Bridge Out in OK... Testimony

#1 · June 1, 2002, 9:53 am

Quote from Forum Archives on June 1, 2002, 9:53 am
Posted by: agapetoo <agapetoo@...>

I thought this might be a great illustration from life of God's protective power, and a faithful witness.

Have a Great Lord's Day tommorrow!

Bro. Lynn

  ** BRIDGE OUT!

   A/G evangelist Max Alley (67) and his wife Goldie (68) of Broken
   Arrow, Okla., may never drive across a bridge again without at
   least some sense of apprehension.

   On Sunday, May 26, 2002, the Alleys were on their way for a
   special service at Arkoma (Okla.) A/G, about 90 minutes from their
   home in Broken Arrow. The Alleys have known Arkoma A/G Pastor
   Roger Myers for over 30 years. "We go there about once a year to
   preach," Max said. The subject of this year's sermon? The wiles of
   the devil--when something looks good, but is not.

   As the Alleys made their way off the Muskogee Turnpike and onto
   Interstate 40 about 7:45 that morning, everything seemed fine. "We
   were discussing family," said Max. "It was a beautiful Sunday
   morning."

   But all was not good. Although, as evangelists for over 30 years,
   the Alleys had traveled that section of road thousands of times,
   that Sunday morning, things were different.

   Just before the Alleys started onto the Interstate 40 bridge that
   spanned the Arkansas River, two large barges being pushed by a tug
   boat struck one of the bridge's support beams. Two long sections
   of the bridge collapsed down into the water at steep angles,
   forming somewhat of a "V" shape, and a third section on the west
   side--the side the Alleys were on--dropped nearly flat down about
   60 feet and came to rest on the embankment.

   "The bridge must have collapsed just before we got there," Max
   said. "I noticed a van in front of me went down, like it had gone
   over a hill, its tail lights disappearing, and I said to Goldie,
   'Boy, I didn't know there was a hill there.' "

   Seconds later, traveling at nearly 75 miles per hour, the Alley's
   Dodge Dakota pick-up truck was airborne. "We never really even had
   time to think," said Max. As the truck was front-heavy, it went
   down nose first--about six stories down.

   "The front end was the first to hit the cement, the air bags went
   off and we had our seat belts on. Neither one of us ever lost
   consciousness," said Max. Incredibly, the truck didn't flip over
   and the impact didn't send the engine into the passenger cabin.
   "It stayed on its wheels and we rolled to a stop," Max added. "But
   it looked like another 8 or 10 feet and we would have went over
   the edge [into the river]."

   All told, according to various news reports, about 600 feet of the
   bridge collapsed.

   Was God protecting them? The Alleys are sure He was. "If you look
   at photos of the accident, you won't see any skid marks behind the
   truck--so who do you think stopped that truck?"

   As the truck came to a stop, Max reached over and pulled Goldie
   out of the truck as her door was jammed shut. Remarkable because
   it was later learned that Max's back was broken in two places!

   "The truck looked like it had a head-on collision," Max said.
   After getting out and looking around, Max realized the truck was
   still running and in gear. "It started rolling backwards, so I put
   it in park and it quit--tough little truck."

   But then the pain started. "I'm nearly 68," said Max. "I've been
   in car wrecks, truck wrecks and thrown from a horse and it never
   hurt so bad as it did that day."

   As Max leaned against the side of the bridge in agony, and Goldie,
   who had a broken rib herself, was praying for him, the mental
   anguish began to build for the Alleys. For although no more
   vehicles followed the Alley's truck over the west side, trucks and
   cars up on the east side were still unaware of the collapse.

   "You could hear the breaks, then see the car and trucks flying off
   that thing," said Max, who could only helplessly watch from below.
   "I think there were two 18-wheelers and three or four cars we saw
   go over. I can still hear the grinding of that metal and splashing
   of that water. It was like watching a horror story."

