From June 14, 2001 - "This is a cause worth living for, even dying for, because He is worthy," reads the New Tribes Mission (NTM) vision statement. Death and danger are daily realities in many mission fields, as evidenced by recent events. In April, Baptist missionary Roni Bowers and her infant daughter were mistakenly shot and killed in Peru. NTM reports three of their missionaries are still being held hostage in Columbia. And now, two more join the ranks of the missing.
Martin and Gracia Burnham, NTM missionaries from Wichita, Kan., are among 20 people who were kidnapped May 27 in the Philippines by the militant Islamic group, Abu Sayyaf. The couple had been living and serving in the Nueva Vizcaya province in the Philippines.
New Tribes Mission is a non-denominational group that works with remote tribes in the interior of the country. NTM missionaries are sent by their local churches, from some 25 countries. They serve in a variety of roles - including training and administration, supply buying and Bible translation - in nearly 30 countries. All the missionaries in NTM are involved in the task of planting tribal churches.
According to NTM spokesman Scott Ross, Martin told his parents that he wanted to do something special for Gracia to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary. So he took her to an upscale resort on one of the islands. It was there that the Abu Sayyaf swooped in and captured the hostages at dawn.
"We came into this work knowing anything can happen and what would be expected of us,'' says Martin's mother, Oreta. She and her husband are also missionaries in the Philippines. "It is times like these, you know the Lord is the one that is going to have to work this out," Oreta adds.
Ross says that both Martin's and Gracia's parents are doing pretty well, but they crave prayer: "They are strong sometimes and sometimes, they just get worn out."
The last few days have been especially wearing for the families as the Abu Sayyaf threatened to behead the Burnhams and the one other America hostage, Guillermo Sobero. In fact, Abu Sabaya, the leader of the rebel group, is claiming they executed Sobero early Tuesday morning. Reports of the execution are unconfirmed at press time, but of great concern to New Tribes Mission.
"The report cannot be confirmed at this time, but NTM as well as the Philippine and U.S. governments, are taking this very seriously," says Ross. NTM is staying in close contact with sources in Manila and the State Department, he adds.
The execution announcement followed an effort by the Philippine government to negotiate with the rebels, according to Fox News. Earlier Sunday, officials agreed to the rebels' demand for a Malaysian negotiator. The concession occurred minutes before the rebels' deadline to behead one of the American hostages. Sabaya reportedly questioned the sincerity of the concession and said in a radio transmission that he beheaded Sobero anyway.
"It's a real surprise to us," Ross continues. "We felt Sunday night that there had been some type of agreement or understanding reached between the Philippine government and Abu Sayyaf about indefinitely postponing this death threat, so this comes out of the blue for us."
NTM is taking all threats very seriously. According to Ross, "We are aware of the reports about Guillermo Sobero, and we really would be asking for people to be praying for the Sobero family. I am sure they are going through some real difficult times, waiting to see if this situation is confirmed."
The Associated Press says Philippine authorities hoped Sabaya was bluffing -- but seem increasingly resigned he wasn't. A military intelligence task force put the likelihood Sobero was dead at "very, very high," according to Armed Forces Chief of Staff Diomedio Villanueva. Troops scouring a southern Philippine island discovered a decapitated torso Tuesday not far from where the Muslim guerrillas seized hostages last week - but no sign of Sobero.
According to Fox News, when asked whether he would kill an American or a Filipino, Sabaya said: "I will make sure it will be a white. If the Malaysians are allowed to enter, we will release some of the hostages as a good gesture. It's (the government's) responsibility if these white people lose their heads."
The Abu Sayyaf says it is fighting to carve out an independent Islamic state from the southern Philippines, but the government says its members are mere bandits, according to AP. Muslims are a minority in the mostly Roman Catholic Philippines but are a majority in the southern islands that the Abu Sayyaf uses as a base.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Wednesday: "Abu Sayyaf is a scourge to our race. They are a curse to their religion. We will not stop the campaign until we have cleansed Basilan and Sulu of the Abu Sayyaf forces," she said, referring to the southern islands where the rebels are based.
