The
Minnesota Teen
Challenge program is thanking God on several fronts for His awesome
protection
during the bridge collapse on Interstate 35 yesterday. This bridge is
located just ¼ mile from our main center and is traveled
hundreds of
times
by many of our students and staff as the main route to the Northeast
metro area. I have heard almost a dozen stories from employees and
students who
were on this bridge just minutes before it went down. I want to share
three of the most powerful miracles.
First,
Jessica our
admissions supervisor told me in tears how at 6:00 last night she was
ready to
enter the I-35 Bridge over the Mississippi. The Holy Spirit spoke to
her very abruptly to turn off the freeway and go a different way home.
She
obeyed the Holy Spirit arguing with him all the way. Since she takes
this same route every day and her commute home takes almost an hour,
detouring
from the freeway and not crossing over the bridge didn't make sense.
Shortly after she detoured from I-35, the bridge went down. Jessica
most likely
would have been on that bridge.
The second testimony
was told to me by dozens of our Teen Challenge students. Every
Wednesday night
for the past 3 years our buses and vans are loaded and a caravan of
vehicles transport our men over the I-35 Bridge to a local church. They
leave our
buildings at 6:00 and cross over the bridge at approximately 6:10. As
the caravan of vehicles left the building, a staff who normally drives
the bus
stayed back with a group of sick students. He called one of the drivers
to say that it might be best if "just tonight" they didn't go over the
freeway bridge and instead took an alternative route. When the students
arrived at the church and heard what had happened, the vast majority
got on
their knees and wept.
Lastly,
my daughter who
works at the University of Minnesota and is on that bridge every night
at
around 6:10 p.m. just happened to ask for the day off of work. She also
could have been on this bridge.
Right now they say
that over 50 cars are lying near or under the bridge on the bottom of
the
Mississippi River. They believe that most of these vehicles have
fatalities. Thank God for His divine protection! Please pray for our
city! Yesterday
we had our Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan and members of the
Minneapolis City Council at chapel. It was a powerful time and at the
end we prayed
together for our city and for God's wisdom on our leaders and law
enforcement. Little did we know that just hours later our city
would
experience the greatest catastrophe in Minnesota's history. Please keep
us in prayer.
Rich Scherber
Executive Director
MN
Teen Challenge
1619 Portland Ave S
Minneapolis,
MN 55404
