Missionary Forgives Pilots For Killing Wife & Infant

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MISSIONARY FORGIVES PILOTS FOR KILLING WIFE AND INFANT

The Baptist missionary who lost his wife and their baby in the South American air tragedy has expressed forgiveness to the Peruvian air force during memorial services for the victims.

Jim Bowers told about 600 mourners yesterday at Marcus Pointe Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., that he has no hard feelings toward the Peruvian government, and God saved him and his son for a reason, the Associated Press (AP) reported. Bowers, 38, and his son, Cory, 6, escaped unhurt when their missionary plane was shot down earlier this month over the Amazon. Veronica "Roni" Bowers, 35, and 7-month-old Charity, died in the attack. Peruvian pilots mistakenly believed the plane was a drug runner.

"Cory and I are experiencing inexplicable peace, and to me that's proof that God is in this," Bowers said yesterday at the church, which his wife's parents attend. "Our attitude toward those responsible is one of forgiveness. Is that not amazing? It shouldn't be amazing to us Christians. I've talked to everyone involved except the pilots. I've been praying for them. I've talked to their supervisor about that. He's very interested in knowing more about the Lord...So everything's going well in that regard. No hard feelings."

Bowers also spoke Friday at Calvary Church, the couple's congregation in Fruitport, Mich. He told about 1,300 people who attended the service, "How could I not [forgive] when God has forgiven me so?"

-- I believe in Him (Jesus is King@Kingdom.come), May 01, 2001

Answers

I wonder if he'll feel the same way once the shock of his loss wears off and all his current supporters/helpers return to their own lives. To be feeling "inexplicable peace" at this early stage suggests that he may be in a state of denial. For his own psychological health, I hope he allows himself the opportunity to properly grieve.

-- Don't (Suppress@Sadness.com), May 01, 2001.

Oh great, we get an arm-chair pshycologist. Probably cpr.

-- liddady (not@telling.you), May 01, 2001.

It's a miracle that the two of them are still alive, they were supposed to be killed too. I wonder if he forgives Dumbya for ordering them to be setup for the kill.

-- (non-fundamentalists@added to. Bush body count), May 01, 2001.

I'm going to give my totally unabashed opinion on this one as a progressive [read liberal] person.

Missionaries [much like their Peace Corp brethren] are hated all over the world. Afterall, they come into a country, try to "help" the people there [and ain't THAT pretty goofy in itself, as the people typically felt they were pretty well off BEFORE these folks came.]

For the most, IMO, these folks did what they did based on a sense of adventure within themselves. The sense of adventure always includes risk. I don't even see this as a religious issue. SOME folks take more chances than others in an attempt to live life more fully.

I remember taking my kids snorkeling in Cancun and Belize. They got to see nurse sharks, barracuda, sting-rays and other wild-life in their natural habitats. My ex went bezerk upon hearing where we'd been and what we'd done. He told me that I was totally irresponsible and he didn't trust me to make decisions regarding my children's actions, etc.

I guess it depends on where you sit regarding life. *I* want to live it. I'd rather it killed me than passively sit in a little enclave so fearful of life that I'd fear the experience of it. I think these missionaries felt the same way. It's certainly unfortunate that the woman and child were killed, but I think the entire family went into the "program" understanding that if the country in which they were practicing their ministry didn't kill them, there was a possibility that their OWN country could.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 02, 2001.


Um...that would be BERSERK, which I SHOULD know, as the history of the word references a Scandinavian Warrior.

-- Anita (Anita_S3@hotmail.com), May 02, 2001.


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