ROSCOMMON, MI – Brett and Niccole Luker’s lives took a detour this summer. Brett serves as an associate pastor for Christian Challenge at Michigan State University, and Niccole who loves the arts was working as a cake decorator when they got a call. “This wasn’t on our radar. Bambi Lake was something that we weren’t expecting to happen,” Brett says, “We got a phone call, and we felt God just says ’Go’.” He adds, “That has really impacted us as a couple because it’s really allowing us to experience what God can do when he tells you to go.”
So Brett and Niccole spent the last few months as summer missionaries on staff at the Bambi Lake Conference Center. What that has meant has been lots of roles as needed. Niccole says the assignment “has gotten us out of our comfort zone, and has given us the opportunity to just serve a lot of people.” Brett adds, “You never know what’s going to happen the next day. You always have to be expecting the unexpected.”
Brett and Niccole did a lot of hard work as part of their summer calling. Brett helped with much of the maintenance and revitalization of the camp, and Niccole serves behind the scenes in the kitchen and many other places in the camp. But the real reason that they are here is to have a spiritual impact. Brett talks about leading a young student to a profession of faith. “This young man came and responded to an altar call that we had. I had the opportunity to share the gospel with him, and he was open. It was wonderful.”
Niccole understands the impact a week at camp can have on a young student’s life because of her own experience at a camp as a high school student even before she had become a believer. She says, “That was just the beginning for me, but the thing I love about Bambi is that it gives you the opportunity to get away from noise and you just have the ability to just come and focus just on God.”
The Bambi Lake Conference Center has a long history of being the launching point for many of Michigan Baptists over the years. It supports the Baptist State Convention of Michigan’s (BSCM) three areas of focus; starting, strengthening and sending.
This year a portion of the Frances Brown State Mission Offering will go to the Bambi Lake Conference Center to increase it’s impact of starting, strengthening, and sending the churches of Michigan Baptists. If you would like to promote the offering in your church, there are resources to help at bscm.org/smo.