Richard Wurmbrand Movie

This past Saturday, I mentioned Rev. Richard Wurmbrand, the heroic Lutheran pastor who spent 14 years in solitary confinement in Communist Romania and who went on to found Voice of the Martyrs, an organization that calls attention to the ongoing persecution of the Church (and here is also the link to a 1966 TV interview with Pastor Wurmbrand that is gripping and disturbing, but also inspiring.

Amazingly, there is now a 30 minute cartoon movie telling his story. It is part of the Torchlighters series. I have not seen the film, but it is now available at Netflix and in my queue.

The clip above captures the turning point in the life of Pastor Wurmbrand, when, spurred to action by his courageous and faithful wife, he made a shocking speech denouncing the Communists on live radio while many other Christian clergymen were singing the praises of the government. The dialogue in the cartoon and the description of the scene accurately retells the story according to Wurmbrand's own account in Tortured for Christ (which is being given away free here).

This one act of speaking truth to power bought for Richard and his wife Sabina a lifetime of persecution for the faith.

Let us pray with St. John in Rev 6:9-11:

"When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, 'O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?' Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been."

Lord, have mercy. Come, Lord Jesus.