Richard Wurmbrand: Founder of VOM

I'm sure that many of you have read books from Voice of the Martyrs and some of you probably receive their monthly newsletter. However, how many of you know about VOM's founder, Richard Wurmbrand?



Richard, and his wife Sabina, were courageous Christians that lived in Romania during the period when Communists were taking over. As a matter of fact, Richard (who was a pastor), got his church to go out and greet the Communists and show them love.



Richard and Sabina attended the 1945 "Congress of Cults", where many religious leaders swore loyalty to the new communist regime. Sabina told Richard that he needed to stand up and "wipe the shame from the face of Jesus." Pastor Wurmbrand knew the cost and stepped forward and told 4,000 people that their duty was to glorify God and Christ alone.



On a Sunday morning as Richard was leaving church, the secret police kidnapped and placed him in solitary confinement. For eight years he endured horrific torture and deprivation at the hands of his communist captors. During this time, Sabina Wurmbrand is also sent to a labor camp, leaving their son to fend for himself.



I would encourage you to read more about this courageous couple. You could check out the site dedicated to the memory of Mr. Wurmbrand or you could read his first hand account in his book, Tortured for Christ. You can find a DVD about Pastor Wurmbrand for children here. Please also check out Mrs. Wurmbrand's book called The Pastor's Wife.

A Bruised Flower Gives Perfume

"A flower if you bruise it under your feet, rewards you by give you its perfume." (Richard Wurmbrand)

He stood up in front of 1,000 pastors in Communist Romania and denounced the oppression of the regime and the compromise of the Church. For that, Richard Wurmbrand was sent to prison to be "bruised" under the feet of many guards and torturers. During those fourteen long years, Mr. Wurmbrand give off a beautiful perfume for his Lord. He sought to bless his persecutors and give God praise even during times of extreme pain and loneliness.

In 1964, Richard and his wife Sabina, started the ministry, Voice of the Martyrs. Even though the Wurmbrands have gone to be with the Lord, their ministry continues to help persecuted Christians across the globe.

Check out a special website dedicated to the memory of Richard Wurmbrand by clicking on this link. You will be blessed as you read about this man of faith!

A Look Back in History #2

At the beginning of this year, I started Voice of the Martyrs' Extreme Devotion for my devotional book. It has been great and I thought that I'd make a blog post out of one of them:

The setting is communist Romania, where there is a seven-year drive to eliminate the nations of all superstition. This is where we find Brother Vasile.

Even though the government was cracking down on religion, especially on Christianity, Vasile and his wife opened their doors to hold church meetings in their house. They knew, however, that they could not go undetected for forever.

Soon Brother Vasile learned that one of the church members' homes had been raided and some of his sermons had been confiscated. He also found out that the assistant pastor had become and informant and had betrayed Vasile. He knew the clock was just counting the time until he was arrested.

The time came at 1:00 AM. The police raided their apartment and put Vasile under arrest. Brother Vasile refused to leave peacefully unless he was able to spend several minutes with his wife. He was granted his request and the next several minutes were spent in holding each other, praying, and singing. Vasile was then led off and was not seen for many years.

As the police were loading Vasile into the van, he shouted to his tearful wife, "Give all my love to our son and the pastor who denounced me."

Put yourself in Brother Vasile's shoes. How would you have handled being betrayed by someone that had helped in you in the ministry and who you had trusted? Be honest with yourself, would you have been able to love that person in the same Christ-like way?

"And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." (Matthew 6:12, ESV)

For Your Friends

Send your friends a copy of, Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand. The late Mr. Wurmbrand is the founder of Voice of the Martyrs (VOM). He spent a total of fourteen years in prison during the time of Communist Romania.

The book is stirring. Send a free copy today!

https://etools.ncol.com/a/tfc/bg_vomtfc_persecution-TFC-Flash_346.html

Check out the main VOM website: http://www.persecution.com/