A History of our Camp
Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto…Fisher Bay Bible Camp!! Fisher Bay Bible Camp is located 2.5 hours north of Winnipeg on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, and celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2008. In 1948 Jake and Adina Goertzen decided to start a camp to form stronger, more personal relationships with the children from the three First Nations in the area. The Goertzens forged their way through bush and swamp on horseback to build a camp under GMU for the area. (It was later transferred to the FEBC). They started with one week of camp for a dozen or so kids. Fifty years, and many mosquito bites later, the camp runs 6 weeks for over 200 kids, aged 5-19, per summer. The current mission statement reads “To be a dynamic Christian camping ministry committed to bringing children, youth and adults to a saving knowledge of and a maturity in Christ, while supporting the local church body.”
Fisher Bay Bible Camp has seen many hardships, as it struggles to find staff and funds, but God continually provides. As with many Bible camps, lifeguards have been difficult to recruit. One Sunday morning a few years back, a day before camp was to begin, & two provinces away, a long time camp supporter was sitting in the pews of her church. She had heard our prayer request for a lifeguard and heard a story that morning of another camp that was to close down for the summer due to a flood. She gave the camp a call which led her to our lifeguard for the next two years. God provides!
There have been many more people, like the example given above, who have kept FBBC going. The point was made at the 50th anniversary that no one person has done anything amazing but so many have answered God’s call in obeying Him to serve at FBBC. From the Goertzens, and others, who cut down trees and planed wood to build the first buildings, to more recent directors, who expanded the age groups and added a leadership program; God has worked and provided.
The camp has come full circle. Some of the current staff members were campers when they were children. This turnover is integral to the camp’s operation because this staff has time and passion invested in the camp. We continue to pray for more local children & youth to grow and develop in their relationships with the Lord and desire to reach the area for Him.
Though the camp is small in the light of many, we are grateful for how God has used it to reach many for Christ; both in the local area and some from neighbouring areas and more distant churches. We praise God for Christian youth who have come to serve over the years. We were deeply touched to hear the response of local people for how grateful they were for the camp’s influence in their lives, and the community, as a whole, at our 50th anniversary celebration. Recent upgrades to the facilities have included winterizing the dining hall, which now includes staff housing, and a beautiful renovation of the kitchen. We are looking forward to what God will do with the camp in the future and trust He will be faithful to the camp as He uses it to reach children who so desperately need Him.