Meet James Obura Atieno
John Obura Atieno
John Obura Atieno is the founding pastor of River of Life Ministry. He has planted 30 churches in different remote villages in the Republic of Kenya. The church holds gospel campaigns where many souls are saved. They also lead teens to Christ and have a network of more than 600 government schools that they minister in.
John is the founder of Neema Children’s Home — a home that caters for the needs and welfare of orphans who have been abandoned in the streets and slums of Kisumu and its surrounding areas.
He is passionate about souls being saved, churches being planted, and their leaders being trained for effective servant leadership for the glory of the Master.
John was born in a little village in the rural community outside Kisumu city on October 9, 1974. He writes, “I found myself without parents hardly five years later. This led to serious negative ramifications in my early life. My siblings and I became orphans which led to my older sisters painfully getting into child marriage before the age of 11 years old. Life was unbearable. We fended for ourselves for our ultimate survival. Education, food, clothing, and love were gold to come by.” John sought employment as a herds boy at the age of six in exchange for food and school levies. He could attend school only two days a week while the rest of the time he spent in the field with cows and sheep.
The Lord Jesus saved John after three unsuccessful suicide attempts. It was August 22, 1993 at 4 a.m. during a youth rally in Thogoto, central Kenya. He writes, “I can vividly recall this inerasable day in my life. The Lord not only saved my soul, but also wholly made me a new man. I traded all my pains, burden, hurts, and loneliness for His grace, peace, love, and life everlasting.”
John is a graduate of International Faith Theological Seminary, Mombasa, and Great Lakes University of Kisumu.
He is married to Ada Obura, and they have four children — Francis, Kimberly, Tammy, and Mike. They make their home in Kisumu , in Kano plains, a few kilometers from Lake Victoria.
