Last week, I woke up to a neighbor calling again and again trying to get my attention about water coming down from her ceiling. At first, I thought it was a mistake, but then I realized that it was the neighbors underneath the apartment where we are doing repairs—Katya’s parents’ old apartment. I threw on some clothes, ate a power bar, and flew out of the house.

It turns out that our repair guys had removed the old radiator heaters and had neglected to cap the pipes with anything. When the city turned on the heat (we have city heating), the water from the heater lines just went straight into the floor, pouring into the apartments three floors below us!

That morning and whole day was spent bailing out the apartment as if I was in a sinking ship, coordinating with neighbors about managing the water (several came to help bail out, mop up, and clean up), and then visiting the other floors to document the damage. Our contractor said that he would cover the repairs to the neighbors, as it was their fault, not ours.

It’s been interesting that God has used this to make us and our neighbors closer and has given us the opportunity to be a light to them. We are hoping to do some repairs to and older lady’s toilet (completely unrelated to the damages) and to just know our neighbors better after this. Please pray that we would eventually be able to preach the Gospel to them and just continue to be a light. Please also pray that we could finish these repairs sooner (we still need about $7000 + money for new appliances to move in).

Thank you to everyone that is supporting us, praying for us, and helping us with all of this!