Gracia Burnham in Ireland

Gracia Burnham and her daughter Mindy have just spent a week in N. Ireland. Gracia spoke at numerous meetings around the Provence and spent hours talking with people who came to hear her.

For those of you who don’t know about Gracia, she and her husband Martin were missionaries with New Tribes Mission in the Philippines. Martin was a pilot and in charge of NTMs flight programme in the Philippines. In 2001 Martin and Gracia were taken hostage from Palawan Island, Philippines by the Abu Sayaf. After a year of captivity in the jungle Gracia was rescued by the military. Martin lost his life in the gun battle between their captors and the Philippine army.

As Gracia tells her story it is clear that she has found God to be faithful to her in those most difficult of circumstances. She is extremely honest about her own thoughts and feelings during captivity but has emerged from the ordeal with an even greater confidence in God who is ultimately in control in every situation.


‘In The Presence of My Enemies’. Written by Gracia Burnham this book tells their story from that morning at Dos Palmas when she and Martin were taken hostage.

‘To Fly Again’. In Gracia’s second book she reflects on what it was like when life was totally out of her control. She shares many of the spiritual lessons she learned. Max Lucado called her book, ‘A training manual for anyone seeking to fly above discouraging circumstances’.

Reunion Weekend

From time to time we organise reunions for our teams that have gone out on SUMMIT mission trips. Not everyone who has gone on a trip is free to come to reunion but for those who are it is a relaxing time to get together with friends they have made, to recall the things they did on their trip, the fun things that happened and the more serious things they saw and heard. They browse through photos and watch power point and video presentations of their missions experience.

At our most recent reunion at the beginning of November teams to Thailand, Brazil, Mongolia, The Philippines and Mozambique were represented.

Our weekend ‘kicked off’ on Friday evening as everyone arrived at North Cotes for supper. The chat and ‘craic’ carried on throughout the weekend. On Saturday we went out for lunch and afterwards walked along a nearby beach where hundreds of seals come each year to have their young. It’s a cold and exposed place but worth the visit to see the cute little baby seals. After dark on Saturday we joined with some of the staff and students for a bonfire and, as became our custom throughout the weekend, finished off with some more snacks. On Sunday morning we had our own ‘service’, enjoying singing and worshipping together and once again hearing a challenging message from God’s Word.

Reunion provided an opportunity for us to remember our mission trips with others who shared those same experiences. We were reminded again of the things God said while we were away and of the need of a world without the gospel. I think as we looked back over our time on the mission field we were thankful not only that God had given us the opportunity to go but for His guidance, protection and help while we were away.