Born in Colombia, Diego Lopez met Christ as a high school student when friends invited him to church. He went on to complete theological and youth ministries studies in Switzerland and the UK.

Diego then spent over ten years working with young people, mostly on the streets in Manchester’s inner-city – a multicultural neighbourhood suffering from social depravation.

As part Manchester’s (Longsight) Nazarene Church’s pastoral team, Diego worked with Muslim primary school children by teaching chess, mentoring, and coaching sports. He also worked for social services in the northwest of England with troubled and disabled young people. Diego and Palmira met at church in Manchester and married in 2010. To help support their ministry, Palmira worked as an accountant.

For eight years, Diego led the denomination’s youth ministry across Eurasia’s eight time zones with 27 official languages. He served youth in 40 countries across Europe, Middle East, and South Asia who were in the midst of secularization, persecution, and discrimination. This included training 600 youth leaders across the region. For two years Diego served in NDI, training Sunday school teachers and developing the first denominational video game on the journey of Grace. Since January 2023, Diego and Palmira have been entrusted to lead the Wester Mediterranean Field which oversees the strategy for the church in Spain, France, Portugal, Greece, and Malta. In addition to this role, Diego is the district superintendent for the Spanish district.

Diego travels extensible across Western Europe, but he lives now in Lubrin, Almeria, Spain with his son, Diego Jr., and his wife, Palmira.