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My name is Richard Wurmbrand.
I was brought up in a family with no religion. My childhood was bitter.
When I was fourteen, I was as much an atheist as the communists are today.
But I had the grace to be one of the chosen of God for reasons
that I do not understand. These reasons have nothing to do with my character,
because my character was very bad. But I longed from the first day
of my conversion to be able to witness to the Russians.
The Russians are raised from childhood in atheism.
I promised God that I would dedicate my life to these people,
to give them back their personalities and to give them faith in Christ.
Beginning August 23, 1944, one million Russian troops entered my country.
The communists took power and then began a nightmare.
Atheism became the official state religion. To proclaim Christ publicly
became reason enough for arrest and torture.
Spies were everywhere. Church leaders had a choice: either we enlisted
in the service of the Soviets or go to jail.
The communists skillfully seduced the church and the church leaders
were easily deceived. They convened a Congress of Cults for all ministers,
pastors, and rabbis. Joseph Stalin was appointed as honorary patron.
(in Romanian)
The Congress was broadcast across the nation. The idea was to persuade
the public of the communists’ intent to cooperate fully with the churches.
My wife, Sabina, and I watched as religious leaders, one after another,
took the podium and spoke words assuring the communists
of the loyalty of the church.
It is happening here just as it did in Russia.
And our glorious new Romanian government is in favor of faith – any faith.
They are even going to increase the pay of the clergy.
Lenin defended the church until he came to power.
And then tens of thousands of Christians died in concentration camps.
This is madness.
They are spitting in the face of Christ.
Will – will you not wash away this shame?
You do know that if I speak now, you will have no husband.
I don’t need a coward for a husband.
(in Romanian)
Our churches had to deal with a new reality: The Russians were here,
and they weren’t going away.
The registered churches were no longer safe. But we still wanted to share
Christ’s love with our fellow Romanians and to the occupying Russian soldiers.
Even my son Mihai and his friends got involved. They managed to learn
a small handful of Russian words.
God bless you.
You got gum from the officers again?
Did you give them a blessing?
And a flower.
As time went on, the communists tightened their grip even more.
Bibles were banned. Churches were monitored. And everyone was watching.
The communists knew that faith in God was the only effective resistance left.
As members of the body of Christ, we were committed to helping
even the communists come to the light of Christ.
(in Romanian)
God will not judge us according to how much we have endured,
but how much we could love.
We loved the Russians so much that we risked everything
to bring them the gospel.
I spoke Russian fluently and for me to preach to the Russian people
was heaven on earth.
The Russians were very fond of watches. They stole them from everyone.
They never had them before and now they could not get enough of them.
A Romanian who wished to have a watch
had to go to the barracks of the Soviet army to buy them.
They were often buying their own watches back!
But we saw this as an opportunity to share the Gospel.
(in Russian)
Once the soldiers realized that we were there to speak about God and the Bible,
they would close the doors and gather in close.
It was extremely dangerous, but they were so eager to learn more.
(in Russian)
Many came to Christ and we were able to
distribute thousands of Gospels in this way.
Of course, the joy of winning one to Christ is always mixed with a feeling that
there is a price to be paid.
(in Romanian)
Sadly, a number of our brothers and sisters were caught and severely beaten.
But they did not betray our work.
We were meeting an entirely new type of Christian:
the Christian of the underground church.
(singing in Romanian)
They carried on the work of Christ just as in the days of the apostles
and we met in our homes.
We were always wary of spying eyes that came from everywhere.
Our ministry to the Russians was bearing fruit.
There was one young soldier named Petr. He had come with the Russian army.
It was not enough for Petr to accept Christ. He wanted to be baptized.
Baptisms were very risky.
There were so many informers among us and only the most trusted
could be invited. But Petr insisted, and we had complied. Our underground church
was modest in size, but it was growing – in numbers and in courage.
After being baptized, Petr risked his life smuggling Bibles to other Russians.
He was an example to many of the new believers.
(in Russian)
The last I heard of Petr, he had been arrested and sent to prison.
