On April 20, 2001, the plane in which missionaries Jim and Roni Bowers and their children were riding was shot down over Peru in a interception of a perceived drug plane. Roni and seven-month old Charity were killed. This tragedy has touched the lives of millions of people, believers and non-believers alike. If God Should Choose portrays the Bowers' story coherently and completely. This sobering work will leave readers more committed, in the words of Jim Bowers, "To stay alert to the things that really matter, to cherish their loved ones even more, to be ever ready to explain (and live) the truth to friends who do not know Christ personally." ...Read More.

The car lurched to a stop with an ominous groan. It wasn't going any further. The nearest village was over eight miles away--pretty close, considering this was the Ural mountains of Russia, on the western edge of Siberia, where a neighbor is anyone within 150 miles. But this was also winter where temperatures hover around -10¼F and lower. This was one of the "lower" days. My traveling companion and I looked each other, the unspoken question hanging in the air, "Now what?" ...Read More.

AREQUIPA, Peru - An earthquake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale hit on Saturday, June 23. Although it lasted just two minutes, many buildings collapsed. In the town square, the Catholic church's steeple fell through the cathedral roof.
During the terremoto as an earthquake is called in Peru, two of my children and I fled to the nearby park. From that vantage point we could see the hardest hit areas covered by a cloud of dust and smoke. The ground under our feet shook so much we could not stand. ...Read More.