If God Should Choose:  The Authorized Story of Jim and Roni Bowers
by Kristen Stagg
published by Moody Publishers, 2002
ISBN 0-8024-1588-1


On April 20th, 2001, the Bower family returned from getting their daughter’s permanent residence visa for Peru, South America.  Kevin Donaldson piloted the floatplane, with Jim Bower seated next to him.  Jim’s wife Roni and seven-month-old Charity sat behind Kevin, and the Bower’s six-year-old son Cory sat behind Jim.  Kevin and the Bowers were ABWE missionaries.

Because of all the drug traffic in the area, the United States had helped the Peruvians police the area since 1994, using a four step process; however, these procedures had unnoticeably fallen apart by 2001.  The missionaries were an hour from home when an A-37 fighter plane flew in behind them and opened fire.  

The cockpit was suddenly in flames.  While Jim tried to put out the fire, Kevin struggled to land the shot-up plane in the Amazon and call for help.  Jim noticed that Roni hadn’t moved her feet away from the flames.  After the plane hit the water, Jim had Cory jump in.  Grabbing Roni and Charity, he jumped into the river himself.  It wasn’t until Jim was treading water, still holding his wife and daughter, that he realized they were dead – a single bullet had taken their lives.  Local villagers rescued the survivors thirty minutes later.  

Kevin’s leg was bleeding profusely and he needed immediate medical attention.  While trying to get help for Kevin, Jim covered the bodies of his loved ones to keep the bystanders from staring.  He tried to find a way to get the bodies preserved for burial in the U.S.; they would decompose quickly in the Amazon, but friends and family would want a burial service in the States.  Because the canoe that rescued Cory landed in a different location, Jim was concerned about his son until they brought Cory to him.  To his surprise, he found a working ham radio in the town and made several calls.  

It took the Peruvian air force four hours to arrive.  As they were flown away from the crash site, Jim recalled that Cory hadn’t accepted Christ as his Savior yet, and Jim was grateful Cory’s life had been spared.  During breaks in the thirteen hours of interrogations that followed, Jim spoke to the men about his faith and God.  

Jim and Cory retuned to the states on April 22nd.  Jim spoke publicly for the first time a week after the death of his wife and daughter at a memorial service in Michigan.  He declared that God’s hand was in it all and that He would use the event for His glory.  

The full account of Veronica “Roni” Lutting’s life and death can be found in, If God Should Choose, written by Kristen Stagg.