Hope For Refugee Youth

Apr 5, 2023

- Pastor Gatera with Rachael Lofgren

I was born in Rwanda to refugee parents from Burundi. When the Rwandan Genocide broke out in 1994, I fled. But many did not escape. Children were dying. Innocent people were being slaughtered. My heart was overwhelmed.

I kept asking, "God, if you exist, then why is this happening?" I wondered if God was even real.

My life felt void of hope.

The questions went with me, languishing in my heart as I arrived at Kakuma Refugee Camp, where I would make my home for many years. Why is this suffering happening to me? I despaired. My life felt void of hope.

What difference does it make?

In my first year as a vulnerable young person in Kakuma, a Christian man took me in. He helped provide food and housing, and in caring for me, he won my trust and built a deep relationship with me. He was influential in his church and invited me to attend services.

But I could not. "I have seen people who kill innocent children go to church just like those who do not attend church. What difference does it make?" I asked him. He was patient and did not give up.

A transformed perspective because of kindness

After a year in the camp, he told me there was a visiting minister. "Just come and listen." I relented. He'd done so much for me. I felt I could go to church for his sake. Because of my friend's kindness throughout that year, I was ready to hear what God wanted to say to my heart. That day I met Jesus as my personal Savior. Jesus changed my perspective and transformed my despair into hope.

As I saw many refugee youths around me passing through the same struggle I'd faced, God gave me a passion for helping them. I wanted to share the hope I'd found in Christ. I became actively involved in ministry and later was ordained as a pastor.

Who is going to help us integrate?

In 2016 I moved my wife and children to the U.S., where I continue to serve refugee churches today, consulting pastors on cultural and legal integration issues.

A couple of years ago, the youth of some of these churches brought their needs to me, asking who would help them with the problems they face as they navigate this new culture. I realized God was still asking me to help bring hope to refugee youth.

Risks and Barriers

Often fleeing war or persecution, these young people come to the U.S. with high expectations for a better future. But the barriers they encounter can quickly become discouraging. They face a lack of access to paying jobs, barriers to further training and cultural integration resources, and an inability to use their existing training because it is not recognized. The risk of exploitation, discrimination, and detention for these young people skyrockets in the face of these barriers.

A Network To Empower

Together we have formed a network called Youth of Faith. In conjunction with pastors and youth in refugee communities, I am working to provide training to help with cultural integration, resources, and answers to questions about life and faith in a foreign culture.

Whether the issue is knowing how to handle encounters with the police appropriately instead of fleeing in fear even though they have done nothing wrong, what resources are available to them for job training, or what marriage looks like in this new culture, the goal of the work is to empower the next generation of refugee youth to integrate as they contribute to their communities successfully and live out their faith.

Training Young Leaders to Continue the Cycle of Hope

Faraja, a young mechanic from the Congo who recently graduated from college in Iowa, is one of the believers I am training to help lead this ministry. He is actively doing much of the organization and planning. He consults with me on his questions. Bright, motivated, and humble, he is helping bring hope and faith to other young men in his community who would otherwise be at risk.

It is my joy as a pastor who was once a refugee youth without hope to help empower the next generation as the cycle of hope continues.

CLICK HERE to learn more about pastor Gatera's ministry as IAFR Refugee Church Consultant!