The History of Sagemace Bible Camp
The Sagemace Bible Camp has been around for more than 50 years. It was started by Jake Wiebe, a lay minister at Nordheim Mennonite church in Winnipegosis, Manitoba. Mr. Wiebe, together with some of the youth in the area, saw a need for a bible camp. They received support for this vision from many, including C. C. Janzen and Abram Bergen.
In 1962, it started as a weekend camp for youth ages 8 to 14 and was held in Curve Bay (at Bilendukes farm), approximately 10 miles north of Winnipegosis. The following year, the camp moved to a five acre lakefront property that became available and has been firmly established there ever since. The camp is four and a half miles north of the village of Winnipegosis.
Mr. Wiebe directed the camp for approximately 20 years. After the first year, the camps were held one week every summer. The camps were full, with more than one hundred children each summer! The cabins had wall-to-wall mattresses. There was no running water (except when it rained!), and everyone had a wonderful time. John Rempel served as the lifeguard for many years. It took many dedicated volunteers to run the camp, and everyone helped out however they could. The food was donated and milk came from a local farmer. The water was hauled in by many hard working volunteers. Fifty years later, the drinking water in still hauled in from town.
The first mess hall was an old store moved in from Winnipegosis. In 1963 the girls would sleep in the mess hall and the boys in the back of two trucks backed together with a tarp placed over top. In 1964, an old granary was moved in, to be used as a cabin. In 1965, the old Nordheim Church was dismantled and the roof was taken to camp and used as cabins. “Chokecherry Cove” is presently used as a girls’ cabin. “Maple Grove” serves as storage. A third cabin, “Pine Ridge”, which was the old cheese factory, served as a boys cabin for many years.
In 1978, the mess hall was finished. The original cupboards came from Isaac and Gertrude Bergen’s old farm house. The lower cupboards have since been replaced by new ones, built by Ken Buhler. In 2005, the cabin known now as “Green Gables” was moved from across the road. It was originally called the “Shumski House” since it was donated by Lawrence and Sharon Shumski. In the summer of 2006, Henry Suderman put green tin on the mess hall and some of the other buildings including the “Shumski House”. Esther Krahn suggested we call it “Green Gables”. In 2009, a crew came from Niverville and built two new cabins. Many volunteers came from the Niverville area, the local church and community to help. The outdoor biffys have been replaced by flush toilets and showers! The mattresses are all vinyl covered, donated by Winnipegosis and Brandon Hospitals.
In 2010, a new gate was welded by Darcy Forsyth and beautiful new camp sign was made by Len Bergen.
In 2011, camp was cancelled since the lake was high that year and the camp was covered in water. That was the first year in five decades, that we had to cancel. Many hearts were broken, but God always makes a way. There was some damage that needed to be fixed but there were also many willing and hard working volunteers who helped repair water damage and prepared the camp for many more summers to come.
In 2020, camp once again faced a challenge. This time with covid. We were unable to run camp from 2020-2022 due to covid restrictions. We were exited to be once again up and running in the summer of 2023, thanks to many hard working volunteers and all the people supporting the camp with their prayers.