Nonviolence Focus:
Prevention and reconciliation/restoration. I work in education of youth toward acceptance and tolerance of all ethnicities. St. Joseph Bangkok School attempts to mitigate violence through sharing of Gospel values and Catholic Social Teaching. My witness displays another way through reflection on the life of Jesus.
Ministry Context:
Thailand Catholics are a very small minority but have influence throughout the country. St. Joseph Bangkok School has a student body of over 300. Half the students are Muslim with Buddhist and Christian denominations. Educational Systems in Thailand are weak and structurally fragile.
Current Ministry:
Gabe’s primary duties are teaching at St. Joseph Bangkok School, which is part of the Diocese of Thare and Nonseng. He teaches English grammar, Health, Social Studies and Math. Gabe is also involved in managing and revitalizing the library which has been in disuse for some years.
Gabe lives in a simple one-room dormitory located on the school grounds. Additionally, when possible, Gabe has been quietly assisting Myanmar refugees and poor street vendors in need who he meets. He has helped many single mothers who are struggling to survive and provide for their children.
Personal Data:
Gabe is a parishioner at St. Bartholomew Church in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of La Crosse. He has a Master in Public Health from the University of Boston and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Dayton in health, education and school health administration.
Gabe’s inspiration in life has always been an uncle who was a Franciscan T.O.R. priest and served for 32 years in India and Brazil. To date, Gabe has served for over 33 years and lived in 12 countries studying 8 languages in those years.
Gabe has lived and worked overseas in several different relief, development and mission organizations for more than 33 combined years in 12 countries in Asia, Africa, Central and South America. While with the Peace Corps in Kenya in the 1980s, he worked as a water technician. He was the Medical Director of two refugee camp hospitals with American Refugee Committee and for four years served as Director in Ethiopia with Food for the Hungry International.
Gabe was the Central American Coordinator of the Volunteer Missionary Movement in El Salvador for almost four years. After that, he worked for the Association for International Teaching, Educational and Curriculum Exchange in China as an English professor in three different, higher level institutions in four distinct northern regions of China.
In 1998 Gabe accepted a dual post in Rome with the Union of Superior Generals (USG) and women religious (UISG) office for Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation (JPIC) and as the Solidarity with South Sudan secretariat. For a short time, Gabe also served in South Africa with the Southern Africa Catholic Bishops Conference. He has also provided development and relief consulting in Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, South Africa, Peru and Indonesia during the tsunami crisis.
After his return to the U.S for personal reasons in 2010, he served for seven years as the coordinator of religious education at St. Stephen Parish in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. In the summer of 2016, Gabe volunteered as professor in South Sudan at the Solidarity Teacher Training College in Yambio. The following year, after joining Maryknoll Lay Missioners, he returned full-time to serve with Solidarity with South Sudan in various capacities. From October 2020 to February 2023 he worked in the remote project of Holy Trinity Peace Village Kuron, Eastern Equatoria. That was followed by 2 ½ years teaching at St. Mary Magdalen Parish’s Secondary School in Riwoto until September, 2025.
After serving in South Sudan for 8 years, Gabe transitioned to Thailand in 2026. The mission is to research the country for more projects. Gabe is currently stationed in Bangkok but travels when possible to assess future options and opportunities for more Maryknoll Lay Missioners in the future.
