American missionary workers Gracia and Martin Burnham who lost their father and whose mother was wounded when troops tried to rescue them from Muslim militants in the Philippines on Friday, June 7.
Christians have also been praying for Filipina nurse Deborah Yap, another hostage held captive for over a year, who was also killed in the gun battle with the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in the jungle on southern Mindanao island.
The special church services came as 43-year old Gracia Burnham prepared to leave Manila on Monday, June 10, for a difficult reunion with their two sons, Jeffery, 15, Zachary, 11 and daughter, Melinda, 12, in Wichita, Kansas.
FAREWELL LETTER
She carried a special letter from their father who just days before his death apparently knew that Jesus Christ, who he considered his Lord and Savior, wanted him in heaven. The Cable News Network (CNN) quoted a senior Philippine military official as saying that Martin wrote a goodbye letter to his three children and gave it to his wife.
In the confusion of the bloody rescue attempt Friday, June 7, Gracia Burnham lost the letter as she was shot in the leg, but it was later discovered by troops, CNN reported. Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina said that Gracia told him and an American general about the letter and asked them to find it just before she was flown on a C-130 military aircraft to Manila.
"She said that the letter was very important to her," CNN quoted Carolina, who is the southern regional commander based in Zamboanga. Martin had "told Gracia to give it to the children." Carolina said his soldiers searched for the letter and found it in the jungle where the fierce firefight had taken place only hours earlier between the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and Philippine Rangers.
LAST WORDS
Gracia Burnham estimated the shooting lasted about 20 minutes, explained her sister-in-law Teresa Burnham to reporters Sunday June 9. She and her husband were on a hammock under a tarp when the fighting began.
Right before the shots rang out, Martin Burnham was "talking about the Lord," Teresa Burnham told The Wichita Eagle newspaper. "If I have to go, I want to go out strong for the Lord’ — those were some of his last words," she said.
The New York Times cited an unidentified Philippine official as saying Burnham had been killed in crossfire, by Philippine soldiers. Because of the dense jungle and heavy rain, it had been difficult for the soldiers to know whom they were firing at, the official said. The US. Embassy apparently accepts this scenario.
QUESTIONS REMAIN
U.S. Ambassador, Francis J. Ricciardone Jr., told the Philippine national security adviser, Roilo Golez: "It does not matter which bullet killed Martin Burnham because we hold Abu Sayyaf fully responsible," reported the Wichita Eagle.
The rescue attempt ended the ordeal of Martin Ray Burnham, 42, a missionary pilot, who had been kidnapped along with his wife, Gracia, May 27, 2001, and about 20 other hostages by the Abu Sayyaf Group.
He was born in Wichita on September 19, 1959, and graduated from Calvary Bible College and Wichita Aviation Education Center, according to website www.praythemhome.com. Martin Burnham also completed missionary training with New Tribes Mission.
PARENTS SPEAK OUT
He is the son of missionary parents Paul and Oreta Burnham, who have served in the Philippines since 1969. "The Lord will give us strength to get through this, " said Paul Burnham, talking about his son’s death.
"Those are words in which we should all find comfort and encouragement," added Todd Tiahrt, Congressman for the Fourth District of the State of Kansas in a statement. "The Burnhams will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers."
"My office has been contacting U.S. and Philippine officials to discover what happened. I am hopeful we will learn from this tragic incident to avoid similar situations in the future. I’m deeply grieved about Martin’s death and certainly had hoped and prayed this would not be the outcome.," the congressman said.
LIFE FOR CHRIST
Friends and other former hostages added that Martin gave his life for Christ and his mission to help others. And they point out that although Martin and Gracia appeared frail and frightened in taped interviews, the couple was rock-solid in their faith in Christ.
Francis Ganzon, a Filipino who was released by the guerrillas two weeks after she was captured with the Burnhams, said that when other hostages were praying to be released, Martin was praying, "Thank you, Lord."
Martin also led the group in singing inspirational songs, according to former hostages. He kept his faith despite tremendous difficulties. Gracia Burnham told the family how the captors had her husband carry bags of rice in the rain. Wearing severely worn shoes, he would slip often. "He fell down many times but never complained," said Oreta Burnham.
GOD’S REASONS
"Martin knows God doesn’t let anything happen to you that he doesn’t want to have happen to you," Tim Wiesner, a friend of the Burnham family, reportedly said at the time. "That’s why he’s strong and why his family is strong. That’s the kind of family they have always been," he explained.
However Mark Hoover, pastor at the Messiah Baptist Church in Wichita, admitted to The Wichita Eagle newspaper that the news of Martin Burnham’s death has not fully sunk in yet. "It’s so raw," he was quoted as saying.
"We feel it even more intensely in the Wichita area, in the southern Kansas area. These people are part of our community," he added as residents lowered flags in the Wichita area.
SCHOLARSHIP FUND
Cindy Nichols, who answered the phone at Rose Hill United Methodist Church, told The Wichita Eagle that besides special memorial services for the Burnhams, a collection for a special scholarship fund for their three children would be set up.
"We’re deeply sorrowful about the loss of Martin. We praise God, that God spared Gracia, " said pastor Hoover. "He’s (God) still sovereign; he still has a plan," Hoover stressed. "We accept that." Hoover said his church has missionaries from Wichita in Colombia right now.
He hopes the international attention during the Burnhams’ captivity will give "long-deserved" respect to missionaries and what they do. "I hope that what happened with the Burnhams will remind us all that these were very brave people, who were willing to leave behind the comforts that we know in the United States, in order to do something of eternal significance," Hoover told The Wichita Eagle.
MEMORIAL SERVICE
The Burnham family was tentatively planning to hold Martin Burnham’s memorial service Wednesday, June 12, although his body was not yet released pending an autopsy by investigators.
Details of the service are being worked out, but the family said it expects perhaps thousands of people to attend. US President George W. Bush has expressed his condolences and invited Gracia Burnham and her children to visit the White House.
"He said: ‘I want to talk to the kids. I want to help them get over this,’" said Oreta Burnham according to The Wichita Eagle.
