No electricity, no problem

The Poplar Hill team at the airport: the pilot, Albert Martens, Don Wiebe, Dwayne Koop, Kaylee Koop, Chris Lerm, Edna Martens, Amy Friesen, and Jordyn Bergen.

Edna, six volunteers and I (Albert) had just arrived in Poplar Hill, when a construction worker came over to let us know we had “arrived at a bad time—the whole community has a black out.” There would be no power to the hotel—no fridge, no stove, no lights, no A/C—and our charter flight had just taken off! We were there to minister to the community in northern Manitoba from July 13 to 19, 2025.

“Come and stay with us at the construction camp,” Harry said, “We have a generator.” After talking to the other team members, we followed Harry to the camp, about one kilometre from the Poplar Hill community.

About 16 mobile trailers were hooked together creating two dorms with over 100 bedrooms. We walked down the lengthy corridor (4 trailers in length), to the room Edna had chosen near the common kitchen. The bedrooms were small, with a single bed, a small desk and a small closet.

As we toured the town in a borrowed van, we talked to everyone who looked like they were “experts on power” and the answer to our question about electricity was “tomorrow.” Tomorrow the answer was tomorrow. Six hydro poles had burned in the fires north of their community.

The community store had a small generator, but it could only power their cash register, so Edna used her phone flashlight to look for bread in the pitch-black building. The store was selling perishable food at 90% off or the dogs would have gotten most of it.

Our team was versatile and decided that they could do Bible lessons and meet people without electricity, but on our third day the power was back, and we moved to the hotel.

Kaylee, Aimee and Jordyn ran the VBS program, and we organized a short run with about a dozen children. Three NAPS (Nishnawbe Aski Police Service) officers willingly helped, escorting runners with their police truck—the finish line was a yellow “Do Not Cross” tape.

Chris organized a men’s breakfast with 40 men attending. Dwayne gave the devotional and had opportunity to have a lengthy chat with one of the men after the breakfast. He also hired a local fisherman to take him fishing on Stout Lake. Spending seven hours on a remote lake is another way of getting to know someone and to share your faith.

Don and I went to do an anointing prayer for a couple with a seven-year-old son who was disabled from meningitis as a baby. This was a very emotional experience.

The whole team participated in radio ministry.

Bobby, who came to know Jesus last year, asked us to come and dedicate their new house and their family to the Lord. Five of us went to his home where we dedicated each room and the family—including little Gianna who slept through it.

The last evening, we did the traditional fireworks off a small rock island on the Berens River, about half a km away from shore, where there was no danger to the children or of starting a forest fire.

The Lord blessed us with a tremendous team, and despite the surprise at the start we had one of the best “camps” ever.