Jean Baptiste Mugarura

Jean Baptiste and Marina Mugarura were saved while at high school. In December 1990, while still working at the National Bank of Rwanda; God put on Jean Baptiste’s heart a passion to reach the young people of Rwanda with the transforming message of Jesus Christ.

While in the process of launching Youth for Christ, a war and massacre was already in effect in Rwanda which led to the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of more than one million people in a period of three months. Most of the people recruited to be on initial Youth for Christ team were lost to the genocide. In the same period Jean Baptiste received a clear call for full time ministry.

Since 1995 he has been ministering in a nation shattered by the 1994 atrocities. Most of the young people ministered to are orphans of those atrocities. In the beginning trauma, tension, poverty, illiteracy and disease (especially AIDS) were on the rise daily.

Today the dedicated Youth for Christ team has grown to multiple staff and hundreds of volunteers.

Youth for Christ has accomplished the following:

• helped re-establish Churches
• trained thousands of church and youth leaders on leadership and discipleship
• taken the Gospel of Jesus Christ to more than a half a million young people
• been involved in trauma healing, peace and reconciliation.