About Us

We aim to provide a multi-faceted ministry, as a benefit to a wide range of people groups. These programs are advertised and open to the community at large. Many campers come from the area within the circle of Fort Nelson, Grande Prairie, Tumbler Ridge and Mackenzie. 

Camp Sagitawa

Moberly Lake

Year Round

Staff Training: May-June;
Our camps: mainly July-August;
Rental Groups: Yr-round with camp program as the priority.

Adventure Trips

Off-site 

July – August

About 8 or 9 trips involving either canoeing, hiking, canyoning, or mountain biking.

We are owned and operated by Sagitawa Christian Camping Society, a non-profit society and registered charity. The Society elects a Board of Directors each year. Our Board and staff work towards integrity, excellence and safety in all our camping programs. We operate two main camping programs all based at Moberly Lake, all of which are open to the community at large.

Sagitawa Christian Camping Society consists of several member churches and many individuals.

Individuals may apply for membership in the Society by subscribing to the Statement of Faith and the constitution, and making a minimum one time contribution. Applications are made to the Board of Directors who then bring a recommendation to the Society.

Local churches may apply for Society membership through the Board of Directors, who will make recommendation to the Society. The church must ascribe to the purposes and doctrines as set forth in the Constitution. Member churches are commit to give annually, become actively involved with the running of camp through volunteering at summer programs and off season events, and to assist with representation on the Board.

Board involvement should not be taken lightly. Directors are responsible for policies that protect campers and staff, and for providing excellence in the general direction provided for the full time staff.

The Officers are selected by the Society at the AGM to sit on the Executive and provide direction for the Board. Other Board members are encouraged to sit on one of the working committees, such as: Program, Personnel & Publicity; Property; Fundraising. The Camp Director is an ad hoc member of all committees.

• Calvary Baptist, FSJ
• Cecil Lake Community
• Charlie Lake Community
• Chetwynd Fellowship Baptist
• Dawson Creek Alliance
• First Baptist, DC
• Fort St John Alliance
• Goodlow Evangelical Free
• House of Hope Community Church
• Mackenzie Baptist 
• North Peace Mennonite Brethren, FSJ
• Peace Mission Chapel 
• Pouce Coupe Community
• Rolla Bible Baptist

Our faith based objective is… “To promote co-operative Christian fellowship and to provide a program that is designed for evangelism and the development of Christian character in a recreative setting.”

We teach our staff that spiritual decisions must be voluntary because one value of an individual is in their freedom to choose. Faith is by its very nature a personal matter, and outside pressure will only confuse. Our teaching is also interdenominational in perspective, and there is no faith requirement to attend.

We believe in relationship
We believe that God created us to have good relationship, and that good relationship is evidenced by how we live at home, school, work and in our community. We mentor children and youth by modelling the principles of caring for one another and being honest about ourselves.

Mission:
At Sagitawa we are committed to caring for people and connecting them with Christ. Through relationships and programs that both challenge and encourage, we pursue personal growth and a deeper connection with our Creator.

Vision:
A refuge where people feel genuinely cared for; a safe and encouraging environment where people experience God’s love and respond to this call. 

Values:
1) Evangelism – We want to share the truth about Christ’s love and why he died on the cross for us. 1 John 4:10
2) Discipleship – We want to invite others to join us in the effort to become more like Christ; bringing our lives into alignment with His. Philippians 3:12
3) Recreation – We want to create an environment where everyone can engage in healthy relationship and refresh tired spirits through recreation activities. Isaiah 40:31
4) Truth – God created anything found to be true, whether in the physical world around us or in the nature of God himself. The world wants us to believe that your “truth” and my “truth” may differ. There is only one truth – it is Christ. John 14:6
5) Growth – We believe in challenging ourselves and one another to be better tomorrow than we were yesterday; physically, mentally, and spiritually. Hebrews 10:24
6) Worship – Our lives should be a continuous act of worship. Whether at chapel, the field, the dining hall, the forest, or on the water, to walk hand in hand with God worship. Hebrews 13:15 

We model whole life teaching
“Sagitawa” is a Cree word, and its meaning changes from region to region. Local Cree interpret it as “the meeting place of two rivers.” Our camp facilitates the kind of learning where we care for the whole individual – a place where the physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual come together.

We believe in excellence
The value of our children and youth exceeds those values of our natural resources and technology. Yet our quality of life often depends on those other values. We keep these in balance by reminding ourselves that excellence has more to do with how we treat people than with what we own.

Camp Sagitawa is accredited with British Columbia Camping Association. Accreditation standards can be found on the BCCA website.

The society believes that:

1. The Bible is the verbally inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings, and the supreme and final authority in faith and life.
2. God is one God who exists eternally in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died vicariously on the cross atoning for the sin of man. He arose bodily from the grave, ascended to the right hand of the Father, and will personally return to judge all men and establish His eternal kingdom.
4. Man was created in God’s image, but through disobedience fell into a state of moral and spiritual corruption.
5. Salvation is by grace. It is the gift of God and not received by any virtue or works of man, but rather by personal faith in Jesus Christ through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
6. A Christian man is enabled to live a godly life through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
7. Human destiny for a Christian is the resurrection to life with Christ forever; for the non-Christian, it is a resurrection to eternal judgment.
8. Through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, believers constitute the body of Christ.

