Philippines (MNN) — It’s been five years since Martin and Gracia Burnham, missionaries with New Tribes Mission, were taken hostage in the Philippines. Today, a man believed to be responsible for their abduction is in custody.
Over the weekend, Filipino military agents captured Abdasil Malangka Dima, an member of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf, a group known to have ties to Al Qaeda. He was taken into custody in Isabella, according to the military’s Southern Command.
Dima was sought in the abduction of the Burnhams and California tourist Guillermo Sobero and 17 Filipinos from a resort in 2001.
Sobero was executed, while Martin Burnham was killed during a rescue mission a year later.
Gracia Burnham has since written two books about the ordeal. The first; In the Presence of My Enemies and To Fly Again: Surviving the Tailspins of Life. She’s also established the ‘Martin & Gracia Burnham Foundation.’ The foundation will serve to collect funds and resources for the work of missions ranging from helping supply aircraft tribal missions work, Muslim outreach and persecuted Christian outreach.
