DERBY ? A steady stream of mourners filed past the open coffin where the body of slain missionary Martin Burnham lay for a public visitation Thursday evening.

A simple flower arrangement on the coffin identified Burnham still wearing the beard he grew while he was held hostage in the Philippines for more than a year as a husband, father, son, and brother.

Martin Burnham was killed during a firefight between the Philippine army and Abu Sayyaf rebels holding him and his wife, Gracia, hostage since May 27, 2001. Gracia Burnham was injured but returned home Monday to Rose Hill.

Gracia Burnham, still in a wheelchair after being shot in the leg, visited with mourners Thursday as they left the sanctuary at Smith Family Mortuary in Derby. Martin Burnham’s parents, Paul and Oreta, and his two brothers, Brian and Doug, also visited with people as they filed by.

A nearby television played slides of him and his family and their mission work in the Philippines.

In the weeks before his death, Burnham asked his wife that his funeral feature a sermon by a Kansas City pastor, Clay Bowlin, and a special song, “Ashokan Farewell.” Those requests will be honored at his memorial service on Friday.

“He had some premonitions,” said Jack Middleton, who is helping the Burnham family make funeral arrangements.

The public memorial service is expected to draw more than 4,000 people. It will be at 10 a.m. at the Central Christian Church in Wichita, followed by a private burial at the Rose Hill Cemetery. The public is invited to a luncheon afterward at the Rose Hill Multipurpose School Facility.

Among those expected to attend the funeral are former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, who will represent the Bush administration at the service, said Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt.

Also attending will be the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, Francis Ricciardone, along with the Philippines ambassador to the United States, Albert del Rosario.

Also speaking at the funeral will be one of Martin’s uncles; as well as Oli Jacobsen, chairman of New Tribes Mission, the agency the Burnhams worked for as missionaries.

Bowlin, senior pastor at Northwest Bible Church in Kansas City, Mo., went to school with Martin Burnham at Calvary Bible College in Kansas City, Mo., in the early 1980s.

As the lead speaker, Bowlin will talk about Martin and his courtship with Gracia and will deliver a sermon, he said.

“He was a very, very good friend,” Bowlin said.

Bowlin recalled that Martin asked Gracia to marry him during a trip they took to see her parents, Norvin and Betty Jo Jones of Cherokee Village, Ark. He made a stop at the First Baptist Church in Burnham, Mo.

“He pulled over in a church parking lot and asked her to marry him,” Bowlin said. “He thought that would be special.”