Speaker: Darlene Sala | Series: Encouraging Words

Back in 2008, because of the global financial crisis, the Baikalsk Pulp & Paper Mill shut down. Now, for most towns, this would create a serious problem for those who worked at the mill.  For this little town, located in the wasteland of Siberia, it was a full-blown crisis, for the mill was the primary source of jobs for the 17,000 people who lived there.  When the mill shut down, other businesses folded. People went into survival mode, unscrewing all but one light bulb in their homes to save money on electricity.  They stayed in bed in the mornings because there was nothing to get up for. Alcohol consumption rose.

Could they have moved to another area and looked for work? Yes, but the idea of moving from Baikalsk was scary for most of these people because they had never lived in any other part of Russia. Their fathers had built the plant, and many had met their mate while working at the plant and put down roots. In an interview, Svetlana Brovkin put it like this: “There’s no place for us to go. Nobody’s waiting for us. Nobody’s expecting us.”[1] What a sad, sad situation! No place to go. Nobody expecting you.

Contrast this with the words of Jesus just before He died on the cross: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. . . . I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2,3 NIV).

Yes, at the end of this life we have a place to go, someone waiting for us, someone expecting us. Jesus has promised to come back to this earth and take us to be with Him. Together forever. What a day!

 

[1] http://articles.latimes.com/2008/dec/21/world/fg-mill21/2, accessed 8-2-2016.