Two more Bible camps have been evacuated as wildfires burn out of control in eastern Manitoba.
Inner City Youth Alive's Gem Lake Wilderness Camp and Camp Cedarwood were forced to leave on Wednesday as the fires in Lac du Bonnet and Nopiming Provincial Park continue to grow.
Camp Cedarwood said in a post on Facebook that they were evacuated due to precautionary measures.
"Please pray for safety for everyone involved. We know other camps (Gem Lake ICYA and Bird River) are in more challenging situations than we are, being much closer to the fire, and many people have needed to find other places to live, etc," said Camp Cedarwood in the post. "Pray that rain would come and firefighters would be able to do their work safely."
Nopiming fire dangerously close to Winnipeg inner-city ministry's camp
Inner City Youth Alive, on the other hand, says that the fire in Nopiming Provincial Park is threatening their Gem Lake Wilderness Camp.
"The fire is moving at an alarming rate, and right now it's right on the southwest shore of our lake," said Kent Dueck, founder and executive director of Inner City Youth Alive.
He says two days ago, the prevailing winds were heading east, and it looked like they would lose the camp.
"We were praying, and then we saw the winds change to blow more north, and right now we're walking on eggshells, whether we're going to lose the camp or not."
Dueck is asking people to pray for their situation.
"Just pray for the obvious, that the rain comes and that it will just solve it," said Dueck. "Pray for staff and for favour for the summer because we have our staff in place, our plans in place and lots of kids waiting and hoping to get out to camp for a wonderful week."
The goal of their camp is to provide a space where youth can come quietly before God and where leaders can strengthen their faith and leadership skills.
"So many people take for granted safety in the basics like three meals a day, but for many of our kids, camp means something. They mark it as the best week of their year," said Dueck. "So it's a lot of kids really, really concerned that they'll lose the place that they've grown up in and they love so much. We're praying for a miracle here."
According to the province, both fires are still burning out of control. And although there is rain in the forecast, officials say it is not enough to extinguish or make a noticeable difference in the situation.