About this speaker
Rev. Jean Pierre Gatera, born a Burundian refugee in Rwanda during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, was separated from his parents and lived in several refugee camps in different countries. He eventually made his way to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya where he lived for nearly twenty years. While in Kakuma, he received Jesus as his personal savior in the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) in 1998. He also married while in the camp where he and his wife were blessed with three children.
Rev. Gatera graduated with a Diploma in Mission from Kakuma Interdenominational School of Mission (KISOM) in 2001 and received a bachelor’s degree in Theology from Global University in 2007. He served as Senior Pastor and Turkana Regional Overseer in IPHC (Kenya) for 10 years, and also as the Leader of United Refugee and Host Churches (URHC) before being resettled to the USA with his family in September 2016.
Rev. Gatera received a Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership from Bethel University in December 2021. He currently serves with International Association for Refugees (IAFR) as a missionary in the capacity of Refugee Church Consultant. He is respected as a pastor's pastor and is often sought out today by refugee pastors in the USA and other countries. He serves on the board of a US refugee resettlement agency and regularly consults with leaders of a US denomination. Rev. Gatera also serves as a Chaplain with Marketplace Chaplains.