New South Pacific Global Director, Dr. Julian Robert Kivori Aims to Drive Knowledge of Jesus from Heads to Hearts

Dr. Julian Robert Kivori, a seminary-trained senior pastor who has a deep background in ministry, preaching, evangelism, counseling, and church planting, has been named CapMin’s Global Director for the South Pacific.

In this position, Dr. Kivori, who speaks four languages, is responsible for growing Capitol Ministries in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa, Tonga, and many other island nations and territories.

Dr. Kivori is a resident of Papua New Guinea, which, on March 12, 2025, was declared a Christian nation through a constitutional amendment. With 98 percent of the population identifying as Christian, many political public servants know about Jesus Christ, having learned about Him in childhood, but as Dr. Kivori notes, they do not walk in His ways.

“I have not heard of any ministry that focuses on national leaders and senior public servants,” Dr. Kivori said. “I am grateful to God for being introduced to Capitol Ministries which has a focused mission mandate to political leaders in every nation.

“Capitol Ministries drives home the knowledge of Jesus Christ from the head to the heart so that the heart can be transformed to make better and godly decisions for the people.”

Dr. Kivori has also been named Papua New Guinea Ministry Leader and in that role, will be establishing weekly Bible studies to members of the national government in Port Moresby where he lives and pastors.

One of Dr. Kivori’s visions for his home nation is to establish weekly Bible studies in the government’s 25 departments. “This can be achieved through reaching out to the secretaries of those individual departments and propose to them to start a Bible Study. My immediate task is to identify the insiders whilst preparing the outsiders for the task of leading Bible Studies.”

Gifted in leadership and administration, Dr. Kivori has more than 20 years of experience in cultivating and shepherding the church community. He began a career in automotive electrical in 1990, but soon shifted his interest and educational pursuits to theology.

“I gave my life to the Lord on the 22nd of August 1990,” he said. “In 1993, I left my job as an auto electrical apprentice and went into missionary training.”

In 1994, he served in pastoral and church planting ministries at a Papua New Guinea-Indonesia border village. Two years later, he was sent as a student tent-maker missionary to Indonesia where he also studied theology via a seminary associated with Dallas Theological Seminary. Ministry in Indonesia consisted of student ministry, prayer drives, one-to-one evangelism and church planting projects among certain unreached people groups.

Returning to Papua New Guinea in 2009, he was appointed as the youth pastor at Boroko Baptist Church and rose to senior pastor in 2019. He left the church in 2021. He earned a bachelor’s degree in theology (BTh) in 2001 from the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Indonesia in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He pursued Indonesian language education in preparation of earning a master’s degree from the Ganesha State University of Singaraja, Bali in 2008.

In 2013 he pursued a doctorate degree through a Pacific Cohort Program with Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena CA. Instruction was provided through Fuller’s School of Intercultural Studies (formerly Missiology, School of World Missions). He graduated in 2020 with a Doctorate in Intercultural Studies (DIS) which today is a Doctor of Global Leadership (DGL).

Dr. Kivori met his wife, Rachel, at the same Bible seminary in Indonesia, her home country. Dr. Kivori describes his wife as “a natural bridge-builder in relationships and a great recruiter for ministry with a giftedness in evangelism.” Rachel helps in church ministry as well as running events for Ellel Ministries. The couple has a son, Jathniel Raja.

Dr. Kivori currently serves as the senior pastor of Tokarara Christian Fellowship, an energetic evangelical congregation based in Port Moresby that is affiliated with the Baptist Union of Papua New Guinea. His people and those in the church network affectionately call him Pastor Julian.

While maintaining a full schedule, Dr. Kivori is eager to add the responsibilities involved in increasing ministries to public servants in the South Pacific Island nations.

“My prayer is for God, through His Holy Spirit, to convict our national leaders and public servants to see their need of an in-depth study of the Word of God which will help and guide their decision making,” he said.

“Generally, our knowledge of God is still shallow; it is still head knowledge; we need an experiential knowledge of God which comes through an in-depth study of His Word which transforms the heart.”

CapMin ministry leaders and Global Directors are self-supporting missionaries, If you wish to support Dr. Kivori’s ministry, click here.