Born and reared in Lima, Peru, Darío López grew up in abject poverty, often going hungry and working on the streets to help his Mother make ends meet.  Later, as a young man, he came to faith in Christ through the witness of fellow university students and became a member and minister in the Church of God.

Since 1992, Dr. López has been the pastor of the Mt. Sinai Church of God, located in the marginal district of Villa María del Triunfo, in Lima, Peru.  His pastorate has been characterized as one of Pentecostal passion for wholistic ministry, including personal, social and spiritual transformation.  Throughout his ministry, Dr. López has kept the biblical concern for needy children and marginalized women at the center of his pastoral and prophetic work.   Presently, the Mt. Sinai church, with approximately 250 members, serves over 120 poor children each day with elementary education and meals.  The ministry has also included a new church plant in an area of even greater poverty.  Several of the women who have been discipled under Dr. López’ ministry have become actively engaged as leaders in grassroots community organizations for social change and have marched on the Palace of Government, demanding the passage of laws favoring  poor children and families.

Dr. López has served as General Director of the Association of Evangelical University Groups in Peru,  President of the National Evangelical Council of Peru, has taught at a number of Latin American seminaries and universities, and has recently served on several governmental commissions dealing with issues of  children’s rights and religious equality.

Holding a Ph.D. from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies/Open University of England, where he completed a thesis on the topic of Evangelicals and Human Rights in Peru, López is the author of six books and numerous journal articles.  His hard-hitting book, LA MISIÓN LIBERADORA DE JESÚS (The Liberating Mission of Jesus, translated by Rick Waldrop), serves as a textbook.

From Frank Yates: 

"One of the best speakers at the seminary forums we attended every day was Dr. Dario Lopez. He is the leading Pentecostal scholar in the country.... Dr. Lopez was appointed as a member of the nation’s Truth and Reconcilation Commission. Like the similar commission in South Africa, this Commission was charged to examine closely into the violence of the 80’s and 90’s-the facts of what happened, its causes, and recommendations to hold accountable the perpetrators.

Dr. Lopez knew many of the 600+ Protestant pastors killed in the mountains by the guerrillas. He told story after story of pastors staying with their flock amidst great danger. Some pastors encouraged their congregations to take up arms against what they came to call “the Philistine threat of Sendero Luminoso.” Once Dr. Lopez gave a conference for the mountain pastors on the theme from the Gospel of John that the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Within a year 16 of the pastors at that conference had indeed laid down their life for their flock.

When I asked him what should happen to ex-President Fujimora who was a virtual dictator during the 90’s, Dr. Lopez became deeply serious and said, “He should be extradited from Chile where he is under house arrest and face justice here.” There is a profound seriousness about these two decades of violence. People’s faces turn hard and grim when this issue is addressed. Why? First, because it was all so horrible. And second because the same conditions of poverty and powerlessness exist to this day-especially in the rural mountain areas." - Frank Yates