My Story
I grew up in the Okanagan valley of BC, calling Kelowna my home where I lived with my parents and three younger siblings. We all have fire in our veins so we have a tendency to *discuss* passionately but by the grace of God, we love even harder.
Throughout my childhood and early teen years, I was involved in our church community and did all the things a Catholic did, but I didn’t really understand why. That was frustrating for me, a young girl that always wanted to know what was going on and never wanted to follow the crowd. Looking I’ve always wanted to be great and to live a great life. In high school and university, I did everything I could think of to cultivate this greatness that I was looking for; travel, friends, leadership opportunities, music, family, even spirituality. From the outside, it looked impressive, I was achieving a lot of things, but I quickly found myself feeling completely overwhelmed and alone. One night on campus as a university student, I hit a wall of frustration and overwhelm – my life wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be. In that moment, I turned to God and prayed saying “I’ve tried living life my way, it’s not quite working out. I want to try things your way.” I was, in a very simple and honest way, inviting Jesus to not just be a part of my life but the center. Jesus was no longer just a good guy to follow, but the person I’d surrender everything to. Around that time I’d heard about CCO’s national conference, Rise Up, and through workshops and friends I’d met there, I began learning how to pray; how to actually have a relationship with God.
My Mission
I’m the Team Leader at the University of Victoria, where my teammates and I are trying to reach some of the most secular students in the country. I’ve been in awe watching the power of God working in students’ lives. People that you’d never expect are inviting Jesus to be at the center of their lives because they’ve realized that He’s the answer to all their deepest questions and biggest dreams. Even more incredibly, these young people are responding to the call of leadership and boldly reaching out to their peers to share the Gospel with them. It’s a privilege to be accompanying these men and women and raising up the next generation of Christ-centered world-changers.
Thank you for partnering with me in this mission, I couldn’t do it without your generous financial and prayerful support! Let’s go!
ONGOING PRAYER REQUESTS
That in my life God would become greater and I would become less.
For my team and the students we serve; that we would all continue to grow deeper in love with Jesus.
Help Gabrielle Make Jesus Known
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