In the Presence of My Enemies
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Can faith, hope, and love survive a year of terror? For American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, what started out as a relaxing, once-in-a-lifetime anniversary getaway at an exotic island resort turned into one of the most horrific nightmares imaginable.Kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group with ties to Osama bin Laden, the Burnhams were snatched away from friends and family and thrust into a life on the run in the Philippine jungle. During a perilous year in captivity, they faced near starvation, constant exhaustion, frequent gun battles, coldhearted murder—and intense soul-searching about a God who sometimes seemed to have forgotten them. In the Presence of My Enemies is a gripping firsthand account of faith, love, and struggle in the face of unnervingly casual brutality and terrible loss. This updated edition contains never-before-published information on the fates of the Burnhams’ kidnappers, Gracia’s secret return trip to the Philippines, and life today in the Burnham family. Publishers Weekly In this remarkably honest and unaffected memoir, Burnham tells the story of her captivity at the hands of Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group in the Philippines. For just over a year, she and her husband Martin, a missionary pilot, lived with their captors and a variety of other hostages in the Philippine jungle. In a botched rescue attempt, the Philippine army shot and killed Martin Burnham and Ediborah Yap, a nurse who was the other remaining hostage. Gracia Burnham was also shot, but rescued and treated for a leg wound. Burnham hauntingly depicts the alchemical reaction of deep Christian faith, Stockholm Syndrome and the unremitting terror of hostage life. The odd intimacy among the hostages and captors comes across in surprisingly frank conversations. At one point, Martin boldly refers to all the bad things the captors have done to the hostages, only to have one of them look at him quizzically and claim he has never done any harm to the hostages. The captors, in fact, do unspeakable things, such as beheading hostages or taking them as unwilling "wives." Impressively, Burnham makes no attempt to dramatize these events for shock value, nor does she use this book as an occasion for Christian triumphalism. Instead, she chronicles both her high and low moments as a Christian during that year, and shows tremendous respect and love for members of other faiths with whom she lived. While some of the book is written for a Christian audience, a much wider audience will appreciate Burnham's brave, artless account of these horrific events. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
The Captors' Roster ixThe Hostages' Roster xiiiForeign Terms xviiMaps of the Philippines xviiiIntroduction xxi1 Seized at Dawn 12 Bright Beginnings 213 The Nicest Guy 294 Rookies 395 Toddlers and Traffic 536 The Perils of Palawan 657 Hospital of Horror 778 The Threat 919 Left Behind 10510 Surrounded 11511 A Song for the Jungle 12912 Justice or Mercy? 14313 September 11 15914 Wedding Time 17315 The Package 18916 Silent Nights 20317 So Close 21718 Ransomed! 23319 One Rainy Afternoon 24920 The Embassy 26521 Going Home 28322 Reflections 29923 But God Meant it for Good 307About the Authors 335
