Meet Richard Wurmbrand

Why does God allow suffering?

Richard Wurmbrand

Why does God allow suffering in this world?

That is a hard question for a lot of unbelievers. But consider the beauty that can come from ashes.

Perhaps you’ve heard of Voice of the Martyrs, an interdenominational organization working with, and for the persecuted Christians around the world. Meet its founder, Richard Wurmbrand (1909-2001).

He was a Romanian professor of Jewish descent. He married in 1936 and 2 years later, they converted to Christianity due to the witness of Christian Wolfkes, a Romanian Christian carpenter. Wurmbrand later became an Evangelical Lutheran Priest. During World War II, he preached at bomb shelters and rescued Jewish people.

Because of this, the Communist regime in Romania arrested Wurmbrand and he was imprisoned and tortured for 14 years before being ransomed for $10,000. His wife was also imprisoned for 3 years.

While in prison, Wurmbrand spent 3 years in solitary confinement in a cell twelve feet underground, with no lights or windows. Instead of cursing the darkness, he maintained his sanity by sleeping during the day and composing and then delivering a sermon each night. This exercised his mind and soul. Thanks to his extraordinary memory, he was able to recall more than 350 of them so in 1969, he published a selection of these sermons in his book, ‘With God in Solitary Confinement.’

Wurmbrand was brutally tortured so badly that he couldn’t find a word to describe it. The bottoms of his feet were beaten to the bone. After his release in 1966, he testified before the U.S. Senate Internal Security Subcommittee. During his testimony he took off his shirt in front of TV cameras to show the scars of his torture. This brought attention to the persecution of Christians in communist and muslim countries. The following year, the Wurmbrands started Voice of the Martyrs which continues its worldwide ministry to this day.

Sometimes God allows what man intends for evil, to bring about something good. That is what happened to Joseph in Genesis 37-50. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely convicted and spent years (possibly 12 years) in prison. Then God miraculously fulfilled Joseph’s dream when Pharaoh promoted him to second in command of Egypt.

It seems the more that Wurmbrand served Christ, the more he suffered for Christ at the hands of communists. But he didn’t back down and he never gave up. He became the voice of the underground church.

In 1967, Wurmbrand expressed his view of America which I find fascinating:

“Every freedom-loving man has two fatherlands; his own and America. Today, America is the hope of every enslaved man, because it is the last bastion of freedom in the world. Only America has the power and the spiritual resources to stand as a barrier between militant communism and the people of the world. It is the last ‘dike’ holding back the rampaging floodwaters of militant communism. If it crumples, there is no other dike, no other dam; no other line of defense to fall back upon.

America is the last hope of millions of enslaved peoples. They look to it as their second fatherland. In it lies their hopes and prayers. I have seen fellow-prisoners in communist prisons beaten, tortured with 50 pounds of chains on their legs — praying for America…that the dike will not crumple; that it will remain.”

Think on that for a minute. Prisoners praying for America from communist prisons.

2 Corinthians 12:10 says, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Wurmbrand’s strength and courage is an inspiration to us today. As Marxist socialism increases in popularity with America’s younger generation and the culture becomes more immoral, we need people like the Wurmbrands to be bold in their faith and speak truth to power.

Remember, God didn’t give us the spirit of fear. So take on this day, the Wurmbrand way.