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285 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
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About the author
Richard Wurmbrand
119 books272 followersEarly life
Richard Wurmbrand, the youngest of four boys, was born in 1909 in Bucharest in a Jewish family. He lived with his family in Istanbul for a short while; his father died when he was 9, and the Wurmbrands returned to Romania when he was 15.
As an adolescent, he became attracted to communism, and, after attending a series of illegal meetings of the Communist Party of Romania (PCdR), he was sent to study Marxism in Moscow, but returned clandestinely the following year. Pursued by Siguranţa Statului (the secret police), he was arrested and held in Doftana prison. Wurmbrand subsequently renounced his political ideals.
He married Sabina Oster on October 26, 1936. Wurmbrand and his wife were converted to Christianity in 1938 through the witness of Christian Wolfkes, a Romanian Christian carpenter; they joined the Anglican Mission to the Jews. Wurmbrand was ordained twice - first as an Anglican, then, after World War II, as a Lutheran pastor.
In 1944, when the Soviet Union occupied Romania as the first step to establishing the communist regime, Wurmbrand began a ministry to his Romanian countrymen and to the Red Army soldiers. When the government attempted to control the churches, he immediately began an "underground" ministry to his people. He was arrested on February 29, 1948, while on his way to church services.
Wurmbrand, who passed through the penal facilities of Craiova, Gherla, the Danube-Black Sea Canal, Văcăreşti, Malmaison, Cluj, and ultimately Jilava, spent three years in solitary confinement. His wife, Sabina, was arrested in 1950 and spent three years of penal labor on the Danube Canal.
Pastor Wurmbrand was released in 1956, after eight and a half years, and, although warned not to preach, resumed his work in the underground church. He was arrested again in 1959, and sentenced to 25 years. During his imprisonment, he was beaten and tortured.
Eventually, he was the recipient of an amnesty in 1964. Concerned with the possibility of further imprisonment, the Norwegian Mission to the Jews and the Hebrew Christian Alliance negotiated with the Communist authorities for his release from Romania for $10,000. He was convinced by underground church leaders to leave and become a voice for the persecuted church.
Wurmbrand traveled to Norway, England, and then the United States. In May 1965, he testified in Washington, D.C. before the US Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee. He became known as the "The Voice of the Underground Church," doing much to publicize the persecution of Christians in Communist countries.
In April 1967, the Wurmbrands formed Jesus To The Communist World (later named The Voice of the Martyrs), an interdenominational organization working initially with and for persecuted Christians in Communist countries, but later expanding its activities to help persecuted believers in other places, especially in the Muslim world. However, when in Namibia, and confronted with the case of Colin Winter, the Anglican Bishop of Namibia, who had supported African strikers and was eventually deported from Namibia by South Africa, Wurmbrand criticized the latter's anti-apartheid activism, and claimed resistance to communism was more important.
In 1990 Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand returned to Romania for the first time in 25 years. The Voice of the Martyrs opened a printing facility and bookstore in Bucharest. He preached about God together with pastor Ioan Panican.
The Wurmbrands had one son, Mihai. Wurmbrand wrote 18 books in English and others in Romanian. His best-known book is entitled Tortured for Christ, released in 1967. His wife, Sabina, died August 11, 2000.
Pastor Wurmbrand died on February 17, 2001 in a hospital in Long Beach, California. In 2006, he came fifth among the greatest Romanians according to a poll conducted by Romanian Television (Televiziunea Română).
Richard Wurmbrand, the youngest of four boys, was born in 1909 in Bucharest in a Jewish family. He lived with his family in Istanbul for a short while; his father died when he was 9, and the Wurmbrands returned to Romania when he was 15.
As an adolescent, he became attracted to communism, and, after attending a series of illegal meetings of the Communist Party of Romania (PCdR), he was sent to study Marxism in Moscow, but returned clandestinely the following year. Pursued by Siguranţa Statului (the secret police), he was arrested and held in Doftana prison. Wurmbrand subsequently renounced his political ideals.
He married Sabina Oster on October 26, 1936. Wurmbrand and his wife were converted to Christianity in 1938 through the witness of Christian Wolfkes, a Romanian Christian carpenter; they joined the Anglican Mission to the Jews. Wurmbrand was ordained twice - first as an Anglican, then, after World War II, as a Lutheran pastor.
