MyChurch: MARK GABRIEL's Profile

It is very hard for me to talk about me,,,,but here goes>

I was born in Cleveland Ohio, my father worked for the power company, my mother stayed home and raised my sister and me,,,those are some of the best memories,,,Mom still lives there in the same house,,(Dad died in 1992). I had an accident when I was cutting grass at the age of 14. I am blind in my left eye, but I still sense light and that's why I always have on sunglasses..

I was saved at the age of 23, by a very dear friend that never gave up on me,,,(Thanks Again Tina)
She kept taking me to a tiny church called The Gospel House. It was an eye opener, compared to the Catholic upbringing that I was so bored with,,back then you had to get up out of your seat and walk to the alter,,,that was the best decision of my life,,That church has now grown into a huge mega-church with the same Pastor,,I knew he was doing God's work,,

Meet my wife and was married at 25, moved to Los Angeles, which was great at the time,,,then we moved again to Las Vegas, because my in-laws lived here,,,Things all seemed to be working out, We had my son Max when I was 30, and my daughter Alexis when I was 31,,my wife went right back to work at Citibank at the Lakes,,We were living the "American Dream" ,,,At this time we didn't really have a church life,,,,so of course you can imagine that we fell apart.

We got divorced, lost the house, car, and all that was included,,,but I kept my kids,,that was the only thing that I wanted,,I became a single father with Max at 10 and Alexis was 9.

I started to put my life back together which included God...I got involved with a church that was meeting at Durango High School,,,called Desert Horizons,,The Pastor is a good teaching man and he got me connected again...At this time I meet a whole group of wonderful friends that have become my family,,,we started a weekly bible study that continues till today. Our group was the set up / take down and the audio / video ministry, special events catering and anything that was required. We had a good time serving and we all became close friends. For each persons own reasons, we all started to wander into other chuches seeking the Lord.

Ruth from VBF invited my friend Lynn and we loved it the first time we attended,,The church was still small and only about 1 1/2 years old in Vegas,,,but the worship was great, the people kind, and the Pastors spoke the truth. Most inportant was there was a place for my kids to grow. My kids are both saved, Max at the Promise Keepers, and Alexis at camp.

Currently I love serving at the Rescue Mission on Sundays, and I also work with the Sacred Revolution team on Monday nights,,I am part of the singles group (GPS) and we have taken some fun trips together. Also I have join Mighty Men's team and hope to do some important projects.