The Gabrielsons serve at Big River Bible Camp. Here’s how they came to serve with NCEM:
Several years ago Lucas found himself with a “good chunk of holiday time, but not enough money for a big vacation.” He’d heard a missionary from a Bible camp in northwestern Ontario speak at his church in St. Catharines (ON). A friend suggested that he help there.
Growing up in a Christian home and attending a Christian school, Lucas had invited Christ into his life at a young age. In his early 20s his relationship with Christ was growing.
Ten days at the Camp turned out to be much more. “I already knew that the job I’d been working at wasn’t a good long-term fit,” he remembers. By September 2003 he moved to full-time ministry at the Camp, doing maintenance and helping with Bible clubs and Bible studies with First Nations children and teens.
Lucas moved on from Camp of the Woods in 2005, feeling that the Lord had used him there. While checking out options, he heard about NCEM’s ministry centre at Timber Bay (SK). A few months later he moved there, staying till 2009, then transferring to Pine Ridge Bible Camp (Beauval, SK), where he managed the facility.
“An online service had told me that I wasn’t compatible (for marriage) with anyone in western Canada!” says Lucas. That initial assessment has proven obviously wrong. He met Sara online in early 2010 and they were married that October.
Sara (Wiens) was born in Mexico, arriving in Canada as an infant with her parents, who only had $20. They eventually found a one-bedroom house to rent. Sara remembers playing contently under the kitchen table, the only area available. “I never felt that I lacked anything, though,” she says.
Growing up in a conservative Mennonite family, church attendance was expected. But at 12 years of age, Sara says she was “on the fence.” “I saw Christians as hypocrites, saying one thing in church and living another outside of church.”
What made a difference was AWANA. Being good at memorizing Scripture made the weekly program enjoyable for her.
“God is faithful to bring His Word alive,” she says. “I saw my need of a Saviour. I experienced conviction of sin and repentance. Church began to make sense. The verses I had memorized now had meaning for me.”
Sara’s annual visits back to Mexico with her family – where she saw poverty and brokenness – helped her see the need for missions. Her first involvement was at a Native camp near Thompson (MB).
She later also served in office ministry with Gospel for Asia, and Operation Mobilization in England, before Lucas “recruited” her to NCEM.
The Gabrielsons continue to serve at Big River Bible Camp and have two young children.
