“Hate evil systems, but love your persecutors. Love their souls, and do all in your power to win them to Christ.” -Richard Wurmbrand
In 1945, the Communist revolution was sweeping the world, and it swept into Romania like a tide. Immediately Christians came under attack. Pastor Richard Wurmbrand and his wife Sabina went into hiding, but not like rabbits in a hole. They began an effective “underground” church that led to the salvation of not only many Romanians, but many Russian occupying soldiers as well.
In 1948, Communist leaders tracked the Wurmbrands down. Sabina was sentenced to a three-year term of hard labor in a work camp on the Danube River, and Richard to solitary confinement at the dreaded Jilava prison, where he was kept in an underground cell and did not see or speak to anyone other than his captors for three years. Over eight years later, he was released with the command never to preach again. He immediately began his ministry once more in the underground church. In 1959 he was arrested again and sentenced to 25 years in prison. During this imprisonment he was tortured repeatedly, including being beaten, burned, and placed in a frozen icebox. Wurmbrand bore the marks of his torture, including crippled feet, the rest of his life.
Eventually Wurmbrand was released in a general amnesty in 1964, and friends purchased his freedom from the Communist Party which allowed he and his wife to flee the country. Richard and Sabina eventually found their way to the United States, where they began a ministry to the persecuted church which we know today as The Voice of the Martyrs. In 1966 Wurmbrand was invited to testify before the U.S. Senate, where he famously stripped to the waist to show the multiple scars he bore on his body as the result of torture.
During his time as the leader of The Voice of the Martyrs, Wurmbrand and his wife traveled throughout the world establishing a network of offices that provided relief to families of imprisoned Christians, particularly in Islamic nations and Communist countries where Christians were, and continue to be, persecuted because of their faith.
Sunday, November 5, is designated by The Voice of the Martyrs as “Pray for the Persecuted Church Sunday.” I will preach a message entitled “Deliver Us from Evil” from 2 Thessalonians 3:1-3, and we will all be challenged to live in a counter cultural way by praying not only for our brothers and sisters in Christ who suffer for their faith, but for those who persecute them as well. We will also learn that our God is a faithful God. Wurmbrand himself said, Even the best of Christians are troubled by the question, "Why does an almighty God send, or at least allow, suffering?" When you are nagged by thoughts like this, say to yourself, "I am still in elementary school. When I graduate from the university of the Christian life, I will understand his ways better and doubts will cease.”
Included in my message will be a short video promoting an upcoming biographical movie on the life of Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand. The video does include a brief scene of torture. Although it is not graphic compared to what is shown in both movies and prime-time television in our day, parents may wish to consider whether they want to leave with younger children during the video clip. I will be sure to give you a heads up as to when the video will be played.
By the time you read this Jym Shorts article, I will be returning from a three-day conference with Pastor Chris on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. On October 31, 1517, an obscure monk in the village of Wittenberg, Germany posted “95 Thesis” in Latin on the door to the Wittenberg Church, requesting a disputation on the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences. Thus, the Reformation was born and Martin Luther left his quiet world of obscurity. As I write this article, I look forward with anticipation to learning more about not only the history of the Reformation, but its effects upon the world these past 500 years.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym