May 24 – Voice of the Martyrs
It is nearly impossible for us to imagine that torture and executions continue to exist for Christians in the world today, but there continues to be persecution in many locations on the earth.
In 1948, Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor left his home for his church and never arrived. For eight and a half years, his family didn’t know whether he was dead or alive. Not long before that day, he had spoken at a conference freely about his faith in Jesus Christ, encouraging others to stand up for their faith.
In the middle of the day, the secret police scooped him up from the street into a van and took him to prison where they tortured him. During the last three years of his sentence, his wife was also taken and imprisoned for her faith.
They were finally released, only to start secret church meetings again and he was once again taken into prison. In 1964 he was released and in 1965, Western churches raised $10,000 to ransom the Wurmbrands from Romania.
They came to the United States and began speaking out against the persecution that was found in Communist countries. Richard Wurmbrand stood before Congress and showed them the eighteen different holes that had been cut into his body, all because he professed faith in Jesus Christ. This event was broadcast on live television and he became the voice for the underground church throughout the world, a commitment that he claimed for the rest of his life.
In 1967, he and his wife formed “Jesus to the Communist World” an organization that offered support to persecuted Christians in Communist countries and that later expanded to help persecuted believers anywhere in the world. The organization was later renamed “Voice of the Martyrs.”
In 1990, the Wurmbrands returned to Romania for the first time in 25 years. While there, The Voice of the Martyrs opened a printing facility and bookshop in Bucharest and Richard Wurmbrand preached in many different denominational churches. The man who wrote the book “Tortured for Christ” was able to see Christ in the country that had tried to eliminate anything to do with Christianity.
It is nearly impossible for us to imagine that torture and executions continue to exist for Christians in the world today, but there continues to be persecution in many locations on the earth.
In 1948, Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor left his home for his church and never arrived. For eight and a half years, his family didn’t know whether he was dead or alive. Not long before that day, he had spoken at a conference freely about his faith in Jesus Christ, encouraging others to stand up for their faith.
In the middle of the day, the secret police scooped him up from the street into a van and took him to prison where they tortured him. During the last three years of his sentence, his wife was also taken and imprisoned for her faith.
They were finally released, only to start secret church meetings again and he was once again taken into prison. In 1964 he was released and in 1965, Western churches raised $10,000 to ransom the Wurmbrands from Romania.
They came to the United States and began speaking out against the persecution that was found in Communist countries. Richard Wurmbrand stood before Congress and showed them the eighteen different holes that had been cut into his body, all because he professed faith in Jesus Christ. This event was broadcast on live television and he became the voice for the underground church throughout the world, a commitment that he claimed for the rest of his life.
In 1967, he and his wife formed “Jesus to the Communist World” an organization that offered support to persecuted Christians in Communist countries and that later expanded to help persecuted believers anywhere in the world. The organization was later renamed “Voice of the Martyrs.”
In 1990, the Wurmbrands returned to Romania for the first time in 25 years. While there, The Voice of the Martyrs opened a printing facility and bookshop in Bucharest and Richard Wurmbrand preached in many different denominational churches. The man who wrote the book “Tortured for Christ” was able to see Christ in the country that had tried to eliminate anything to do with Christianity.
0 comments:
Post a Comment