In The Presence Of My Enemies (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
I had this book sitting on my bookshelf for over a year after I had bought it. The reason it took me so long to open its pages was that the day these people were kidnapped I was in Mindanao an island not far away. The same island that was the Burnham's mission post. Just a few days earlier I had travelled through their township, not even aware that they had been stationed there for some time.I remember that I was told about their kidnapping in the morning by the local Christian community I was visiting. They seemed a little tense and my husband and some others had just earlier taken off on motorbikes into a remote area for the day. It wasn't totally safe to go there and they had many rivers to cross as well. Everyone was a little nervous and tried to talk about other things and they insisted that I should stay inside for the rest of the day, it was an incredible hot day.I guess nobody knew many of the details of their kidnapping and if they may have been plans of other attacks and that's why the decision to keep me away from the public eye was good decision.We did arrive home safe and sound a week or so later. So the day I opened the book, I had prayed that fear was not going to take a grip of me while reading it, and it didn't, even though I realized that what had happened to them could be happening to myself or my family one day when we went back.I found this book very gripping and obviously related very well to everything in it but it also gave me a better understanding of her kidnappers and how they were treated as their hostage.It's something that many missionaries pray will never happen to them and yet it does. To read a real encounter has possibly helped me get to have some form of understanding of how it may be like, what things you will possibly face even in the worst circumstances.This book is not suitable to read if you are not ready to read the reality of a kidnapping. Many times I had to leave the book for a day or so since it got intense, but I do think I was more effected than most as I know the people and the area she is describing so well (since it is MY mission field as well I am natuarlly more sensitive to it).Gracia describes how she met her husband and how they ended up in the Philippines and their mission work before their kidnapping happens, how they struggled through their time in captivity in the jungle until the they were freed and the tragic circumstances that happened during this time and how she was later taken back home to the USA.I admire Gracia for sharing her incredible story in all its realness and pain and I will always have a special respect for her and her family. The Burnham's are always a very real reminder of the sacrifice for Christ we sometimes face every time I pass by their old mission post on the dusty highway through Malaybalay.May God bless Gracia and her family beyond their wildest dreams.
I picked up this book after reading the story of a missionary kidnapping of 100 years ago, The Miss Stone Affair: America's First Modern Hostage Crisis. The central question at the heart of both crises is this: Should a ransom be paid for a hostage's release?It's a shame that this is the central theme of Gracia Burnham's book. From the outset, she knew that her mission's policy was not to pay a ransom, as it might only encourage more kidnappings and finance terrorism. She mentions this in the first few pages of the book. Throughout the Burnhams' ordeal as hostages of a Philippine terrorist group she returns repeatedly to the hope that a government, any government -- even Quaddafi's Libya! -- will pay their ransom. Even when ransom money does come in (apparently from the Burnham family, although she does not say so) she and her husband Martin are not released. Yet she continues to work toward and hope for that end.And who could blame her, really? Most of the other hostages are ransomed and released -- if they're not beheaded first. But if you focus solely on the author's recurring question of ransoms, you'll miss the riveting story of her captivity.Gracia is totally human and unflinching in reporting her life as a hostage. She isn't graceful and accepting of her situation. She complains, she weeps, she makes demands. She portrays herself as so far off the charts of acceptable behavior that the other hostages, especially her husband, must make huge efforts to keep her emotionally stable. Who among us would be brave enough to admit that? Some readers might have wanted a more saintly captive, but I did not. Her despair is leavened by her discoveries of faith, and both make for valuable and moving reading.The one chapter that came across as odd, though, was the actual raid in which Martin was killed. She is almost entirely unemotional at this point. You don't feel her deep despair over the loss of her husband, either at that moment or in the weeks that follow. But she does say that she and her husband had mentally and even verbally said good-bye during the long year of their ordeal, so maybe that emotion was already spent. But she comes across as clinical, even abrasive, in the moment, which dulled the impact of the tragedy for me.Missionary hostage situations are becoming more common these days than outright killings, so the question of how to deal with them is very timely. It's worth reading this book to become more informed about the issues that hostage-takings raise, and to become more sympathetic to people who put themselves in harm's way in risky parts of the world.
What do You think about In The Presence Of My Enemies (2004)?
An amazing true story that will teach you about God's grace and mercyGod brings joy from sorrow. He uses the tough times in our lives to purge the dross from us and make us shine for Him. Martin and Gracias testimony extends far beyond their ministry in the Philippines, it extends to each and every person who takes the time to read this book. It's an amazing story and one we can all learn a lot from. Enjoyed the update section as well. God is good...all the time. I enjoyed the audio book as well as the digital print.
—SAP
A story about missionaries being captured, tortured and/or killed is not new. There are many missionaries who live this day in and day out, but it doesn't at all detract from the purpose of God's plan in why it happens. The Burnham's story is incredible, but more than that is the conviction that set in as I read. If all my life's luxuries were stripped away, everything I take for granted and everything I didn't even know I took for granted was stripped away, what kind of person would I be? Would I reflect Christ as I should, as I believe I do with all I have? Or would the real me shine right through? This story left me thinking and praying about my own walk with the Lord and whether or not I truly reflect Him. We serve a God who has blessed us with free will, which we choose to use for good or evil. The Burnham's story was thought-provoking as I pondered how great our God is that He does not trample on us and turn us into puppets who do what we ought to do. As so many of us forget, the other side of free will means that there are people who will choose to do evil instead. But, we are to seek God and allow Him to work through our situations rather than expect Him to take us out of them. This story is an honest story to read and to share.
—Kaishauna
This harrowing situation for Martin and Gracia Burnham was riveting. It's told from her memory about their over year-long captivity by the rebel jihadist Phillipine sect. They were New Tribes Missions missionaries with Martin being a pilot.I felt the ending went a little too fast and am waiting to read her next Learn to Fly Again.The faith this couple had throughout is amazing and a lesson to us. Could we keep the faith through all they went through.Spoiler alertI'm hoping in her follow up book that she devles into her thoughts and talks with God on how her husband could be killed by friendly fire on the day of their rescue when they were so close to freedom after all they had went through....
—Sherri