   Goldie was deeply distraught, desperate to help. "My wife was
   saying, 'Can't somebody help? Can't somebody do something? People
   are dying!' " Max said. "Finally, a fisherman fired a flare in the
   air and a guy coming from the west side stopped and started waving
   at the people coming from the east."

   After traffic was finally stopped, the Alleys had another problem:
   How do they get out?

   "People were calling to us, telling us to get out of there," Max
   explained. But "getting out of there" meant walking up a steep
   embankment. "One guy came down and helped my wife up, and another
   came to help me. I hurt so bad I told him, if I wasn't a grown
   man, I would cry. He said, 'Well, you go ahead and cry,' and I
   did." Another man then came down to help, and they finally made
   it out.

   "People still don't believe I walked out of there with a broken
   back," Max said. "But God helped me. God is good."

   But that's not the end of the story. For Max and Goldie it may
   only be the beginning. Since the accident, the Alleys have been a
   very sought-after interview by both local and national news media.

   While recovering, CBS, CNN, Dateline and many others have
   interviewed the Alleys. "I know they can edit things out, but
   everyone who comes we tell them about our faith," Max said. "If
   they don't want to hear about that, then they don't get the
   interview. I tell them right off that I'm an A/G minister and that
   an angel of the Lord stopped us from going into that river--God
   gets all the glory from us."

   Doctors have told Max that it will be at least six months before
   he can resume normal activities, but Max had a revival scheduled
   in West Texas for mid-July. "If I'm feeling good, I'll do it. God
   helped me out of that wreck, he can help me preach a revival,"
   he said.

   Although Max has been a Christian for nearly 40 years, he came
   away from this tragedy with a new respect for eternity. "I witness
   to a lot of people that say they'll get saved right before they
   die," Max said. "I learned one thing, Goldie and I didn't have
   time to grunt--it was a flash and we were on the ground. If we
   were going to get killed, it would have been right there, without
   a word said. Those who plan to wait, it won't do them any good."

Snider's HangOut: A Fun Place to Be!
http://snidersplace.com

South Texas Baptist Association http://southtexasba.com

Do You Yahoo!?

Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup

Posted by: agapetoo <agapetoo@...>

I thought this might be a great illustration from life of God's protective power, and a faithful witness.

Have a Great Lord's Day tommorrow!

Bro. Lynn

** BRIDGE OUT!

   A/G evangelist Max Alley (67) and his wife Goldie (68) of Broken
   Arrow, Okla., may never drive across a bridge again without at
   least some sense of apprehension.

   On Sunday, May 26, 2002, the Alleys were on their way for a
   special service at Arkoma (Okla.) A/G, about 90 minutes from their
   home in Broken Arrow. The Alleys have known Arkoma A/G Pastor
   Roger Myers for over 30 years. "We go there about once a year to
   preach," Max said. The subject of this year's sermon? The wiles of
   the devil--when something looks good, but is not.

   As the Alleys made their way off the Muskogee Turnpike and onto
   Interstate 40 about 7:45 that morning, everything seemed fine. "We
   were discussing family," said Max. "It was a beautiful Sunday
   morning."

   But all was not good. Although, as evangelists for over 30 years,
   the Alleys had traveled that section of road thousands of times,
   that Sunday morning, things were different.

   Just before the Alleys started onto the Interstate 40 bridge that
   spanned the Arkansas River, two large barges being pushed by a tug
   boat struck one of the bridge's support beams. Two long sections
   of the bridge collapsed down into the water at steep angles,
   forming somewhat of a "V" shape, and a third section on the west
   side--the side the Alleys were on--dropped nearly flat down about
   60 feet and came to rest on the embankment.

   "The bridge must have collapsed just before we got there," Max
   said. "I noticed a van in front of me went down, like it had gone
   over a hill, its tail lights disappearing, and I said to Goldie,
   'Boy, I didn't know there was a hill there.' "

   Seconds later, traveling at nearly 75 miles per hour, the Alley's
   Dodge Dakota pick-up truck was airborne. "We never really even had
   time to think," said Max. As the truck was front-heavy, it went
   down nose first--about six stories down.

   "The front end was the first to hit the cement, the air bags went
   off and we had our seat belts on. Neither one of us ever lost
   consciousness," said Max. Incredibly, the truck didn't flip over
   and the impact didn't send the engine into the passenger cabin.
   "It stayed on its wheels and we rolled to a stop," Max added. "But
   it looked like another 8 or 10 feet and we would have went over
   the edge [into the river]."

All told, according to various news reports, about 600 feet of the
bridge collapsed.

   Was God protecting them? The Alleys are sure He was. "If you look
   at photos of the accident, you won't see any skid marks behind the
   truck--so who do you think stopped that truck?"

   As the truck came to a stop, Max reached over and pulled Goldie
   out of the truck as her door was jammed shut. Remarkable because
   it was later learned that Max's back was broken in two places!

   "The truck looked like it had a head-on collision," Max said.
   After getting out and looking around, Max realized the truck was
   still running and in gear. "It started rolling backwards, so I put
   it in park and it quit--tough little truck."

   But then the pain started. "I'm nearly 68," said Max. "I've been
   in car wrecks, truck wrecks and thrown from a horse and it never
   hurt so bad as it did that day."

   As Max leaned against the side of the bridge in agony, and Goldie,
   who had a broken rib herself, was praying for him, the mental
   anguish began to build for the Alleys. For although no more
   vehicles followed the Alley's truck over the west side, trucks and
   cars up on the east side were still unaware of the collapse.

   "You could hear the breaks, then see the car and trucks flying off
   that thing," said Max, who could only helplessly watch from below.
   "I think there were two 18-wheelers and three or four cars we saw
   go over. I can still hear the grinding of that metal and splashing
   of that water. It was like watching a horror story."

   Goldie was deeply distraught, desperate to help. "My wife was
   saying, 'Can't somebody help? Can't somebody do something? People
   are dying!' " Max said. "Finally, a fisherman fired a flare in the
   air and a guy coming from the west side stopped and started waving
   at the people coming from the east."

After traffic was finally stopped, the Alleys had another problem:
How do they get out?

   "People were calling to us, telling us to get out of there," Max
   explained. But "getting out of there" meant walking up a steep
   embankment. "One guy came down and helped my wife up, and another
   came to help me. I hurt so bad I told him, if I wasn't a grown
   man, I would cry. He said, 'Well, you go ahead and cry,' and I
   did." Another man then came down to help, and they finally made
   it out.

"People still don't believe I walked out of there with a broken
back," Max said. "But God helped me. God is good."

   But that's not the end of the story. For Max and Goldie it may
   only be the beginning. Since the accident, the Alleys have been a
   very sought-after interview by both local and national news media.

   While recovering, CBS, CNN, Dateline and many others have
   interviewed the Alleys. "I know they can edit things out, but
   everyone who comes we tell them about our faith," Max said. "If
   they don't want to hear about that, then they don't get the
   interview. I tell them right off that I'm an A/G minister and that
   an angel of the Lord stopped us from going into that river--God
   gets all the glory from us."

   Doctors have told Max that it will be at least six months before
   he can resume normal activities, but Max had a revival scheduled
   in West Texas for mid-July. "If I'm feeling good, I'll do it. God
   helped me out of that wreck, he can help me preach a revival,"
   he said.

   Although Max has been a Christian for nearly 40 years, he came
   away from this tragedy with a new respect for eternity. "I witness
   to a lot of people that say they'll get saved right before they
   die," Max said. "I learned one thing, Goldie and I didn't have
   time to grunt--it was a flash and we were on the ground. If we
   were going to get killed, it would have been right there, without
   a word said. Those who plan to wait, it won't do them any good."

Snider's HangOut: A Fun Place to Be!
http://snidersplace.com

South Texas Baptist Association http://southtexasba.com

Do You Yahoo!?

Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup