the Rímac District of Lima, Peru. It's widely considered as one of Peru's most prestigious educational institutions. Hi ...

and received an architecture degree. He started his professional career in his family's import business.

Clerical activity

From 1979, on Lay was an important pastor in Alianza Cristiana y Misionera Church, whose largest temples he designed, thanks to his profession. Later, in October 1987, he founded the Iglesia Bíblica Emmanuel in

, the capital of Peru. Since then, this Christian church has developed successfully, and Pastor Lay has got a top position among the Christian leaders and pastors in Peru. This church works with young people, families and is a well-known missionary church. Lay is the president of Unión Nacional de Iglesias Cristianas Evangélicas del Perú. He is also a member of the Fraternidad Internacional de Pastores Cristianos. After the downfall of

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...

's dictatorial regime in 2001, Lay was active in the ''National Anti-corruption Initiative'' and ''Commission of Truth and National Reconciliation''. Humberto Lay is a well-respected leader in the Christian evangelical world in Peru and abroad. Iglesia Biblica Emmanuel, which he founded in October 1987, is one of the most important churches in Peru and has many churches in several cities of Peru. Component of the Neopentecostal line, and served as its senior pastor from 1987 to April 2005. Lay left his position as main pastor at that church when he entered political life, and left his position to Ps. Saúl Gutiérrez, who is since then the main pastor.

Political career

In November 2005, Lay founded the National Restoration party, a rally of

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian g ...

, which he has chaired ever since until he resigned in May 2019. Although Humberto Lay Sun ran unsuccessfully for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

in the 2006 elections on the National Restoration ticket, obtaining 4.38% of the valid votes, the top political leaders in Peru have taken in count as he represents an important electoral base of evangelical Christians in Peru. His party also obtained 2 seats in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. He also ran for Mayor of Lima in the 2006, 2010 and 2018 municipal elections but lost to Luis Castañeda, Susana Villarán and Jorge Muñoz respectively.

Congressman

For the 2011 general elections, Lay integrated his National Restoration into the Alliance for the Great Change of

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard (; born 3 October 1938), also known simply as PPK (), is a Peruvian economist, public administrator, and former politician who served as the 59th President of Peru from 2016 to 2018. He served as Prime Minister of ...

and was elected Congressman, as the only member of his party, and as the eldest lawmaker in the 2011–2016 congressional period and also, being the most voted in the Alliance for the Great Change in which, he was the alliance’s list head for Lima. By unanimous decision, he was elected president of the Ethics Commission. Also, in his capacity as the oldest congressman, he was elected as first secretary of the Board of Directors of the Preparatory Board of Congress, the same one chaired by congressman Daniel Abugattás of

Peru Wins Peru Wins (, GP) was a leftist electoral alliance in Peru formed for the 2011 general election. It was dominated by the Peruvian Nationalist Party and led by successful presidential candidate Ollanta Humala Tasso. Constituent parties *Peruvia ...

2016 elections

For the 2016 general elections, Lay ran for Second Vice President under the Alliance for Progress of Peru coalition in which his National Restoration integrated. He was part of the presidential ticket of Cesar Acuña but Acuña was disqualified on 9 March for attempted vote buying. He also withdrew his candidacy for re-election as Congressman.

References

External links

Webpage of National Restoration

Lay Sun's biography on the webpage of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (in Spanish)

Resume on the National Electoral Committee (JNE) site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lay, Humberto Peruvian Christian religious leaders Peruvian evangelicals 1934 births Living people Politicians from Lima National Restoration (Peru) politicians Candidates for President of Peru Peruvian politicians of Chinese descent Peruvian architects National University of Engineering alumni Members of the Congress of the Republic of Peru