Richard & Sabina Wurmbrand Both Imprisoned & Tortured for their Faith. Click the Picture. Change Your Life.
In the Fire Light: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Hebrews 2:9
It was in a fast food restaurant in a local mall where my 12 year old daughter, Kristin, and I, had the privilege to share a meal with Richard Wumbrand, the author of “Tortured for Christ”.
When talking with him my daughter asked 'why He wore socks but no shoes'. He said, “Because when I was in prison they used to hit my feet with rubber hammers and after years of this torture I could no longer wear shoes.”
“Why did they hit your feet?” She asked.
“They wanted us to stop following Jesus and every time I would say His name, they would hit me. ‘Give up your Jesus!’ they would say. ‘He can’t help you in here. Renounce your Jesus and we will set you free.’”
My wife and I listened to Rev. Wurmbrand this week. I immediately recognized his voice. He was sharing about Communion while in the Communist prisons. (Click on the picture above and listen to this wonderful witness.) He explained that their cells were bleak and gray. They wore gray garb. They pounded messages in code between cells. They saw no light, birds, grass or people for 14 years. 17 hours a day they were told to praise communism and give up on Jesus.
They had a slice of bread and some garbage to live on and that was all. The one thing they missed the most was Communion. Rev. Wurmbrand said that there was no bread or wine for Communion and the Lord said “Nothing is what I use to create the heavens and the earth and everything in them. You can have Communion with that most precious commodity ‘nothing’.” And so they did.
We break bread as His Body when we give thanks and ask His blessing. We drink wine as His Blood when we give thanks and ask His blessing. At His Table He sets the rules. If He says “Use nothing as your source for Communion” then that’s what you do. So Rev. Wurmbrand and fellow prisoners had Communion in the dank, dark nothingness with nothingness to Remember that Jesus was there with them.
Richard Wurmbrand (1909 - 2001)Listen to freely downloadable audio sermons by the speaker Richard Wurmbrand in mp3 format. Was a Romanian Christian minister of Jewish descent. He was a youth during a time of anti-Semitic activity in Romania, but it was later, after becoming a believer in Jesus Christ as Messiah, and daring to publicly say that Communism and Christianity were not compatible, that he experienced imprisonment and torture for his beliefs. After serving five years of a second prison sentence, he was ransomed for $10,000.
His colleagues in Romania urged him to leave the country and work for religious freedom from a location less personally dangerous. After spending time in Norway and England, he and his wife Sabina, who had also been imprisoned, emigrated to America and dedicated the rest of their lives to publicizing and helping Christians who are persecuted for their beliefs. He wrote more than 18 books, the most widely known being Tortured for Christ. Variations of his works have been translated into more than 60 languages. He founded the international organization Voice of the Martyrs, which continues to aid Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith.
In the Fire Light: “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Hebrews 2:9
It was in a fast food restaurant in a local mall where my 12 year old daughter, Kristin, and I, had the privilege to share a meal with Richard Wumbrand, the author of “Tortured for Christ”.
When talking with him my daughter asked 'why He wore socks but no shoes'. He said, “Because when I was in prison they used to hit my feet with rubber hammers and after years of this torture I could no longer wear shoes.”
“Why did they hit your feet?” She asked.
“They wanted us to stop following Jesus and every time I would say His name, they would hit me. ‘Give up your Jesus!’ they would say. ‘He can’t help you in here. Renounce your Jesus and we will set you free.’”
My wife and I listened to Rev. Wurmbrand this week. I immediately recognized his voice. He was sharing about Communion while in the Communist prisons. (Click on the picture above and listen to this wonderful witness.) He explained that their cells were bleak and gray. They wore gray garb. They pounded messages in code between cells. They saw no light, birds, grass or people for 14 years. 17 hours a day they were told to praise communism and give up on Jesus.
They had a slice of bread and some garbage to live on and that was all. The one thing they missed the most was Communion. Rev. Wurmbrand said that there was no bread or wine for Communion and the Lord said “Nothing is what I use to create the heavens and the earth and everything in them. You can have Communion with that most precious commodity ‘nothing’.” And so they did.
We break bread as His Body when we give thanks and ask His blessing. We drink wine as His Blood when we give thanks and ask His blessing. At His Table He sets the rules. If He says “Use nothing as your source for Communion” then that’s what you do. So Rev. Wurmbrand and fellow prisoners had Communion in the dank, dark nothingness with nothingness to Remember that Jesus was there with them.
Richard Wurmbrand (1909 - 2001)Listen to freely downloadable audio sermons by the speaker Richard Wurmbrand in mp3 format. Was a Romanian Christian minister of Jewish descent. He was a youth during a time of anti-Semitic activity in Romania, but it was later, after becoming a believer in Jesus Christ as Messiah, and daring to publicly say that Communism and Christianity were not compatible, that he experienced imprisonment and torture for his beliefs. After serving five years of a second prison sentence, he was ransomed for $10,000.
His colleagues in Romania urged him to leave the country and work for religious freedom from a location less personally dangerous. After spending time in Norway and England, he and his wife Sabina, who had also been imprisoned, emigrated to America and dedicated the rest of their lives to publicizing and helping Christians who are persecuted for their beliefs. He wrote more than 18 books, the most widely known being Tortured for Christ. Variations of his works have been translated into more than 60 languages. He founded the international organization Voice of the Martyrs, which continues to aid Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith.