Story number 2 for 31 May 2001

(Philippines)–Meanwhile, as missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham continue to be held hostage by Muslim extremists in the Philippines, it’s forcing other mission groups to be extra cautious. Jack Herman is the Philippines field Director for the Christian and Missionary Alliance. “Our other staff who are in the country who are involved in non-Muslim people groups will be cautioned about traveling. The U-S embassy has strongly urged that missionaries are not sent into the southern most island of Mindanao and Palawan, where the couple was kidnapped.” While the kidnapping appears to be random, Herman says as people come to Christ the persecution could increase. “There were more Christian martyrs in the 20th Century than all the other centuries in church history combined. Perhaps as we move into the 21st Century here, we will see an escalation as we draw closer and closer to our Lord’s return.”