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before the days when communism foul in
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Eastern Europe before the time when
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people could meet legally in public
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gatherings and enjoy the freedom of
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religious worship before that time
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Christians were often arrested and kept
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in prisons in dark damp underground
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cells or in labor camps where the
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Communists went to great lengths to
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break their faith or slowly let them die
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it was in the midst of this darkness
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away from any human comfort that the
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love of Christ shown Savior
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this is the story of a family that
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endured
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Richard worm Brad was born the youngest
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of four sons in an Orthodox Jewish
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family on March 24th 1909 in Bucharest
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Romania when he was still a young boy
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his father moved the family to Istanbul
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Turkey passionate driven and gifted
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intellectually Richard grew to be a
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highly motivated young man fluent in
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nine languages in time Richard met
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sabina Auster a young chemistry student
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also of Jewish descent soon thereafter
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on October 26th 1936 they married
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Richard began work as a stockbroker and
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the young couple spent much of their off
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hours enjoying the cosmopolitan life of
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Bucharest as atheists religion was the
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last thing on their minds they lived in
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the words of high finance so of course
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they were invited to all the parties he
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is a high finance in Romania they
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existed only to make money and to spend
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money eventually something happened that
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brought the high living couple to a
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standstill
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Richard was diagnosed with an illness
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rampant in Eastern Europe tuberculosis
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order to convalesce in the countryside
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the worm brands made their way to a
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small village very close to the city of
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brasov where they soon met Peter wolf
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keys an aged and unassuming carpenter it
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was an encounter that would prove to be
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life-changing
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wolf keys was a dedicated Christian
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whose lifelong prayer had been to share
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his Christian faith with Jews the
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challenge was that in the remote village
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in which he lived he had never
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encountered any that is until he met
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Richard and Sabina so he challenged them
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he said you're Jewish hardly any Jew has
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read about this Jew called Jesus Christ
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Jesus Christ was a greatest and most
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famous of all Jews and he gives him the
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gospel actually a New Testament in the
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German language my father took the New
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Testament to read
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being pointed to the Gospel of John he
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became extremely impressed I mean more
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than impressed his whole thinking went
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upside down
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he realized that here was somebody who
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like Jesus Christ who always spoke the
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truth he spoke about love
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he was ready out of love to sacrifice
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himself sacrifice his life and this
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turned my father around reading through
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the Gospels Richard began to ponder his
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own life and the emptiness that had
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often tugged on him eventually
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Richard worm brand the atheist
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pleasure-seeker humbled himself and
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opened his heart to God his life was
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wonderfully affected and while he
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experienced joy and excitement in his
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newfound faith Sabina was equally
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horrified she wanted to throw herself
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from the window all her hopes to lead a
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life of luxury and party and good life
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we're dashed because the one of the
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first thing my father did when he became
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a Christian was to resign from this
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stock brokerage it was only natural that
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Richard would want his wife to share in
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his newfound joy but Sabina would have
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none of his religious talk
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she was a young 23 year old woman and
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the last thing she wanted to do was give
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up her social events and entertainment
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for what she anticipated would be a
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boring religious life cunning as he was
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Richard sought the best way to get his
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point across he accepted an invitation
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to a high society party so a lot of
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people got drunk and rowdy
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and it was not a pretty sight and my
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mother said Richard let's go home and he
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said no we came to party
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and then there were all kind of stupid
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jokes and the party became you know just
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a drunken nonsense and my mother started
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crying and begging my father to take her
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home and she said if you take me home I
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will be baptised in the morning the
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party had been a fitting and vivid
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illustration of the emptiness of their
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social gatherings it seems clear that
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Richards words and prayers had someone a
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seed in Sabinas heart she soon embraced
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the faith of her husband and came to
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know Christ feeling the need for both
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training and guidance they joined the
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Anglican mission to the Jews in
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Bucharest and Richard was eventually
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ordained an Anglican Minister Richard
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and Sabina were both active in
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evangelism eventually becoming well
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known dedicated Christians among the
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religious circle of Romania rumors of
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war caused their message of hope and
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faith to be well received eventually in
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1939 on the eve of World War two they
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were blessed with a son a boy they named
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me hi my earliest recollections as a
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child the very earliest recollection is
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my mother holding my hand and running
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like crazy across a field into a bomb
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shelter because it was 1 or 2 the reason
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I was running with my mother by the hand
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to this bomb shelter my father was
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nowhere in sight was because my father
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purposely during all these bombing raids
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he had gathered a group of six or seven
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Christians most of them Jewish Christian
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and he was week visiting shelter by
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shelter and praying with people
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that's in no way that's how he became
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known in Romania World War two was
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cataclysmic the Germans invaded Romania
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and life was soon quite difficult and
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challenging rather than only being
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concerned for the survival of their own
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family Richard and Sabina gave
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themselves wholeheartedly to meet the
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needs of others people were scared and
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many suffered loss of all sorts they
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needed God and comfort more than ever
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the worm brands fulfilled their ministry
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by continuing to preach in the bomb
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shelters and rescuing Jewish children
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out of the ghettos Richard and Sabina
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were repeatedly arrested and beaten and
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at least once were nearly executed it
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was a time of hardship Sabina lost her
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Jewish family in Nazi concentration
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camps as did many others Romania reeled
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from internal political turmoil but the
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worm brands did not shirk their
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responsibilities rather than being
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concerned about themselves the worm
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brands rushed in where the need was
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greatest despite the risk and that's
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exactly what they did when in 1945 the
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Communists seized power and Romania was
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invaded by 1 million Russian troops
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Richard warned brands and he spoke Assam
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8 9 10 11 languages when the Russians
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invaded would walked into the Russian
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army basis just walk in
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and he would have a watch with him or
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something and squat down on the ground
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I've talked to all the Russian soldiers
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like they were talking about this watch
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for sale but actually down on the ground
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squatting around with all of them he
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would be talking about Jesus and the
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Russians were incredibly hungry to know
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anything about God he talked about God
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about Jesus because by that time God had
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been taken from their lives for 40 years
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they'd been told there is no God and
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they were very hungry to know what is my
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life what is my life all about is there
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a God and he would sit and just very
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gently patiently start talking with him
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about life about God and and all of them
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would be very curious
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although unauthorized religious meetings
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were prohibited Richard and Sabina were
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innovative in finding ways to gather
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Christian believers on many occasions a
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large get-together of families and
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children would take place in a park the
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worm brands would teach the adults while
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the young children were given Sunday
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School inevitably the police would
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arrive and they were told that it was
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someone's birthday the ruse worked and
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the believer celebrated birthdays every
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Sunday the passion the worm brands felt
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for reaching their people with the
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gospel was unstoppable
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Sabeena rose to many on occasion
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according to the need one night she rode
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on the roof of a train this train was
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carrying Russian troops and on the roof
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of the train was Sabina with bags of
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salt which the Christians could sell and
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Bibles so the troops were down in the
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Train to invade and take over political
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control Sabina was on the roof of the
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train to bring these spiritual freedom
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all night on the roof she never behaved
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with more love with more attention with
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more dedication with more sacrifice then
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with people who did her the greatest
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harm
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[Music]
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in a difficult situation like under
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communism in Romania we had many enemies
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we had many people who would be mean and
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do you was the most abject hardened I
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mean without second thought this would
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be the people who would be invited to
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our home this would be the people when
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we early we had something precious or
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special this would be the gifts to these
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people happy food is the greatest harm
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such was an occasion when the worm
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brands were visited in the middle of the
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night by the very man who had been
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responsible for the deaths of many
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members of Sabinas family the man was in
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terrible anguish of conscience he
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started crying and all that and it was
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late in the night maybe past midnight
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and my father woke up my mother and
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explained who this person was and my
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mother passed midnight embraced him told
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him she forgives him and started setting
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up the table and they had some wonderful
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meal
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needless to say one cannot fathom how
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difficult that must have been for her
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but she poured all of God's love into
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the man by daybreak he was kneeling with
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the worm Brants in prayer having arrived
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a tormented man he walked away a
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forgiving Christian and she would say to
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be a Christian he's not like you are a
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weight lifter or a sportsman between
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2:00 and 4:00 every afternoon you go to
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the gym and you train to be a Christian
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you have to take the opportunity right
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when is the most difficult to be a
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Christian that's when you have to be a
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Christian
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between 1945 and 1947 the worm brands
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distributed 1 million Gospels to Russian
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troops the books often disguised as
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communist propaganda Richard also
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smuggled Gospels into Russia
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in 1945 Richard and Sabina attended the
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Congress of the cult's organized by the
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Romanian communist government and
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attended by four thousand delegates
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Congress was publicized but beyond being
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published and was broadcast in the
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entire nation and priest after priest
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and pastor after pastor stood up and
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explained how they obtained light from
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Stalin and from the calmness and what
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freedoms they enjoy and like that the
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government was saying you can no longer
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have Sunday school and many of these
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Christian things and the hundreds or
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maybe thousands of pastors sitting there
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said nothing maybe they were afraid of
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the government and Sabina told Richard
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why don't you stand up and watch this
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shame off the face of Jesus Richard took
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the podium and to the dismay of the
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communist officials began to denounce
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communism as an evil not to be tolerated
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communism has made martyrs of our
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brothers how could it be praised by the
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church he boldly proclaimed this was a
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catalyst in arousing other believers to
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take rise to their feet while some tried
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to drown Richards message out others
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were yelling let the pastor speak let
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the pastor speak it was a chaotic scene
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so the broadcast was interrupted the
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company stood up asking that he be cut
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from speaking the whole Congress was
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finished rising in there
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Richard was relentless and his zeal to
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preach the gospel as well as denounced
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the evils of communism eventually the
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government made a move to silence him
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it was a Sunday morning a winter Sunday
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morning and my father lives the house
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and he walked it was like eight minutes
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ten minutes walk to the church the
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church was not far from where we was
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around the corner from where we live
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some car of the secret police was
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waiting for him and they overpowered him
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and took him in a car and he disappeared
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the first suit which came into my mind
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when I was in the hands of the Communist
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jurors was that in the Bible the words
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don't be afraid of you 366 times once
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for every day of the year and because
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that is the extra day of the leap here
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it is not 365 but 366 times
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I knew that evening the ban of the
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secret police I am in the hands of the
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Almighty God and this gave quite to my
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heart just after two weeks three weeks I
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kept asking where is father
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Varis father I saw my mother crying you
