100 Prison Meditations: Cries of Truth from Behind the Iron Curtain (21 page)

Other Books by Richard Wurmbrand
Tortured for Christ
With God in Solitary Confinement
The Oracles of God
In God’s Underground
Christ on the Jewish Road
The Overcomers
Victorious Faith
Alone With God
Reaching Toward the Heights
If Prison Walls Could Speak
Proofs of God’s Existence
The Answer to the Atheist’s Handbook
Marx & Satan
The Midnight Bride (formerly The Sweetest Song)

Other Books by The Voice of the Martyrs
The Pastor’s Wife,
by Sabina Wurmbrand
God’s Missiles Over Cuba,
by Tom White
Between Two Tigers,
by Tom White
Extreme Devotion,
by The Voice of the Martyrs
Hearts of Fire,
by The Voice of the Martyrs
Jesus Freaks,
by DC Talk and The Voice of the Martyrs
Foxe: Voices of the Martyrs,
by The Voice of the Martyrs
Iran: Desperate for God,
by The Voice of the Martyrs
Into the Den of Infidels,
by The Voice of the Martyrs

Videos by The Voice of the Martyrs

Torchlighters: The Richard Wurmbrand Story DVD
(
children’s video
). Pastor Richard Wurmbrand saw an opportunity when the communists came to his homeland of Romania. He wanted to show them the love of Christ. But preaching the word of God and refusing to bow down to communist leaders gave him a one-way ticket to prison. Your children will be amazed at this animated story of the preacher who became God’s prisoner. See how a test of Pastor Wurmbrand’s faith and witness gave rise to a ministry to help persecuted Christians around the world.

Underground Reality: Vietnam
. The Voice of the Martyrs invited eight ordinary teenagers from around the United States and Australia to meet the underground church of Vietnam. Their mission was simple—to bring Bibles and other help and learn what it is really like to be a Christian in a restricted nation.

See their experience with your own eyes. This mission trip was captured on video and is a great series for youth groups or Bible study groups. Play it during your prayer meeting or over the course of a week for your familiy.

Wurmbrand Sermon Series
. Be inspired by the courage and compassion of Pastor Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, founders of The Voice of the Martyrs, through four challenging messages on this two-disc DVD set. Messages include: “
The Faces of God
,” “
Preserve the Word
,” “
No Other God
,” and “
In Prison with Psalm 107
.”

Faith Under Fire
.
Faith Under Fire
features interviews with Christians who face persecution head-on. You will meet a Muslim whose “road to Damascus” conversion leads to his persecution; a Chinese pastor suffering under the “strike-hard” policy that Christians now face; and a Vietnamese teenager dealing with her father’s arrest and imprisonment for his work in the underground church.
Faith Under Fire
will challenge you to consider, “Is my faith ready to hold up under fire?” (Contains dramatic scenes that may not be suitable for children.)

The Voice of the Martyrs has many books, videos, brochures, and other products to help you learn more about the persecuted church. In the U.S., to request a resource catalog, order materials, or receive our free monthly newsletter, call (800) 747-0085 or write to:

The Voice of the Martyrs, Inc.

P.O. Box 443

Bartlesville, OK 74005-0443

Website: www.persecution.com

Email: [email protected]

If you live outside the United States of America, please contact an office in your region:

Australia

Voice of the Martyrs

P.O. Box 250

Lawson NSW 2783

Website: www.persecution.com.au

Email: [email protected]

Belgium

Hulp Aan De Verdrukte Kerk (HVK)

Postbus 77

B-2620 Hemiksem

Email (Dutch): [email protected]

Email (French): [email protected]

Brazil

A Voz Dos Martires

Caixa Postal 1000

CEP-80.001-970 Curitiba-Paraná

Website: http://www.vozdosmartires.com.br

Email: [email protected]

Canada

The Voice of the Martyrs

P.O. Box 608

Streetsville, Ontario L5M 2C1

Website: www.persecution.net

Email: [email protected]

Costa Rica

La Voz De Los Martires

Apartado 500-3100

Heredia, Santo Domingo

CP40301

Website: www.persecucion.org

Email: [email protected]

Czech Republic

Pomoc Pronasledovane Cirkvi

P.O. Box 21

CS-Jindrichuv Hradec 377 01

Website: mucednici.prayer.cz

Email: [email protected]

