Free Book: Tortured For Christ

I just found out the other day that you can pick up a complimentary copy of Voice of the Martyrs' book "Tortured for Christ." This is the story of founder Richard Wurmbrand who spent 14 years in prison in Communist Romania simply for being a Christian. He wrote the book to make Christians in the West aware of what their brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing for their dedication to Christ. As you know, I have a huge heart for the persecuted all over the world; they are laying down their lives for Christ daily, and they do it unashamedly. So if you're like me, and you just devour every book on the topic that you can get your hands on, why not get your free copy today? All you have to do is refer one or more friends, and provide your mailing address and you're on your way! And after you do that, here is a little teaser...

It was 1945. A pastor and his wife sat listening as one religious leader after another come forward to swear loyalty to the new regime at a national church conference called by the recently installed Communist government in Romania. Although they knew that the Communists had sworn to eradicate religion, the delegates publicly declared how happy they would be to cooperate with the government.

As the pastor’s wife listened, she was shocked. Hadn’t Communism shown its true face in Russia? At least, she thought, these men could remain silent in their fear for their families, jobs and salaries. But this flattery was tantamount to spitting in Jesus’ face!

She could tell that her husband was boiling inside. So, she turned to him and said, “Will you not wash this shame from the face of Christ?”

“If I speak, you will lose a husband,” he replied.

“I don’t need a coward for a husband,” she answered.

And with Sabina’s words ringing in his ears, advanced to the front of the auditorium and boldly testified to the truth of God’s Word, calling the Romanian church to renewed faithfulness to her Lord. He became a marked man for having the courage to raise a voice against the prevailing attitude of compromise and accommodation that lured so many and proved so deadly for the church in Romania.

In the years that followed, both Richard and Sabina suffered terrible persecution for having the courage to remain true to Christ in a sea of godlessness (see Richard’s story In God’s Underground and Sabina’s in The Pastor’s Wife; both available for sale this month). When Pastor Wurmbrand was finally released from prison in 1964 in a general amnesty, the opportunity arose to leave when friends in the West offered to ransom the family for $10,000. The decision to leave Romania was difficult. Years earlier, after Richard’s courageous speech in 1945, they had struggled with whether to flee the country at that time. They had decided to stay and never regretted that decision, even though it cost them dearly. Twenty years later, they faced that decision again.

In his book, Tortured for Christ, Richard writes, “I would not have left Romania, despite the dangers, if the leaders of the Underground Church had not commanded me to use this opportunity to leave the country, to be the ‘voice’ of the Underground Church to the free world. They wished me to speak to you of the Western world on their behalf about their sufferings and needs. I came to the West, but my heart remained with them. I would never have left Romania if I had not understood the great necessity for you to hear of the sufferings and the courageous work of the Underground Church, but this is my mission.”