Gato joined CBM in 2018 as a Peace and Reconciliation Specialist in Africa, having worked for CBM from 2007 to 2013. Gato supports CBM’s partners in peacebuilding in the region and has developed a Peace & Reconciliation curriculum that is the basis for his work. He is currently seconded to the Community of Baptist Churches in East Congo (CEBCE) to assist with the ongoing reunification process.

Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gato grew up in a refugee family after his parents left Rwanda to escape growing ethnic hatred and violence. Gato became a Christian as a teenager. Following the Rwandan Genocide, Gato’s family moved to Rwanda. He became a school director, then a leader in the Association of Baptist Churches of Rwanda, becoming the General Secretary between 2013 to 2018. He completed a M.T.S. degree in 2007, and in 2015 Gato received the Baptist World Alliance Congress Human Rights Award. Gato received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Acadia University in 2016.

Gato is married to Anne Marie, who works as a counselor with a B.A. in Clinical Psychology. They have seven children.