Thoughts about the 35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, MN

We returned to Manila last night after a fruitful but brief trip to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN

We were eating supper Wednesday around 6 when we heard several sirens and helicopters overhead and I realized something was urgent was going on. I turned on the radio and they were talking about a bridge that collapsed in downtown Minneapolis so I turned on the television and there it was. The bridge on Interstate 35W collapsed during rush hour!! This was and still is shocking and our hearts ache for the 5 confirmed dead, many still missing and injured and families directly affected by this tragedy. We've been praying for the missing, the grieving families, the rescue workers and their on-going heroic efforts. We pray for God's comfort to descend upon Minneapolis our home city of many many years.

Mary Ann and I have lived in Manila since 1985 and this city has become "our" city too. We've adopted it as our own and we feel the life of her people and the flow of her activities. We also have many friends and colleagues here and have learned Manila's nooks and crannies. It's the same with Minneapolis so our hearts and lives are split between both great metropolitan areas because we have many friends, family and supporters in the Twin Cities and surrounding area so we know "the Cities" intimately as she's fondly called. I'm glad we were in Minneapolis when this landmark bridge went down so we could enter into the grief of the people, hear the many Good Samaritan stories and can continue to pray from our hearts for the "Cities" and her people.

It's a strange place to be in to have two cities on opposite sides of the globe as "your own" by entering into their rhythms, pulses and various events that shape them. I find myself asking God often to have mercy on both Manila and Minneapolis and to show Himself as Lord over them. Perhaps having a heart for the city in which God has placed His servants is the primary quality one needs in order to serve fruitfully as an urban missionary. To me this means having the ability to see and respond to the people of one's city with the compassionate eyes and hands of Christ along with knowing that He's Lord over our cities and the events that take place in them both on the micro and macro scale.

Jeremiah 29:7 "Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on it's behalf; for in it's welfare you will have welfare." (NASB)