The Voice of the Martyrs inspires believers worldwide to support persecuted Christians living in hostile areas and to fulfill the Great Commission.
Here in America, we attend church in our Sunday best, sit in our comfy church pews, and listen to the preacher deliver God’s message. We are thankful that God allows us this freedom to worship Him. We take no thought of repercussions for our walk with God, reading the Bible, or sharing the Gospel. Yet, all around the world, Christian brothers and sisters are persecuted for doing just that. We are removed from their daily persecution but should not be immune from their suffering.
We have heard the stories of persecuted Christians and how they depend on the only thing they possess to survive, their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord meets their needs despite the difficulties they face. They know they are safe in Jesus Christ no matter what terrors this world assails upon them. In this life, they look forward to that blessed hope which is Christ Jesus. He is their strength. Their faith is unshakeable.
Their lives may be in peril, but whether they know it or not, each one is a true testament to faith in our world today. It is because of their hope, their faith, and their trust in God that brings peace that this world can never fathom that more people are turning to Christ every day, knowing full well that their lives could be in peril too.
Matthew 5:10: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:11: “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”
Matthew 5:12: “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”
What can we do for persecuted Christians? Pray for them. It is the first request by frontline workers. Prayer is something all believers can do. Not only pray for them, but God tells us to pray for the persecutors so their hearts might be converted. We can also support our suffering brethren. God told us to care for Christians who are persecuted. Some organizations support Christians undergoing persecution. One of those organizations has its roots in a Communist-era Romanian prison cell and continues to serve persecuted believers today.
The Voice of the Martyrs
As a nonprofit, interdenominational missions organization, The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) serves persecuted Christians in areas where it is incredibly challenging and dangerous to be a Christian. Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand founded VOM in 1967 after being imprisoned for sharing the Gospel in Communist Romania. VOM’s mission is to inspire believers, deepen their commitment to Christ, and fulfill His Great Commission, no matter the cost.
VOM outlines its purpose in supporting persecuted Christians by:
- Encouraging and empowering Christians to fulfill the Great Commission in areas of the world where they are persecuted for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Providing practical relief and spiritual support to the families of Christian martyrs.
- Equipping persecuted Christians to love and win to Christ those who are opposed to the Gospel in their part of the world.
- Undertaking projects of encouragement, helping believers rebuild their lives, and Christian witnessing in countries where they have formerly suffered oppression.
- Promoting the fellowship of all believers by informing the world of the faith and courage of persecuted Christians, thereby inspiring believers to a deeper level of commitment to Christ and involvement in His Great Commission.
The Iron Curtain Paul
Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand are an amazing Christian couple, having endured many years of persecution. Theirs is an incredibly moving and inspirational story.
Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, also known as Nicolai Ionescu (1909—2001), was a Romanian evangelical minister and professor of Jewish descent. By God’s grace, he endured 14 years of Communist imprisonment and torture in his homeland. Nevertheless, he is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading Christian leaders, authors, and educators.
In 1938, he and his wife, Sabina, accepted Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of their lives. They were influenced by a German carpenter named Christian Wolfkes. Wurmbrand subsequently became a Lutheran pastor.
Romanian Communists seized power in 1945 and attempted to take control of the churches. Pastor Wurmbrand began an underground church in bomb shelters for the oppressed believers and Russian soldiers who occupied his country. He is also reported to have rescued Jewish children during World War II. He was arrested in 1948, along with his wife, who was imprisoned for three years.
“Did I believe in God? Now the test had come. I was alone … God offered me only suffering – would I continue to love him?” – Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, “In God’s Underground”
Pastor Wurmbrand spent three years in solitary confinement without seeing anyone but his Communist torturers. He was then transferred to a group cell, where the torture continued for another five years.
As a Christian leader of international stature, his imprisonment did not go unnoticed. Confusion ensued when foreign diplomats asked the Communist Romanian government about him. They were informed that he had fled the country. Additionally, the Romanian secret police posed as former prisoners to tell Sabina they had attended his burial in the prison cemetery. His family and friends were told that he was dead.
Eight more years would pass before Pastor Wurmbrand was released from prison. Immediately, he resumed his work with the underground church. Then, in 1959, he was re-arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Undeterred in the Lord’s Work
In 1964, Pastor Wurmbrand was released through a general amnesty and resumed his underground church ministry again. A group of Christians in Norway, realizing the probability and danger of a third imprisonment, negotiated his family’s emigration from Romania with the Communist authorities, who had begun “selling” political prisoners. Although the average price for a prisoner was about $1,900, the government demanded $10,000 for Pastor Wurmbrand.
Romanian colleagues urged him to leave the country and work for religious freedom in a safer, less personally dangerous environment. So he and his wife, Sabina, spent time in Norway and England before emigrating to America. They dedicated their lives to publicizing and helping those persecuted for their Christian faith.
In May 1966, he testified before the U.S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, where he stripped to the waist to show 18 scars from torture wounds inflicted on his torso. His story was published in newspapers throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Pastor Wurmbrand received a warning in September 1966 that Romania’s Communist regime planned to assassinate him, but he would not be silenced through the grace of God.
Traveling as co-founders of The Voice of the Martyrs, Pastor Wurmbrand and Sabina established a network of over 30 offices worldwide that could provide relief to families of imprisoned Christians in Islamic nations, Communist nations, and other countries where Christians are being persecuted because of their faith. Their message remains, “Hate the evil systems but love your persecutors. Love their souls, and try to win them for Christ.”
Pastor Wurmbrand wrote numerous books, the most widely known being Tortured for Christ and Answer to Moscow’s (Atheist) Bible. His works have been translated into over 70 languages. Leading Christians sometimes label him as “The Voice of the Underground Church” and “The Iron Curtain Paul.”
Romans 8:35: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
Romans 8:36: “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Romans 8:37: “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
Romans 8:38: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,”
Romans 8:39: “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
For more information on The Voice of the Martyrs, visit their website.
“It was in prison that we found the hope of salvation for the Communists. It was there that we developed a sense of responsibility toward them. It was in being tortured by them that we learned to love them.” – Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, Co-Founder, The Voice of the Martyrs
Parts of this content were sourced with permission by The Voice of the Martyrs.