The blog background picture is from a bridge near downtown Toronto, Ontario. The bridge spans a small stream and a highway underneath and is a viaduct with cars on the top and the subway below. The bridge is named the Prince Edward Viaduct and is on Bloor Street East near the Riverdale Neighborhood. In April of 2007 around 33 people my youth group from Southridge Reformed Church in Kalamazoo, MI went to Toronto as part of an inner city missions trip working with Center For Student Missions, CSM for short. The first night in Toronto the CSM staff took us on a driving prayer tour of the city. The tour was to educate us on the needs of the city and what God was up there. About mid way through the tour we turned onto the Prince Edward Viaduct. There is something interesting about the Viaduct. On each side there are these steel rods that go off in an angle. I noticed this and thought to myself, what is up with this. Right after this thought our tour guide explained the steel rods. He said that these steel rods as here as a suicide barrier to stop people from jumping off the bridge.
Luminous Veil
The name for all of the steel rods are called the Luminous Veil. Before completion of the the Veil in 2003, the bridge averaged a suicide ever 22 days. The Veil cost the city roughly 5.5 million Canadian dollars to construct and in the time the Veil was being constructed until completion there were an estimated 60 suicides. The Veil was created to stop suicides but a report in 2010 stated that suicides by jumping has not decreased at all.
At at least one end of the bridge there is what looks to be an ordinary telephone booth but it is actually a suicide/crisis hotline. In the summer of 2008 i was able to go back and intern with CSM for two weeks. The last night off the internship i had a chance to walk across the bridge. It was dark when the team got off the subway. We approached the bridged and walked past the suicide hotline. We started walking across the bridge and stopped in the middle to look at the city. There is an amazing view of the city from the bridge. Then i went up to the steel rods and placed my hands on them and looked over the side to the highway below. It was at this moment when i was able to glimpse what so many people saw right before they jumped. The though that came into my mind at this point was where is the Church. How could there be so many people ending their lives because they are so sad, depressed, and confused? Where is the Church? Where is Jesus?
This is a very sad story but i will never forget touching those steel rods and looking over that bridge. This is a big reason why i am called to be a missionary someday to Toronto. I want to give the city Hope that only comes through Jesus. It was 5 years ago yesterday that i gave my life to Jesus and i found hope. So this story is just part of my life journey and i have no idea when i will get there but i know i will someday.
If you are sad, lonely, depressed, and need hope in your life, turn to Jesus. If you are skeptical that God really exists and cares about you, i just want to share with you a passage from the Bible. In the book of Jeremiah in the 29th chapter, 13th verse it says this: "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." So what this is saying is if you don't even believe in God, search for him and you will find him. If you draw near to him He will draw near to you.
I really appreciate you reading my first blog post ever. I would love it if you would leave a comment and i really hope this is a blessing to you.
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