About Voice
of the Martyrs
VOM’s Mission Statement
Serving persecuted Christians with practical and spiritual assistance and leading Christians in the free world into fellowship with persecuted believers.
Why Voice of Martyrs Exists
Voice of the Martyrs exists to help, love and encourage persecuted Christians by providing Bibles, ministry resources, medical aid and practical assistance.
Our ministry is inspired by Hebrews 13:3, “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them – those who are mistreated – since you yourselves are in the body also.”
We support Christians who are or have been persecuted for their faith and involvement in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a hostile environment. We give their testimony a voice, informing and mobilising Christians in Australia to stand with their persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.
We believe that the lives and testimony of persecuted Christians is a vital part of the fellowship of all believers and can challenge and strengthen the faith of God’s people everywhere.
Our Beliefs
We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father where He intercedes for us, in His present rule as Head of the Church, and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that all men and women are lost and face the judgment of God, that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation, and that repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, whose indwelling enables the Christian to live a godly life.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the saved unto the resurrection of eternal life in the presence of our Lord, and the lost unto the resurrection of damnation and eternal punishment.
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ and that all true believers are members of His body, the Church.
We believe that we must dedicate ourselves to prayer, to the service of our Lord, to His authority over our lives, and to the ministry of evangelism.
Our Beliefs
We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father where He intercedes for us, in His present rule as Head of the Church, and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that all men and women are lost and face the judgment of God, that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation, and that repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ is necessary for regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, whose indwelling enables the Christian to live a godly life.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; the saved unto the resurrection of eternal life in the presence of our Lord, and the lost unto the resurrection of damnation and eternal punishment.
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ and that all true believers are members of His body, the Church.
We believe that we must dedicate ourselves to prayer, to the service of our Lord, to His authority over our lives, and to the ministry of evangelism.
Our Story
Voice of the Martyrs Australia was founded in 1969 and is part of a global partnership of independent missions started through the influence of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand.
Richard Wurmbrand was imprisoned and tortured by communist authorities in his native Romania for 14 years, including three years in solitary confinement. He envisioned a ministry that would focus on the persecuted church, raise a voice on its behalf and provide encouragement and assistance to persecuted Christians.
In 1967, Richard wrote Tortured for Christ, a firsthand account of the brutality he and other Christians suffered under communism. It opened the eyes and hearts of Christians in Western countries who had never heard of the terrible persecution happening to believers living in communist nations. He wrote:
“The message I bring from the underground church is:
‘Don’t abandon us! Don’t forget us! Don’t write us off!
Give us the tools we need! We will pay the price for using them!’”
Richard’s call to ‘remember the persecuted’ led to the establishment of an international ministry to persecuted Christians.
Today, with persecution against Christians greater than ever before, we continue Richard’s mission to equip and support the persecuted church and act as their voice in the free world.
OUR HISTORY
- 1909 Richard Wurmbrand is born on 24 March in Bucharest, Romania, the youngest of four boys in a Jewish family.
- 1937-1938 In a village in Romania, a godly carpenter named Christian Wölfkes prays for years to lead a Jew to Christ. In 1938, the carpenter leads Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand to Jesus Christ after they arrive in his village.
- 1941 Romania supports Germany in the war against the USSR and hosts German forces. Richard, now a pastor, coordinates evangelism to the occupying soldiers. Richard and Sabina were repeatedly arrested and beaten and were nearly executed. Sabina lost her Jewish family in Nazi concentration camps.
- 1944 Communists seize power in Romania and Russian troops pour into the country. Richard ministers to his oppressed countrymen and engages in bold evangelism to the Russian soldiers.
- 1945 Richard and Sabina attend the ‘Congress of Cults’. As many religious leaders come forward to swear loyalty to the new communist regime, Sabina asks Richard to “wipe the shame from the face of Jesus”. Richard, knowing the cost, steps forward and tells 4000 delegates that their duty as Christians is to glorify God and Christ alone. Between 1945 and 1947, Richard distributes one million Gospels to Russian troops, the books often disguised as communist propaganda. Richard also smuggles Gospels into Russia.
- 1948 On 29 February, Richard is arrested by secret police and placed in a solitary cell.
- 1950 The communists arrest Sabina and assign her to forced labour on the Danube Canal. The Wurmbrands’ 9-year-old son, Mihai, is left alone. Sabina is released in 1953 and continues to work with the underground church. She is told her husband died in prison. Later, a doctor masquerading as a communist party member discovered Richard alive in prison.
- 1956 Richard is released after serving eight-and-a-half years in prison. He endured horrific tortures and is warned never to preach again, but he resumes his ministry.
- 1959 Richard is turned in to the authorities by one of his own associates in the underground church. He is arrested again and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
- 1964-1965 Richard is released from prison and resumes his work. The Norwegian Mission to the Jews and the Hebrew Christian Alliance pay $10,000 in ransom to the communist government to allow the Wurmbrand family to leave Romania. They are reluctant to leave Romania, but other underground church leaders convince the Wurmbrands to leave and become a voice for the underground church to the world. Though Romanian officials warn Richard never to mention his prison experiences, he and Sabina speak internationally about the persecution.
- 1966 In May, Richard testifies in Washington DC, before the Senate’s Internal Security Subcommittee, where he reveals eighteen deep torture wounds on his body. His story spreads rapidly across the world.
- 1967 Richard launches a ministry to persecuted Christians, Jesus to the Communist World, later named The Voice of the Martyrs, in the United States and publishes his book Tortured for Christ. After reading the book, many Christians leave secular careers to help start Voice of the Martyrs missions around the world.
- 1969 Richard arrives in Sydney in response to an invitation from Ambassadors for Christ and shares his story at meetings all over Australia. Australian Christians respond to his call to “remember the persecuted” and the visit leads to the establishment of Voice of the Martyrs in Australia. The first Australian newsletter is published in November 1969.
- 2000 Sabina dies on 11 August after years of supporting the ministry of Voice of the Martyrs.
- 2001 Richard retired in 1992, but continued as a consultant and member of the Board of Directors of The Voice of Martyrs USA, showing a keen interest in the work until his death in 2001. During his ministry, Richard wrote 18 books which have been translated into 38 languages.
- Present Worldwide, Voice of the Martyrs partner missions serve the persecuted church.
Australia