Whether he is already in Heaven or continuing the good fight on earth,
I do not know.
But Petr had courageously served, and we had learned a new lesson.
Every soul won for Christ must also be made a soul winner. No matter the cost.
You look very handsome.
You know what? I think you should perform the wedding,
and I’ll just play on the streets all day. Hmm?
No.
No? No? Okay.
I’ll see you at the church in one hour. Okay?
Just one?
If I go now, I might be there before you.
Don’t make us wait for you.
Am I ever late, dear?
No. The rest of us are just always early.
True.
Sabina worried about me being late for the wedding - and not without some merit.
I was easily distracted, especially by those most innocent among us.
On that day, Sabina was right to worry. I would be late.
I knew where I was going. This type of kidnapping had become common.
(in Romanian)
I had discovered 366 verses in the Bible that instruct us not to fear.
One for each day of the year – and even one for leap year.
It was a leap year. February 29th, 1948. I remembered a verse for this day.
Psalm 56, verse 3. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.”
(in Romanian)
We were forced to stand in wooden boxes only slightly larger than we were.
Sharp nails were driven into every side of the box.
We stood for endless hours, sometimes even days.
I don’t like to speak much about our horrific suffering.
When I speak of it, I don’t sleep at night.
(in Romanian)
I remember one pastor named Florescu.
The communists wanted the names of his congregation.
But he refused to betray his brothers and sisters.
(in Romanian)
The walls were covered with the boy’s blood. But he died with the name
of Jesus on his lips. Our dear brother Florescu was never the same after
witnessing his son’s death. Who could be?
For three years, I was in solitary confinement.
I had only my thoughts for company. But I had God.
I remembered what the martyr Savonarola wrote. He said,
"There are two kinds of Christians; those who sincerely believe in God,"
"and those who just as sincerely believe that they believe." Did I believe in God?
Now the test had come.
Every night when the 10 P.M. bell signaled time to sleep,
I began my nightly routine, beginning with prayer.
Prayer, of course, was forbidden.
(in Romanian)
Sabina was also arrested. The secret police came in the middle of the night,
accusing her of hiding weapons in our apartment.
(in Romanian)
Our dear Father, You have said that we are persecuted but not abandoned,
so please do not abandon us now. May our suffering glorify You,
and through it all might we shine forth Your love. Amen.
Mihai, look at me. You have to stay strong!
(in Romanian)
Sabina!
Mihai!
Sabina, along with thousands of other
political prisoners, was put to work digging
a canal that was supposed to connect the Black Sea to the Danube River.
The canal was considered to be a symbol of great communist achievement.
Some communist engineers tried to warn the party leaders that the canal,
as designed, wouldn’t work.
Those engineers were shot.
The day’s quota was to move 8 cubic yards of dirt per woman, in any condition.
Every day, Sabina would repeat a scripture
and often it would wind its way through the whole camp.
(in Romanian)
Prayer was my only escape.
The beatings would not prevent me from talking with God.
My wife and my son were always in my prayers. It is how I held them close.
(in Romanian)
Sabina broke two ribs when she hit the rocks in the Danube river that day.
The women suffered greatly, and many died in the labor camps.
Whenever they moved me from cell to cell, I would always find other believers.
Naturally, preaching in prison was strictly forbidden. It was never an issue of
if you would be caught.
It was only a matter of how bad the beatings would be when you were.
I have witnessed many times where a brother was dragged from our cell
to the beating room because he was preaching.
He would be kicked, cut, beaten with sticks and all kinds of tortures.
(in Romanian)
We didn’t stop preaching.
We’d made a deal with the guards.
We would preach, they would beat. Everyone was happy.
My feet were beaten so often and so brutally,
I would never walk normally again.
(in Romanian)
I am sorry if a crocodile eats a man. But I cannot reproach the crocodile.
I had learned the same can be said of my torturers.
Communism had stripped them of any form of humanity and they sank into
unthinkable depths of cruelty. Darkness ruled their every action,
and only God’s love could restore them.
