Richard & Sabina Wurmbrand: The Underground Pastor and His Wife
Produced by the Christian History Institute and Voice of the Martyrs
Distributed by Vision Video
50 minutes
The story of Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand is very moving. While some say that it is “out of date” because the Soviet empire has come down, the story of Christian persecution is just as real today as it ever was.
Thousands of Christians are dying each year in Muslim countries and many other places. Please subscribe to “Voice of the Martyrs” newsletter and read the stories monthly of the brave Christians who will suffer torture and/or death rather than deny their Savior.[1] Give thanks to God for your freedom.
The video tells the story brilliantly. There is great narration, wonderful pictures, live interviews with their son, Mihai, and above all film footage of testimony from Richard and Sabina. The Wurmbrands relate the horror of their experiences at the same time as they praise God for seeing them through the torture. Their testimony is a wonderful inspiration to all. Both Richard and Sabina were able to show the love of Christ in the ultimate way – by forgiving their torturers.
Here is some background to the story:
Sabina Oster Wurmbrand was born on July 10, 1913 in Czernowitz in what was then
called the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today her country is known as Romania.
Sabina was born into a Jewish family. She was very intelligent. After graduating from high school in Czernowitz she attended the Sorbonne in Paris where she studied languages.
In 1936, at the age of 23, she met Richard Wurmbrand who was also born in a Jewish family. Richard and Sabina were soon married. In their early lives they sought to live the high life. They were virtually atheists. God was nowhere on their radar screens.
Then a miracle happened. While spending time in the mountains of Romania they came to Christ. They joined the Anglican church. Richard eventually was ordained as an Anglican minister. They were both on fire for Christ and began a successful ministry witnessing for Christ in Romania.
During WWII Sabina’s Jewish parents, two sisters, and one brother were killed in Nazi concentration camps. Richard and Sabina rescued many Jewish children from the ghettos where the Nazi’s were forcing the Jews to live. They also spent a lot of time in underground bomb shelters teaching the Bible.
They had a son, Mihai (Michael) during this time.
At the end of WWII the Russians poured into Eastern European countries. They forced everyone into communism. The communists took control of the churches and attempted to use them for propaganda purposes. They organized a “Congress of Cults.” Many religious leaders attended including Richard and Sabina. One by one the religious leaders began to swear loyalty to the communists. They praised the communists even though they knew that religion was really being repressed.
“Richard and Sabina were disgusted by the actions of their fellow leaders. Sabina said, ‘Richard, stand up and wash away this shame from the face of Christ.’ Richard replied, ‘If I do, you’ll lose your husband.’ But Sabina said what Richard knew in his heart: ‘I don’t wish to have a coward as a husband.’ Richard stood up in front of the four thousand delegates as so many had done before him. But instead of praising communism, he bravely declared that the church’s duty is to glorify God and Christ alone.”[2]
Then on February 29, 1948, Richard was arrested by the secret police and put into solitary confinement. He was tortured for many years in the prison, but he didn’t let his time go to waste. He found a way, using Morse code, to communicate the Gospel to other prisoners.
Sabina was also arrested and spent three years in prison, leaving Mihai, now nine years old, homeless. Sabina worked on the Danube Canal project doing slave labor. During this time she was also tortured by being made to stand continually in a small room. No bigger than a closet, the walls had spikes on them so Sabina could not even lean over for comfort.
Eventually Sabina was released. Authorities told her that Richard was dead. This wasn’t true. Richard was being moved around from prison to prison all the while suffering horrible torture.
During this time Sabina carried on the ministry. She shared the Gospel and gave away bibles whenever she could.
After about 8 years a Christian doctor contrived Richard’s release. Imagine how happy Sabina and Mihai were to see him! He was warned not to preach. This did not stop the Wurmbrands. They just went back to the underground church and continued their ministry.
In 1959 Richard was betrayed by an associate who accused him of preaching against communism. Richard was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison. This time the captors used psychological torture as well as physical torture.
Sabina was told that Richard had died, but this time she didn’t believe it. Shae carried on their work believing that God was with them.
In 1964, hearing about his illegal treatment, Western countries began to put political pressure on the communists to release Richard. The Norwegian Mission to the Jews negotiated with the Romanian government to release Sabina and Richard for $10,000. The Wurmbrands left the country so that they could be a voice for the persecuted church in the West.
In 1967 Sabina and Richard formed an organization to help the persecuted church; they called it “Jesus to the Communist World”. Later it became a world wide organization and the named it “The Voice of the Martyrs.” It is still active today. My husband and I give financial support and I strongly recommend that every Christian should give something out of thanksgiving for our freedom in the United States. There are still many thousands of Christians being persecuted around the world. You can go to this site:
https://secure.persecution.com/projects_feature.aspx?categoryID=72&source=WEB
After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Richard and Sabina were finally able to return to Romania. They were happy to be able to do more for the Christians there. The new mayor of Bucharest offered to let them use the basement of the palace of the former dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, to store bibles. This was the same building where Richard had been housed in solitary confinement for three years. They continued to be a voice for the helpless for many years.
Sabina went to be with the Lord in 2000. Richard followed his beloved, wise, and strong companion in 2001.
[1] Go to their website and sign up: https://www.persecution.com
[2] From “Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand: Founders of Voice of the Martyrs”, http://www.plough.com/en/topics/faith/witness/richard-and-sabina-wurmbrand