The purpose of the society shall be:

1. To promote co-operative Christian fellowship and to provide a program that is designed for evangelism and the development of Christian character in a recreative setting.
2. To provide Conference facilities for Biblical and Theological studies, for leadership training and missions, and to examine the Scriptural position to social, political and moral issues.
3. To operate a s a non-profit charitable organization for the benefit of all members of the area at large.
4. The operations of the Society are to be chiefly carried on in the northern part of the Province of British Columbia known as the Peace River Country.
5. To provide a Biblical witness to the historical Christian faith as outlined in the following evangelical statement of doctrine.

The written word of God has ultimate authority and is the foundation on which our Philosophy is based. (2 Tim 3:16)

Parents registering their kids at Sagitawa are pleased that we are interdenominational. We teach the central message of the gospel as held by the historical evangelical denominations. Campers are taught from the Word of God and encouraged to read it for themselves.

The church is the Body of Christ and He Himself is the head. Thus, the ministry of Sagitawa is an integral part of the local churches’ missions department, a part of their outreach and teaching program. The Society has a decentralized organizational structure for achieving its purposes, with small group planning, interaction and participation throughout. (Col 1:18,24; Eph 4:4-6)

Camp Sagitawa operates through the help of local churches. We are thankful for their financial help, their wisdom on the Board and their involvement. Having many concerned individuals involved in camp builds a quality of safety and integrity in daily camp life.

The Great Commission, to make disciples, as stated in Matthew 28:19-20 is our directive; and all aspects of Sagitawa are aimed at fulfilling it in the Peace River Area. Discipleship represents a productive personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Evangelism, in a discipleship setting, is an on-going proclaiming of Christ by word and life in all aspects of camp and depends on co-operation between camp and the churches to make mature disciples.

We work with local churches, seeking ways to assist each other. Campers already attending a church are encouraged to continue. Information about local member church programs is provided for other campers.

Sagitawa is a Christ-centered camp emphasizing a whole, balanced experience that does not recognize a great division between worship, play, work, and study: “Jesus Christ in all and through all.”

An example of this is the knowledge that God loves me, whether I am at worship, play, work or study. My particular activity does not change the truth of God. A disciple is ‘one who is taught.’ A real disciple then, is not about life activity or career, but about one who trusts God in the midst of life. But this needs to be taught by example. Therefore, we select staff whose lives depict a sincere desire to live what they believe.

Mr. Walter McNaughton, a graduate of Prairie Bible Institute, responded to a letter from Mrs E Monge. She had asked Prairie to send someone to start a Bible School in the north. Mr McNaughton travelled on his bicycle with 23 cents in his pocket. In 1933/34, Peace River Bible Institute was established.

From its early days, PRBI set an example of outreach by starting many Bible Camps in the area, and encouraging their support. In 1947, Emmitt Miller and Arvid Anderson helped Walter start a camp at the Taylor Flats army base. They used the quonset huts for cabins and much of the army kitchen and utensils. When the Peace River flooded the area in 1948 the camp was moved to the Kiskatinaw River and was called Alaska Highway Bible Camp.

Staff and students from PRBI, helped the Rolla Alliance and other local churches operate the camp for many years. The camp had to cancel operations one summer because of polio in the area.

Changes included the addition of horse riding and a pool (dug-out lined with plastic). Farm grain sheds were moved to the property to be used as cabins. Beds were made of straw. Emmitt was active with the camp for 24 years. Arvid kept in touch and prayed for the ministry for over 40 years. The name was later changed to “Rock of Ages Bible Camp,” until it merged with the Camp Sagitawa in 1971.

Doug & Janet Spinney visited Moberly Lake during a vacation in 1956. This visit prompted them to meet with Rev Bill Ryans (Calvary Baptist, FSJ), Rev Don Miller (First Baptist, D Ck), and Bob Neufelt (McLaurin Baptist, GP). In 1960 they brought several car loads of teenage boys to a rented site at Sunny Acres (private property on the delta of the Upper Moberly). The camp soon became known as Sagitawa. In 1966 a girls camp was added. But in 1967 Sagitawa became too large for Sunny Acres. God directed them to buy half of the Garbitt Estate (67 acres) for $15,000. As a result, Camp Sagitawa held its first summer sessions at the present site in 1968.

The first buildings to go up were three 2-bedroom houses (no longer standing). Alden Spinney surveyed the property and drew up the plot plan with a development sketch of where future buildings would be located. In 1970, under the direction of Mr. Art Whitford, a 40′ x 60′ multi-purpose building, with kitchen and showers was erected (our present chapel). By this time, the camp acquired three horses, two canoes and a sailboat.

Then in 1971, it was felt by those involved that God was making the way clear for Rock of Ages Bible Camp, and Camp Sagitawa to come together. In August representatives from both ministries met to negotiate a merger. The name Sagitawa is a Cree word which was given to the place where the Peace River joins the Smokey River. It was used symbolically by the camp’s founders to refer to a place where the spiritual and physical parts of a person come together under the Spirit of God. When the two camps joined, the name Sagitawa was retained.

The founding officers of the original society:
Rev Doug Spinney, Mr. Vic Wilk, Mr. Warren Ralston, Mr. Erwin Martens, Rev Don Miller, Mr. Clyde Spinney.

The first Executive after the merger:
President – Fred Walton, Vice President – Bernard Little, Treasurer – Frank Luella, Secretary – Ken Harris.

Since then, the camp has grown into a year-round operation with a large emphasis on well trained staff and volunteers. Since 1992, over 200 volunteers assist each year. We believe that God is continuing to bless this ministry as we teach the application of Biblical Christianity.