LEWISVILLE, TX (AP) - Friends recalled an American missionary couple as "spiritual soldiers" who gave their lives to God and hearts to Mexico, where they were found slain.

Hundreds attended a funeral Wednesday at John and Wanda Casias' home church in the Dallas suburb of Lewisville.

Pastor Dick Webster told those gathered at Liberty Baptist Church that the couple "gave their lives for the cause of Christ." Webster said he wants to make sure their work continues.

Seventy-six-year-old John Casias and his 67-year-old wife Wanda were found strangled Jan. 31 at their home in a village outside Monterrey, about 95 miles south of the Texas border in an area plagued by violence.

Mourners already paid respects to the missionaries at a church they established in Mexico.

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