Recently I watched a black and white 1949 film titled “Whiskey Galore”. It was set in 1943 in the Hebrides Islands (Scotland).
Everything was bought to the communities by boat - a massive shipping construct for all freight, farming items, goods, household needs, fruit, alcohol, pharmacy, food stuffs, groceries, furniture, gifts, medical, hospital, dental ….
The film opens with a voice over commentary if all this but that in 1943 the greatest of all calamities occurred. It was not a lack of food or farm needs or any of the items listed above, rather the whiskey supply.
One might imagine the drama. It’s cold up there. Whiskey was as much staple to the community as anything else.
It does not take much to figure what a film was about.
The brightest brains at WWII Bletchley Park’s code-breaking genius’ - had nothing on the creativity of the Islanders to find ways to get the whiskey across.
What caught my attention was the principle - as in my title - ‘Scarcity brings urgency’.
1943 Stalingrad
The same applied to the German 6th Army in Stalingrad in WWII when it became increasingly clear to the commanders and the soldiery they were fight and die where they stood.
Food was running out. Ammunition was becoming in short supply. The relief army could not get to them. It was winter and air drops was difficult.
We know now that one item the 6th Army soldiers called for in air drops were - Bibles.
2022 Ukraine
Christian ministry news articles and media identified when the Russians attacked the Ukraine - weaponry pawed into Ukraine fighters – and we saw plenty of video clips where Russian helicopters got shot down by these whiz-bang missiles.
What was also reported was the call for Bibles. Ukraine has a very large Christian population - all sorts from Catholic, to Protestant to Pentecostals. Bibles are as critical on the front line as ammunition.
2020-21 Lockdowns and Floods
We saw similar practises of ‘Scarcity brings urgency’ with a shortness of supply of supermarket items during the Covid lockdowns across the country.
Delma my wife of 45 years and I in March this year were at the missionary respite cottage at Laguna Quays on the Whitundays where we do our grocery shopping after landing at Proserpine Airport.
The SE Queensland February floods were preventing food supply trucking to get north. The supermarkets did not have milk. A staple grocery item if there is one.
Prayer
The stories of the persecuted church are legion where liberty is denied for faith in Jesus Christ. The one thing which was available was prayer. This is one reason we have a prayer room.