Pastor Gatera lived nearly 20 years in Kakuma refugee camp. This weekend has been a homecoming for him - his first return since being resettled to the US seven years ago.

He has spent the past two days visiting the refugee church he pastored while here. Due to other commitments, I haven't been able to join with them until this afternoon. He had clearly been teaching all day. He was teaching from Galatians 6 when I entered the room.

He wrapped up at 2pm. As far as I know, there had been no breaks in the service that began at 9am (even for lunch). But the party was just starting!

For the next hour, youth leaders, choir leaders, womens & mens ministry leaders, elders, and even pastors and elders from other churches in the region, presented him with gifts and spoke of how he played an important role in their lives.

It was a testimony to the life-changing role refugee pastors and churches play in the lives of people. God uses them to turn a place filled with traumatized people stuck in an inescapable cycle of toxic uncertainty and stress, into a place of life-giving transformation as people find community, healing, purpose, and hope.

Don't make the mistake of thinking people aren't suffering here. They are. But many are transcending their circumstances through their faith in Jesus and in community with his people.