Rivers of Living Water
God’s vision for a Middle Eastern city brings living water for thirsty souls.
“For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” —Isaiah 44:3
The scriptural promise of the pouring out of fresh, pure, clean water onto a polluted dry land is one that international workers in this place have come to take personally. Nearly a decade ago, Nathaniel* arrived in this Middle Eastern country and entered into a season marked by discouragement, with many steps backwards—a lack of people coming to faith and of baptisms and a time filled with threats, building closures, sickness, and chaos, all attacking Christians and their mission field physically, mentally, and spiritually.
As encouragement wore thin, they sought solace in the distinct vision and promise they believed God had given them time and time again for this place.
“When we first moved to our city, the departing leader shared many things about their experience, and one of those things was a repeated picture and word that had been spoken over the city. The picture was that of flowing water or rain coming to a dry and desolate place.”
Nathaniel’s personal experience with this picture came during a time of listening to God during a prayer retreat several years ago. He had a vision of irrigation ditches—permanent structures designed to disperse water from a primary supply source throughout a large field. The ditches were filled with dirt, dead weeds, and garbage, creating stagnant, murky water. The image continued with a rush of fresh water—all the pollution wiped away by a crystal-clear flow.
Another instance of this vision over the area came through ministry partners new to the city: “When Jonathan* and Vivian* came to our city, we wanted to welcome them, so we invited them to dinner and shared our experiences. . . . We also shared with them the stories of water coming.”
A while after receiving this water word and picture as an encouragement to their budding ministry, Jonathan and Vivian shared messages from two separate sources who knew nothing about each other, nor the water stories. One came from a young woman who had been involved in their pre-discipleship program, sharing that she had a dream of water streams flowing through the entire city, and she was “being told to get in the water, that it was time.” The second came from a supporter in the U.S., sharing their vision of a huge waterfall pouring over their city that then broke out into countless streams of water flowing in every direction.
These instances of a water motif are not the only ones of their kind that have surfaced regarding this particular city. One Alliance person in the U.S. shared their vision of springs and rain over the area. Another Alliance person involved in marketplace ministry shared a dream they had for them, referencing springs of water. For some it came as a word that the flood gates would open, for others that rain would come, and for some that springs would burst up out of the ground. In most cases, people had received these pictures, visions, and words without prior knowledge of anyone else sharing a similar concept with them. This persistent water theme began to stand as a sign of hope in the midst of a hard season with no perceptible movement—one that, time and time again, has made it clear God has a plan for this place.
Beyond these experiences, Nathaniel’s church in the Middle East crafted a spontaneous song some years ago, and the theme was one now familiar and comforting to them—all related to water on its way.
“Every seed will be watered, there will be a harvest in the desert . . .”
“We believe in You for what we cannot see; we believe in you for more than we can dream . . .”
“You’re making rivers in the desert . . .”
Christians here have held out hope, against every number and statistic, that a harvest would come for their city. These believers have celebrated the few brave local souls who chose to follow Jesus throughout the years but were not satisfied with small numbers. These people have been faithful in this place and have also longed for more.
And now water has come.
“God kept promising springs of living water. It seems that some of those springs are coming to the surface now, and it is our hope and prayer that that is the case.”
A couple of years ago brought the first profession of faith they had witnessed in a long time—from a man who had been involved with them for 16 years. Another person followed—this time, one who had only been involved for a few short months also professed his faith.
The Spirit of God in this place has kept this momentum going, leading to 12 baptisms in this city this past September alone! Now looking at this ministry, there are more people that have come to faith over the past couple of years than all of the previous years of their presence there combined. As people here come to faith, God has also been at work intervening with matters of secret police threats—files of those involved with the church have been suppressed, with higher-ups protecting these cases for no known reason.
Upon a closer reading of Isaiah 44:3, the prerequisite to the pouring out of water is not just land and ground, but thirsty land and dry ground. Here, as with water and streams, God promises a pouring out of His Spirit and blessing. There is freedom, flow, and abundance in the pouring out of the Spirit, and the thirsty are the ones sure to receive Him.
Every seed that these workers, and the ones who have come before them, have sown will be watered. By God’s grace, we are seeing life here—a crystal-clear oasis pool of faith and life bubbling up onto the dry, thirsty ground.
God is bringing together goers, senders, and the people He is reaching with the gospel through the stream of His heart for salvation for all the world. His will is salvation, and walking in His will also means walking in His provision—for what He initiates He also sustains. Even amid costly persecution and suffering a lack of ministry staff, God is not yet finished—that which He has begun in this place He will bring to completion (see Phil. 1:6). All of Jesus for All the World, until the King returns.
Your gifts to the Alliance Great Commission Fund keep the streams of living water flowing throughout the world. Visit cmalliance.org/give to make a difference for God’s Kingdom.
*Names changed
About the Author
Emily Smith joined the storytelling team at the Alliance National Office earlier this year as an editor and copywriter. Emily earned her bachelor of arts from Iowa State University in 2021 and moved to the Columbus, Ohio area post-graduation as part of a church-planting team ministering to the city of Columbus and campus of Ohio State.