CEE Story From The Mission Field
Springs of Living Water
May 11, 2004
Tim and Lisa Wicker are IMB missionaries serving in Russia. Tim serves as the Strategy Coordinator for Vladivostok, a large urban center in the Russian Far East. Life in this part of the world is not easy, but always seasoned with God’s grace. This is a glimpse into the Wicker’s life, as well as the lives of the 2.3 million people living in this region of the world:
We were awakened this morning at 3 AM with a phone call from one of our neighbors.
"The water will be turned off shortly and we won't have any again for 3 days,” she explained. She was calling us so that we could prepare by showering and by filling up our numerous plastic jugs and buckets, to hold us over until the water came back on.
We praise the Lord for our good neighbors who look out for and tell us the news 'about town' (hot water to be turned off until next August, cold to be turned back on in 3 days, no electricity tomorrow, the heat will be turned off, etc.). With these warnings, at least we can be a little more prepared for minor inconveniences that we are faced with here in the former Soviet Union.
The lack of water isn’t anything new. Russian cities often suffer from water shortages (due to below average rainfall and periodic mismanagement of the local government). This time the rationing began with our cold water being turned off a day at a time, once or twice a week. Then we had hot water consistently and cold water every other day. Finally, our hot water was turned off and we were told that there would be no more until August (does it really take that long to heat up the water? I asked myself). The cold water continues to come every other day for about 4 hours in the morning. Continues, that is, up until now.
As I was mopping the floor at 4 AM, knowing that we could not do so again for a few days, I could not help but rejoice. As the tap water comes and goes with regular inconsistency, the Spirit of God continues to work consistently. Just this past evening I had the joy of sitting down with our friend Lena and 'nailing down' her commitment to Christ. We met Lena 6 months ago in a class for translators (we were teaching basic Bible and Christian terms to secular translators). Over the past few months, she has come from square one, not being sure if there was even a God, to now trusting Him as her Lord and Savior.
It is now 5 AM. We have all had our showers. A couple of more loads of laundry are washed and hanging to dry. The buckets are full. The floors are clean. The toilets are flushed. And as predicted, the water is now at just a trickle soon to be off for a couple of days. AND Lena is our new sister in Christ. They may be able to turn off the tap water, but no one can shut down the Springs of Living Water!