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In The Presence Of My Enemies By Gracia Burnham (Author) & (With) Our Price £ 7.64   Retail Value £ 8.99   You Save £ 1.35  (15%)   Item Number 705853   Buy New Item Quantity: Available on the Internet only.

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	A raw story of captivity  Dec 1, 2009
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.
	Telling it like it was.  Nov 16, 2009
This is an excellent book written by Gracie Burnam who was there and lived to tell about it. She does not pull any punches, and readily admits that at times she was discouraged, disheartened and in despair...none of this "I just trusted the Lord for EVERYTHING in my trials, and you should too." I was blessedd and encouraged by the author's honesty. She went through dark days during the year she and her husband were held captive, but came out with her faith intact. Our young people should read her account and look to her as a role model instead of the trash that comes out of Hollywood!
	Awesome seller  Oct 22, 2009
This is an honest seller. Prompt, and great to communicate with. Would definitely do business with this seller again.
	fantastic  Oct 3, 2009
I received this book in excellent condition and earlier than I was told. I give this site a 110% rating. I highly recommend others to use this site. I will continue to use this site in the future. Thank you for your great customer service.
	Martin was fortunate - he was killed  Jul 31, 2009
Otherwise, he would have had to spend the remainder of his life married to Gracia. Instead, he receieved mercy from God. There are so many reasons to revile this book it is hard to know which reason to begin with. First of all, the reader needs to understand that if either one of the two - Martin and Gracia - were missionaries in the true meaning of the word, then it was Martin. In my opinion Martin did not truly find God until just minutes before his death. I believe God orchestrated this ordeal for that very purpose - to draw Martin into a true understanding of Himself. Martin is the true hero of this story and if you must read this awful work, try to keep your focus on Martin, to the extent that Gracia allows you to. Gracia is simply an awful person. A more confused, selfish, hypocritical, lost soul it would be hard to imagine. She covers herself beautifully, though, by letting slip in the book that she was never really "called" to be a missionary. This fact is convenient, because if she were not to make that admission, it would make it oh so delightfully easy for me to tear her apart for finding fault with virtually the hold world for not being willing to ransom her. Why should someone who is "called" by God to go and serve someplace for the sake of the kingdom of God, expect worldly kingdoms to bail her out? Martin too, in a broadcast, chastizes Phillipine authorities, who are using force to try and free him, for the futility and stupidity of the confrontation approach, and asserts the only "senisble" solution is for the authorities - anyone - to negotiate with the terrorists. Since the terrorists are only interested in money, this is tantamount to Martin insisting that the only sensible approach to the situation is for someone to cough up the million dollars demanded. Now, the reader needs to understand that during the time the Burnhams were captive, by Gracia owns account, the terrorists kidnapped at least 50, perhaps as many as 100, more people. What kind of person thinks that authorities who won't hand over $1 million a pop to serial kidnappers are not "sensible"? Regarding the terrorists - "terrorist" is a fancy word for this assemblage of two-bit thugs. During one year of captivity the Burnhams apparently only heard their captors make political demands - stupid ones - once. The rest of the time, it was all about money. These guys traded in hostages like used cars. It was their living; it beat working. Now, while the Burhams were captives, their thug captors routinely decapitated anyone who annoyed them, raped (through forcible marriage) just about every woman they captured (except Gracia), and generally acted like big jerks and mistreated anyone not a Muslim. Despite all this you won't find one word of condemnation - nay, not even a harsh word - from Gracia against these thugs. By far the harshest words she employs were reserved for her Phillipine-soldier-liberators who almost left a bag of letters behind that Gracia wanted. Avoid the audio book. The narration is the sappy, syrupy, and insincere.

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