Wichita ? A year after missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham were kidnapped in the Philippines, frustration mounts about their prolonged captivity and the United States’ limited role in rescue efforts.

Monday marks the one-year anniversary since Muslim extremists in the Philippines snatched 21 people from a resort and started a bloody kidnapping spree.

Some hostages have escaped or been released, reportedly for ransom, and others have been beheaded, including American Guillermo Sobero. The Burnhams and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap are the remaining captives.

Martin’s parents, Paul and Oreta Burnham, plan to spend Monday in seclusion at their Rose Hill home with Martin and Gracia’s three children.

Gracia’s parents, Rev. Norvin and Betty Jo Jones of Cherokee Village, Ark., plan to mark the anniversary praying at a church camp near their home. Several churches are congregating at the site for a special service for the missionary couple.

As their families try to cope with their own grief on the anniversary of the abductions, criticism is growing among their supporters that the United States is not taking a more active role rescuing the couple.

Among the most vocal is U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., who said he would want to see the United States tell any country where their citizens are kidnapped that if they can not rescue them, then they should stay out of the way while the U.S. military steps in.

“I believe our own government is the obstacle to creating a situation where the Burnhams can be rescued,” he said.

Tiahrt said he has seen sketchy details about a reported ransom payment for the Burnhams but said he could not talk about it because the information was classified.

“It is still in play,” Tiahrt said. “What they are trying to do is something similar to what we do in America try to run sort of a sting operation.”

The State Department declined to comment.

However, earlier this year the State Department announced a change in the decades-old American hostage-negotiation policy. The new policy no longer contains a flat ban on U.S. officials participating in “developing and implementing a ransom strategy.” It allows the U.S. government to facilitate a ransom payment if the payment would be a part of an overall plan to capture kidnappers.

Tiahrt said phase two of the U.S. military involvement in the Philippines would be to move advisers closer to the front lines. That would allow the military to get intelligence data more quickly to troops at the front.

“Our troops bring an element of honesty into the situation,” he said. “It is alleged the Philippine military, which is largely a peasant army, … have taken a portion of (other) ransom payments.”

He cited unsubstantiated allegations by a German accountant that half of the $19 million paid to free European hostages a couple of years ago went to the Philippine military.

Maj. Gen. Glicerio Sua, one of those leading the Philippine’s military campaign against the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao, said Tiahrt had a right to his opinion, but it did not matter to him because he was not paying his salary.

“All I can say is Amen. I won’t engage anybody in a quarrel with that, but I want to say that we’re doing our best and would want our actions to speak by itself … The best thing we can do is to disprove that by delivering results, and we’re taking steps to bring results, to recover those hostages,” Sua said.

Supporters remain strong

At the Rose Hill Bible Church where the Burnham family worships, Pastor Robert Varner said Paul Burnham would talk about the past year with the congregation at Sunday evening services.

“The hard part for everyone is waiting, and the uncertainty of what is going to happen,” Varner said.

Florida-based New Tribes Mission has issued a nationwide call to remember the Burnhams during Sunday services, as well as Monday’s anniversary of the kidnapping.

“We would like to see the United States raise this issue to the highest priority,” said Scott Ross, spokesman for New Tribes Mission. “We are being assured by both Philippine and U.S. governments that they are doing all they can and in my mind that is considerably different than all that can be done.”