JEAN Pierre Gatera has always been a community builder, whether in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, or his more recent home in Minneapolis in the United States of America.
For nearly two decades Jean Pierre served as a pastor to fellow refugees in Kakuma, a sprawling complex of camps in Kenya’s hot and dusty north. Recently, as snowstorms blew and temperatures dropped below freezing in Minneapolis, he lit an advent candle in Northwood Church and was reminded of his long journey and difficult past.
“It refreshed my mind back to those years I was struggling,” Jean Pierre said. “Those years I was a person without a country, moving around everywhere. Those days reminded me about what Jesus did because it started by peace.” But first, there was war.
‘Why am I here? What can I do?’
Jean Pierre was born in Rwanda to refugee parents who had fled violence in neighbouring Burundi, and who were forced to flee again during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, eventually settling in Kakuma.
These experiences tested his Christian faith. “I had so many questions,” he said. “If God exists, why are innocent people dying? Why are children, innocent children, dying? Why me?” As he saw others from across the region arrive at Kakuma to escape a variety of conflicts, the questions he asked began to change. “I realized that I am probably here in Kakuma for a good purpose. So I had to start finding [answers]. Why am I here? What can I do?”
During the years as a pastor in Kakuma, Jean Pierre’s warm and welcoming personality was his greatest strength, allowing him to bring people together under one roof, offering peace and hope to those who had survived some of the worst the world could offer.
Religious belief, he insists, plays a complementary role to that of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and other aid organizations. “They can give food, they can give shelter, they can give all those other things, but when it comes to the side of hope, the church or the faith organizations are the people who can provide that hope.”
Discovering his purpose in Kakuma, Jean Pierre was instrumental in uniting over 167 different churches to create the camp’s first interfaith organization, the United Refugee and Host Churches. “We were working together for peace,” he said. “Sharing what God has been doing in our lives, sharing different perspectives, that is the key for giving people hope.”
It was through this work that Jean Pierre met Brian Doten, a pastor at Northwood Church in Minneapolis, who was visiting Kakuma with the International Association for Refugees, a Christian nonprofit that supports forcibly displaced people.
“I could tell right away that Pastor Gatera was a leader. He just had an air about him,” said Brian. “He is who he is, on a public platform as well as in a private space. That’s what people are looking for – authentic leaders.”
A new beginning
After long years of waiting, Jean Pierre and his family were resettled in the United States. The Northwood Church congregation swung into action to help, meeting them at the airport, helping Jean Pierre’s daughters settle into their new schools and teaching him to drive a car on the sometimes-icy roads.
“They are just part of our church now. It’s not like they are just a refugee family, they are part of the life of Northwood Church,” said Brian.
Throughout all the changes in his own life, Jean Pierre has remained committed to the mission of bringing people together in faith. “Everyone needs protection, everyone needs a community, everyone needs opportunities,” Jean Pierre said.
Joshua Mahuta, a member of the congregation, said Jean Pierre has been a great support, especially during times of struggle. The pastor would tell him, “Just wait and be patient. It will come. You just need to have faith. Keep on persevering through any situation.” Joshua finds his words inspiring and, he adds, they are delivered with joy. “He is always laughing, all the time!”
From Burundi to Rwanda to Kenya and finally Minnesota, Jean Pierre is driven by hope, faith and purpose. “Lighting the candle and reading the scripture reminded me that I still have a big responsibility because there are many people suffering who need help, in different parts of the world,” he said. “It causes me to continue moving.”