Finland

Stefanus-Lahetys Ry

Leivonmaentie 7 B

41660 Toivakka

Website: www.stefanus.fi

Email: [email protected]

Germany

Hilfsaktion Martyrerkirche (HMK)

Tüfinger Strasse 3

88690 Uhldingen-Muhlhofen

Website: www.verfolgte-christen.org

Email: [email protected]

Italy

Editrice Uomini Nuovi

Via Mazzini 73

21030 Marchirolo (Varese)

Website: www.eun.ch

Email: [email protected]

Netherlands

St. De Ondergrondse Kerk (SDOK)

Postbus 705

4200 AS Gorinchem

Website: www.sdok.nl

Email: [email protected]

New Zealand

Voice of the Martyrs

P.O. Box 5482

Papanui, Christ Church 8542

Website: www.persecution.co.nz

Email: [email protected]

Nigeria

The Voice of the Christian Martyrs

P.M.B. 21078

Ikeja, Lagos

Website: www.stephens-persecution.com

Email: [email protected]

Peru

La Voz De Los Martires

Av. Militar #2644-C

Lima 14 (Lince)

Website: www.vomperu.org.pe

Email: [email protected]

Poland

Glos Przesladowanych Chrzescijan

SKR. POCZT. 88

43-382 Bielsko-Biala

Website: www.gpch.pl

Email: [email protected]

South Africa

Christian Mission International

P.O. Box 7157

1417 Primrose Hill

Email: [email protected]

South Korea

Seoul USA/VOM-Korea

2303 Cinnabar Road

Colorado Springs

CO 80921

Sweden

Missionen Martyrernas Rost

Box 118

771 23 Ludvika

Website: www.missionenmr.se

Email: [email protected]

United Kingdom

Release International

P.O. Box 54

Orpington BR5 9RT

Website: www.releaseinternational.org

Email: [email protected]

Pastor Richard Wurmbrand (1909–2001)
was an evangelical minister who endured fourteen years of Communist imprisonment and torture in his homeland of Romania. Few names are better known in Romania, where he is one of the most widely recognized Christian leaders, authors, and educators.

In 1945, when the Communists seized Romania and attempted to control the churches for their purposes, Richard Wurmbrand immediately began an effective, vigorous “underground” ministry to his enslaved people as well as the invading Russian soldiers. He was arrested in 1948, along with his wife, Sabina. His wife was a slave-laborer for three years on the Danube Canal. Richard Wurmbrand spent three years in solitary confinement, seeing no one but his Communist torturers. He was then transferred to a group cell, where the torture continued for five more years.

Due to his international stature as a Christian leader, diplomats of foreign embassies asked the Communist government about his safety and were informed that he had fled Romania. Secret police, posing as released fellow-prisoners, told his wife of attending his burial in the prison cemetery. His family in Romania and his friends abroad were told to forget him because he was dead.

After eight-and-a-half years in prison, he was released and immediately resumed his work with the Underground Church. A couple of years later, in 1959, he was re-arrested and sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.

Mr. Wurmbrand was released in a general amnesty in 1964, and again continued his underground ministry. Realizing the great danger of a third imprisonment, Christians in Norway negotiated with the Communist authorities for his release from Romania. The Communist government had begun “selling” their political prisoners. The “going price” for a prisoner was $1,900; their price for Wurmbrand was $10,000.

In May 1966, he testified before the U.S. Senate’s Internal Security Subcommittee and stripped to the waist to show the scars of eighteen deep torture wounds covering his torso. His story was carried across the world in newspapers throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Wurmbrand was warned in September 1966 that the Communist regime of Romania planned to assassinate him; yet he was not silent in the face of this death threat.

Founder of the Christian mission The Voice of the Martyrs, he and his wife traveled throughout the world establishing a network of over thirty offices that provide relief to the families of imprisoned Christians in Islamic nations, Communist Vietnam, China, and other countries where Christians are persecuted for their faith. His message has been, “Hate the evil systems, but love your persecutors. Love their souls, and try to win them for Christ.”

Pastor Wurmbrand authored numerous books, which have been translated into over sixty languages throughout the world. Christian leaders have called him the “Voice of the Underground Church” and “the Iron Curtain Paul.”