Jagen is the founder and leader of Youth With A Mission Burundi (YWAM). He lost both his parents in the war 1996, so grew up as an orphan in desperate circumstances. Over the next 9 years, he battled with drugs and alcohol, seeking to escape the misery of his daily life. But those bad choices brought him no peace and joy.
He remembers the day when everything changed. It was 27th March 2003 when a visiting speaker came to where in lived in Musaga and shared the gospel. Jagen recalls: “I still remember the message of that day, it was like he knew everything about me. So I decided to give my life to Jesus. Since that moment until today, I have kept following Jesus.”
In 2005 he sought further training at a YWAM Discipleship Training School in Rwanda, and it was a life-changing time. After the Discipleship Training School, he returned to Burundi, married his wife, Ruth, and together they served in a number of YWAM bases around East Africa. In 2011, he was commissioned to pioneer YWAM Burundi, which meant starting from nothing. Jagen and Ruth have suffered for the cause and overcome many obstacles in building and consolidating this beautiful work, and many lives are being impacted daily by their hard work.