html - Used span to style certain words in list. It shifted other element to next row. Why and how to fix? -

i'm working on basic bootstrap project.

i used span tag style words in list. this:

<li>the agile feline <span class="text-info" style="font-size:30px"><strong> squeezed through</strong></span> fence</li><br> 

and in doing so, shifted other bullet list(on right hand side) , empty middle column down next row. it's supposed go:

list ------ empty middle column -------  list 

but instead looks this:
list

empty middle column ------ list    (<---with these ones on next line; should on same line) 

altogether, section looks this:

<div class="row bullet" style="margin-top:15px"> <div class="col-md-4 text-left">   <ul class="bg-success">      <li>water a<span class="text-info" style="font-size:30px"><strong> sacred element </strong></span> , fundamental building block of life</li><br>      <li><span class="text-info" style="font-size:30px"><strong>water</span> in purist form, <span class="text-info" style="font-size:30px"><strong>cleanses</span>; both externally , <span class="text-info" style="font-size:30px"><strong> spiritually</span></li><br>     <li><span class="text-info" style="font-size:30px"><strong>preservation</span> of streams, springs , rivers <span class="text-info" style="font-size:30px"><strong>is vital</span></li><br>     <li>approximately <span class="text-info" style="font-size:30px"><strong>400 billion gallons</span> of water used every day in united states</li><br>     <li>by 2025, half of world’s population living in water-stressed areas.</li><br>    </ul> </div><!--left list-->       <div class="col-md-4 text-center bg-danger"></div><!--empty mid column-->  <div class="col-md-4">   <ul class="bg-warning">      <li class="right">844 million people in world- 1 in ten- not have access improved source of drinking water</li><br>      <li class="right">every minute newborn baby dies infection caused lack of clean water , unclean environment. </li><br>     <li class="right">collectively, south african women , children walk daily distance equivalent 16 trips moon , fetch water</li><br>    <li class="right">globally, @ least 2 billion people use drinking-water source contaminated feces</li><br>    </ul> </div><!--right list-->  

everything laid out supposed until styled words using span tag. i've done searches upon searches , haven't been able find clear information assist me through this. , can't find documentation of specific issue either. came across usage of span inside of div like: div class="span"..... i'm confused if should inside of div or own tag??...