(in Romanian)
While in prison, I contracted a severe case of tuberculosis. In those days, TB was
often a death sentence, and I was moved to a prison in the Carpathian Mountains.
If a prisoner took a turn for the worse here, he was sent to Room 4.
Nobody had ever returned from Room 4 alive.
(in Romanian)
Some who preached in the prisons had been pastors, but most were lay people
who were simply inspired by the Holy Spirit.
One such man was named Matchevici.
He was extremely sick. Somehow his family found out how sick he was,
and sent medicine that could save his life.
(in Romanian)
The officer wanted the same thing they always wanted – names.
He told Matchevici others were talking –
and their reports even led to his many beatings.
Matchevici died in my presence. I watched him enter eternity while praising God.
I saw many men die in that room, and here is a remarkable fact: not one
died an atheist. None of them died without making his peace with God and man.
Many entered Room 4 as firmly convinced unbelievers. But I saw their unbelief
collapse always in the face of death. Just as many men think themselves religious
and are not, so some think they are atheists without being so.
After her release, Sabina had no idea if I was alive or dead - until one day,
a friend found me in Room 4.
Dr. Luigi was underground – and undercover. He had become a Christian
and wanted to renounce the Communist Party. But we begged him to stay in
and find a way to serve Christ. His sacrifice was the greatest of all of us,
for even his family and friends believed he had betrayed God
and gone back to the Party.
Wurmbrand, is that you? I heard you had died.
Maybe tomorrow.
Sabina will be relieved, then, at least for another day.
Can you get a message to her?
I can.
Tell her I’m alive.
Tell her I love her.
Tell her, God is here.
Ask her if she might deliver some pork ribs with polenta.
The kitchen here is dreadful.
You don’t look well, Richard.
My soul sings. My body, not so much.
TB is no joke. You need medicines. I will try to get you some.
Then try and get some for all of us.
Without medicines, you will die.
They told me I had two weeks many months ago.
I have lost the count of the days.
(in Romanian)
The communist ideology is “nothing other than the religion of Satan on Earth,”
as one who passed through communist prisons called it. It claimed hundreds
of thousands of victims among us. It did not
succeed, however, in breaking those who,
not wanting to lose their souls, held steadfast with all their being to Christ,
enduring horrible suffering, and finally dying at the hands of the communists.
They acquired the crown of glory.
I had the privilege to be in the same cell with great saints, heroes of faith
who equaled the Christians of the first century.
They tithed their tiny rations, giving it to the weakest prisoner. They shared
communion with the little they had. They faithfully witnessed to their torturers.
They would gladly die for Christ. Even our chains became musical instruments
and we worshipped the Lord together.
(humming in unison)
The supernatural became the natural.
I have seen such beautiful things.
In all, I spent fourteen years in prison, for
many of which I could not see the stars,
birds or even a butterfly. And I still love the Russians - even the communists,
with all my heart. They can kill Christians, but they cannot kill our love.
I hate the Communist system, but I love the men. We had experienced a new form
of Christianity - the kind where Christ’s love conquers all.
Jesus Lord, oh help me always to remember
How Your miracle delivered me from pain
How Your love has freed my captive heart forever
By Your grace, You’ve always been my one defender
I was dead and then You gave me life again
Yes, You gave me life again.
And I won’t forget the torment and the sadness
I was helpless so I called upon Your name
And You answered me with mercy’s tender kindness
Shone Your hope to take away my sorrow’s darkness
And the light upon Your face now shines on me
Yes, forever shines on me.
Now my soul will sing of Your eternal springtime
No more clouds and no more shadows in my heart
With a sacrifice of praise I kneel before You
With a prayer of thankfulness I will adore You
Jesus Lord, You are the treasure of my life
Yes, the treasure of my life.
(audience applause)
Let’s gather all our thoughts before the Lord.
Let’s stand together and in our song, worship.
Seek His leading on how we should respond to this film we have just seen.
"In Christ Alone"