<br />
<br />
<br />To recreation hall
<br />
<br />--Big Thompson River
<br />-
<br />
<br />In Seal'ch of Highel' Gl'ound
<br />
<br />On July 31, seven Campus Crusade for Christ staff women lost their lives in severe flash
<br />flooding near Loveland, Colorado. These women are Terri Bissing, June Fujiwara, Rae
<br />Ann Johnston, Barbara Leyden, Cathie Loomis, Precy Manongdo and Carol Rhoad.
<br />The following story, which appeared in WORLDWIDE CHALLENGE, is reprinted by
<br />permission of Campus Crusade for Christ, Inc. The publisher is grateful to the editor of
<br />that magazine for this kindness.
<br />
<br />The Saturday evening retreat began
<br />innocently enough: 35 Campus
<br />Crusade staff women were anticipating
<br />a barbecued chicken dinner at the
<br />Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch. "Who are
<br />you all?" the ranch director asked staff
<br />member Carol Rhoad. "And why do
<br />you all seem so beautiful and radiant?"
<br />As the Big Thompson River rushed
<br />by the picturesque spot outside Love-
<br />land, Colorado, Carol told the director
<br />about the women. They all held leader-
<br />ship positions on the Campus Crusade
<br />staff. Their radiance, she explained,
<br />came from a special source - the
<br />personal relationship each of these
<br />women had established with God
<br />through Jesus Christ. Little did Carol
<br />realize that later that evening she would
<br />come face to face with the Source
<br />Himself.
<br />On that Saturday, July 31, flash
<br />flooding in the Big Thompson Canyon
<br />claimed the lives of more than 100
<br />
<br />people including seven Campus
<br />Crusade staff women. More than 10
<br />inches of rain fell within minutes, forcing
<br />a IS-foot wall of water through the
<br />narrow, 25-mile long gorge, crushing
<br />everything in its path.
<br />The staff women who lost their lives
<br />are: Terri Bissing, 27, Glenwood
<br />Springs, Colorado; June Fujiwara, 27,
<br />Pukalani, Hawaii; Rae Ann Johnston,
<br />28, Crystal, North Dakota; Barbara
<br />Leyden, 29, Monroe, Michigan; Cathie
<br />Loomis, 29, Seattle, Washington; Precy
<br />Manongdo, 28, Philippines; and Carol
<br />Rhoad, 23, Grantville, Pennsylvania.
<br />The women had gathered at the
<br />ranch for fellowship and a briefing
<br />session before their return to Ft. Collins
<br />where nearly 3,000 U. S. field staff were
<br />meeting for two weeks of training. At
<br />9:40 p.m., shortly after the women had
<br />taken a coffee break, a siren went off
<br />outside the building. Then a megaphone
<br />blared, "Everyone evacuate immed.
<br />
<br />iately. Flash flooding. Ladies, take your
<br />purses and leave immediately."
<br />Once outside, the women received
<br />instructions to go to higher ground. "In
<br />the pitch blackness of the night, it was
<br />all quite confusing," relates Vonette
<br />Bright, wife of Dr. Bill Bright. "They
<br />kept telling us to go to higher ground,
<br />but no one was showing us where
<br />higher ground was."
<br />Piling into eight cars, the women
<br />headed out in four different directions.
<br />Four cars crossed the river in the
<br />direction of Highway 34. Two of those
<br />cars made a left-hand turn east to Love-
<br />land while two cars turned right. The
<br />other four cars, including Mrs. Bright's
<br />car, stayed on the north side of the
<br />canyon. Mrs. Bright's party traveled
<br />downstream a few hundred yards, left
<br />their car and walked to the ranch rec-
<br />reation building. The women in the
<br />rem,aining three cars took another road
<br />down the north side of the canyon.
<br />
<br />17
<br />
|