A 22-year-old Manitoban currently in New South Wales, Australia fighting the bushfires says his faith and prayers from home give him strength.

Matthew Wollman applied and travelled to fight the fires in Australia in late November. He says that the fires, although he was trained to work with them have been so much more powerful than he could have anticipated or prepared for. 

"When you're in a big blaze you kind of feel helpless," Wollman says. Despite the difficult work, he says the team morale is steadily positive.

"It's very encouraging working with the people. It's very team-oriented and you're always asking coworkers how they're doing and making sure everyone is okay," Wollman says.

"The day to day stuff is hard enough but it builds you up knowing that there are people praying for you and for your safety specifically."

A typical shift for the firefighters in Australia is 14 hours but Wollman says sometimes he and his team will work 24 hours straight. 

"You hike in or work from the hoses off your vehicle which has a tank of water on it or you use a hand tool to scratch off the fuel in the area to contain the fire," Wollman says.

"The day to day stuff is hard enough but it builds you up knowing that there are people praying for you and for your safety specifically. It keeps me going, I'm very thankful for that.

"In my weakness even though I feel helpless in certain areas I know I have my faith to rely on."

"In my weakness even though I feel helpless in certain areas I know I have my faith to rely on. I’ve been reading 2 Corinthians with Paul and God working through his weaknesses. Being in a fire situation it’s like that overwhelming power that you're going against. [Paul's] revelation from God is when he’s at his weakest, God really shines through. God’s power is what he relies on so that’s what I've been dwelling on in the past weeks," Wollman says.

Wollman hopes there is an end to the blaze in sight but plans to be in the country until April. “It's very dependent on the weather, there’s a significant drought here. You have +40 degree days and the wind pushing through; there’s so much that would have to happen [for the fires to stop] but a good amount of rain would help.

For those fighting alongside him, he says "hang on we are trying as hard as we can to save as much property and forest that we can. Look for help from those around you and pray," Wollman says.

He asks that those who are not on the front lines of the bushfires to continue to pray for their safety and for the end of the blaze.