Diego Gomes is a counsellor, writer, speaker, and pastor whose life stands as a testimony that God specializes in rebuilding what the world considers beyond repair. From a childhood marked by poverty, abuse, rejection, and loss to a life dedicated to helping others find healing and hope, Diego’s story is one of redemption, resilience, and purpose.

Through his work in counselling, ministry, and writing, he invites people to believe that brokenness is never the end of the story, it may simply be the beginning of restoration.

Hi, I'm Angel.

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God chose us to have a conversation with us, his creation.

Our prayer is that this listening space brings growth and transforms your life forever.

Praise God for you, Diego.

It's a great pleasure to connect with you.

What part of the world are you in today?

I am in Brazil right now.

Diego, how did you come to meet Jesus?

I met Jesus when I was 13 years old.

My family from my mom's side, they are all Christians.

My grandfather used to be a pastor in the Assemblies of God in Brazil, but I grew up disconnected, not attending a service or a church.

And when I was 13 years old, I went to one service.

My family was living under a very hard situation with domestic violence and a lot of addiction and problems.

And I just felt the peace of God when I came into the church and heard the songs.

But the word of God, I still remember the preaching from that night.

The sermon was about Jesus walking with the two disciples after the resurrection.

And that preacher was talking about Jesus is walking among us and you will feel your heart slowly burning and you will feel the presence of God.

And I had a personal encounter with Jesus that night that changed my life.

So I felt love and hope, I believe, for the first time.

And from 13 years old until now, I'm 37.

I'm walking with Jesus through the mountains and valleys and wanting to keep walking with him until my last breath.

What has the journey been like over the last 24 years?

It's, to be honest, a lot of trials and a lot of brokenness to be faced, but a lot of grace, enough grace to go through every season.

From my adolescence where I had to be available to God to rebuild my identity or over my 20s when he was challenging me to service and ministry.

And now that we all have this idea that you will come to a point when everything will be connected and you won't have a problem.

But right now I'm facing a big storm in my personal life and my health and Jesus is always present.

So it's a journey of peace.

And I believe my children, we will never be there.

We will always be walking with him and allowing him to do something new in our lives.

I saw in your picture that there's a tattoo by your neck here.

What was the story behind getting that tattoo?

Hope has been not just a word, but kind of my ethos, my life goal.

And a lot of my Christianity, my mission is connected with hope because I know by personal experience that hope is not a feeling that you can feel.

Hope is not a thing that you can buy in a grocery shop.

Hope is a person.

His name is Jesus.

And I believe everybody is searching for hope and they are searching in the places and ways they can.

So some of them are searching for hope in a bottle of wine by the end of the day.

Others are searching for hope in a pill that can make them sleep.

And we know that Jesus can give us this hope that goes beyond this life.

So we have this eternal hope.

And when I got this tattoo, I was about to leave Brazil for the first time and a lot of unknown.

And I was reminded that what I do is connected to who I am and who I am is connected to who he is and his hope.

So it's kind of a daily reminder and a cool tattoo, I think.

It sounds as though you've had many experiences and you just mentioned traveling, right?

I was going to ask, are you an avid reader?

So with traveling being the thing that you did, which country did you go to at that time?

New Zealand.

Oh, the other side of the world.

How did that transform your life and your relationship with Christ?

I can say completely because in 2024, when I was there for the first time, I was just attending an English school and serving in a ministry.

I was serving in a YWAM mission base.

And being in a place where I was not Pastor Diego, I was just a random guy, was kind of a healing moment to me because I've been doing ministry and involved with church since I was very young.

And I think it gave me enough space and enough time to place things in the right position and understanding that the first season of my ministry was not healthy for me.

I was doing, I believe, my heart in the right place, but I was doing more than I could and more than I should.

So I was kind of burnt out.

And the second time, when I came to New Zealand in 2025 to work, I had the amazing opportunity to work in a different church with the Anglican church.

And I learned a lot.

I had an amazing time there.

So now I believe I'm a different person.

Are you an avid reader?

Yes, I am.

Oh, I got that right.

Oh, it feels good when you get it right sometimes.

Amazing.

So how has reading transformed your life and your relationship with Christ?

It gave me wisdom, I believe, and also a critical sense, but not a critical spirit.

Because since day one, I understood Christianity must be connected with the Bible and the Bible is the foundation.

So I was, with 14 years old, reading the Bible, the whole thing as fast as I could.

And from that day, I was a reader when I was a child.

So I was always, across my life, reading great books.

And this gave me, I believe, a sense of understanding not only what is written in the Bible, but how can we apply this in personal life?

How can we apply this in a daily basis?

How can we, as faith communities, to leave this?

And how can we share this and communicate the Word of God with the others, with the people that doesn't know Christ yet?

And I believe wisdom is the Word.

If you read, if you keep studying, you will have not only knowledge, but also wisdom.

Small is the gate and narrow is the road.

Would you say that sums up the life that you've had to live?

Yes, completely.

Yeah.

Because, and I think by today, we have a lot of preachers and leaders preaching the, I call it, me gospel.

The message that centers the man and is all about us.

And a lot of promises that are biblical promises of prosperity and healthy and abundance.

But if we disconnect this with the reality of Christ and the cross, and the fact that the world is a struggle, we are, every single day we are fighting against darkness and we are humans.

We have bodies and souls and minds, and we will face trials across life.

I believe it is important for us to be reminded that Jesus promised to us, not only abundant life, but also trials.

And the thing that it actually defines us as Christians is his presence.

So we will always have his presence.

And not every single time and season will be amazing as we would like to, but he will be there and Christ is enough.

If you're listening to this conversation five years from today, what's a message you'd leave for future Diego Gomes?

The message that I want to leave is, let us keep looking to the Christ that was revealed at the cross.

The one that surrendered his life by his own will, and he surrendered it all.

He gave it all for us.

And in this Christ, we have everything we need.

A hundred percent.

A hundred percent.

A hundred percent.

I appreciate you tremendously.

This has been an honor.

In closing, is there anything else you'd like to share?

I'm just grateful.

And I have a request, actually.

If you're listening to this, please pray for the nations and don't forget to pray for Brazil.

I also feel like it's time for us as the Church of Christ across the earth to pray for the nations and for the war and everything that is happening.

And keep shining your light.

Keep shining the small portion of Christ that you have.

And this will be enough to transform those around you.

And let's be the light of the world.

Diego, this is a pleasure that I treasure.

Thank you for being on What Is Inspired by 12 Minute Convoys.