In 1944, when the Soviet Union occupied Romania as the first step to establishing the communist regime, Wurmbrand began a ministry to his Romanian countrymen and to the Red Army soldiers. When the government attempted to control the churches, he immediately began an "underground" ministry to his people. He was arrested on February 29, 1948, while on his way to church services.
Wurmbrand, who passed through the penal facilities of Craiova, Gherla, the Danube-Black Sea Canal, Văcăreşti, Malmaison, Cluj, and ultimately Jilava, spent three years in solitary confinement. His wife, Sabina, was arrested in 1950 and spent three years of penal labor on the Danube Canal.
Pastor Wurmbrand was released in 1956, after eight and a half years, and, although warned not to preach, resumed his work in the underground church. He was arrested again in 1959, and sentenced to 25 years. During his imprisonment, he was beaten and tortured.
Eventually, he was the recipient of an amnesty in 1964. Concerned with the possibility of further imprisonment, the Norwegian Mission to the Jews and the Hebrew Christian Alliance negotiated with the Communist authorities for his release from Romania for $10,000. He was convinced by underground church leaders to leave and become a voice for the persecuted church.
Wurmbrand traveled to Norway, England, and then the United States. In May 1965, he testified in Washington, D.C. before the US Senate's Internal Security Subcommittee. He became known as the "The Voice of the Underground Church," doing much to publicize the persecution of Christians in Communist countries.
In April 1967, the Wurmbrands formed Jesus To The Communist World (later named The Voice of the Martyrs), an interdenominational organization working initially with and for persecuted Christians in Communist countries, but later expanding its activities to help persecuted believers in other places, especially in the Muslim world. However, when in Namibia, and confronted with the case of Colin Winter, the Anglican Bishop of Namibia, who had supported African strikers and was eventually deported from Namibia by South Africa, Wurmbrand criticized the latter's anti-apartheid activism, and claimed resistance to communism was more important.
In 1990 Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand returned to Romania for the first time in 25 years. The Voice of the Martyrs opened a printing facility and bookstore in Bucharest. He preached about God together with pastor Ioan Panican.
The Wurmbrands had one son, Mihai. Wurmbrand wrote 18 books in English and others in Romanian. His best-known book is entitled Tortured for Christ, released in 1967. His wife, Sabina, died August 11, 2000.
Pastor Wurmbrand died on February 17, 2001 in a hospital in Long Beach, California. In 2006, he came fifth among the greatest Romanians according to a poll conducted by Romanian Television (Televiziunea Română).
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 2, 2024
4.5
,,Dragostea Sa întrece orice închipuire omenească. Nu numai că El Se roagă pentru ucigașii Lui, ci mai mult. El caută cu tot dinadinsul să-i facă să primească această iertare. De aceea spune în auzul lor: ,,Tată, iartă-i!” Ce nevoie era de o asemenea rugăciune? În sine ea era de prisos. ,,Fiul omului are pe pământ putere să ierte păcatele”(Mt.9.6). Isus îi putea ierta El Însuși; nu avea nevoie să Se roage Tatălui pentru aceasta. Dar, fiindcă ei Îl disprețuiau pe Cristos, nu-I recunoșteau dreptul de a ierta păcatele și refuzaseră iertarea Lui. Isus, dorind cu tot dinadinsul mântuirea lor, le oferă iertarea Tatălui, în care ei credeau.”
,,Dragostea Sa întrece orice închipuire omenească. Nu numai că El Se roagă pentru ucigașii Lui, ci mai mult. El caută cu tot dinadinsul să-i facă să primească această iertare. De aceea spune în auzul lor: ,,Tată, iartă-i!” Ce nevoie era de o asemenea rugăciune? În sine ea era de prisos. ,,Fiul omului are pe pământ putere să ierte păcatele”(Mt.9.6). Isus îi putea ierta El Însuși; nu avea nevoie să Se roage Tatălui pentru aceasta. Dar, fiindcă ei Îl disprețuiau pe Cristos, nu-I recunoșteau dreptul de a ierta păcatele și refuzaseră iertarea Lui. Isus, dorind cu tot dinadinsul mântuirea lor, le oferă iertarea Tatălui, în care ei credeau.”
February 5, 2023
GREAT!!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews