Story number 1 for 23 Apr 2001

(Peru) — We begin today in Peru, where a Peruvian airforce plane shot down a missionary aircraft, which killed an American missionary and her infant daughter. Association of Baptists for World Evangelism’s E-C Haskell explains what happened last Friday afternoon. “One of our planes was en route from the border of Peru and Brazil with a missionary family of four when they were fired on by a military jet and Roni Bowers , the wife and her daughter Charity were killed instantly. The Pilot was severely injured.” Haskell says the plane was thought to be carrying drugs. Bowers’ husband Jim and their eight-year-old son escaped without injury. Haskell says this is a first. “In more than 40-years of aviation ministry, we’ve never had a loss of life. To my knowledge this is the first incident of this type in missionary aviation period, not just AWBE.” The Bowers, missionaries since 1993, had a ministry they opperated from their house boat on the Amazon river.