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know then I realized what had happened
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Sabina continued trying to locate
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Richard but to no avail
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she now knew he had been taken by the
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police but had little idea to where and
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for how long
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she would not see Richard for many many
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years
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[Music]
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she never knew if I'm a life or death
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she was totally that I am dead men were
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sent to see the life that they are
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released prisoners and that they have
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attended my burial and my wife continued
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to wait for me his rate dropped to 90
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pounds in a matter of three months he
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received four for long periods lice of
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bread a day that was peaceful was my son
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and the wonderful thing about it is my
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father recalls that as he was angry and
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like that his prayers he was praising
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the Lord
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Richard was interrogated and beaten
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relentlessly hung upside down from
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shackles his feet were beaten until they
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bled then he was forced to walk in
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circles around his small cell without
-
permission to stop or sit down to sit
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just like this to close your eyes was a
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crime 17 hours a day you have to sit
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like this and he'll retreat suffered
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unspeakable treatment from his captors
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and their efforts to extract information
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about other Christians the isolation and
-
physical and emotional torture were
-
grueling it went on for years he had
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scarce in his body that you could put
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your son
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[Music]
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so you can imagine the type of torture
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at times he was angry he would shout and
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beat on the door of his cell saying give
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me back Mihai Mihai as his son they
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would actually place children in cells
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around them to make noises in the cells
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around his wife also so they would miss
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their children yes we will kept everyone
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alone in a Cell never have you seen
-
never have you seen a man except the
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interrogators who beat and tortured when
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after many years I had to write again I
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did not remember how to write a capital
-
V life had to continue and Sabina
-
perhaps hiding her own grief did her
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best to continue to work among the
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underground church she instructed Mihai
-
to do his best at school as a witness to
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others I was studying and learning very
-
well so they came to make the first
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communist organization among the
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children they were called young pioneers
-
you were given a red tie you were given
-
a badge and as a child you had free
-
access to swimming pools hobby making
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clubs lots of incentive for kids and I
-
said I will not wear the necktie awful
-
regime that keeps my father in jail and
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who denies the existence of God and it
-
was total cost our nation I totally
-
destroys the whole festivities of
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festivity at that moment was a journey
-
they wanted to throw me out of school
-
reisender think of it I was in fifth
-
grade
-
Richard continued to endure torture in
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prison without a formal trial finally
-
approximately two and a half years after
-
his disappearance
-
a very ill Richard was brought into a
-
small room for a hearing when asked if
-
he had anything to say in his defense he
-
was so sick all he could answer was I
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love God the hearing lasted ten minutes
-
Richard was sentenced to 20 years
-
outside the prison life had become
-
difficult for Sabina and Mihai soon
-
their small apartment was taken over by
-
the government and they were left to
-
live in only one small room not long
-
thereafter in 1950 a new incident
-
further affected his circumstances I was
-
not in Bucharest when six o'clock in the
-
morning seven eight secret policemen
-
came to my mother's home where we lived
-
by that time we were in one room they
-
asked my mother to dress in front of
-
them they took her straight out of bed
-
they made an inspection a house search
-
which was not much of houses was one
-
room searched and she disappeared Sabina
-
was taken prisoner and once later
-
assigned to work with other captives
-
building the Danube canal this they did
-
by carrying the rocks with their bare
-
hands in the freezing cold the prisoners
-
were provided no warm clothing only what
-
they came into prison with many
-
prisoners died she disappeared in the
-
communist prison system she was never
-
told whether she's in for a day for a
-
month for a year she was she never was
-
taken to a judge a few times they
-
in order to frighten her or frighten the
-
other people's is threw her into the
-
Danube River River and Fisher back up
-
and so Z turns a prison cell
-
we decided that Linds mornings when you
-
open your eyes preparing yourself for
-
the field to go to the work console ever
-
you see yoga waiting will be give thanks
-
to the Lord for he is good and His mercy
-
endures forever
-
dear dear sisters and deal veteran I
-
could not describe inverts Vance's new
-
greetings made in our prison cell
-
sometimes during the night
-
some political prisoner would come to
-
one of the Christians please teach me
-
your greetings they were ashamed to come
-
during the day thieves and troubles
-
have learned to repeat those words if
-
thanks to the Lord for his good and His
-
mercy endures forever
-
and the hell was changed completely
-
[Music]
-
by divert of God
-
by giving thanks to the Lord even in the
-
most difficult circumstances the hunger
-
in those prisons was incredible and
-
literally the women's US prison he'd
-
tree bark and in grass in order to
-
sustain themselves she fasted one day a
-
week through entire prison she always
-
fasted one day a week her entire life
-
but one day a week she fasted in prison
-
not content with a torture they were
-
inflicting on Richard and unsatisfied
-
with his lack of cooperation
-
Richard was placed in solitary
-
confinement in a small cell deeper
-
underground
-
the guards wore felt sold shoes and no
-
noise was permitted the silence being a
-
way to further destabilize the prisoners
-
who not long afterwards began to lose
-
notion of day or night and would long
-
for some familiar sound in this type of
-
situation with little food and oft
-
beatings men would despair it was mental
-
torture a situation he would have to
-
endure for several years my whole night
-
I passed walking to and fro through the
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cell with I didn't have shoes every
-
night I began by meditating on the Word
-
of God the verses which I remembered by
-
heart I meditated so much then I would
-
pass hours praying praying for the whole
-
bird I traveled in my spirit from one
-
country to other to another every night
-
I would pray for America for Britain for
-
Africa Australia New Zealand Germany
-
France every night I would deliver a
-
sermon there was no visible audience but
-
a French to God I preached to the Angels
-
they are also interested to know
-
what I think and what I have to say I
-
would prepare a regular sermon and they
-
deliver it then able to sit down
-
sometimes and out of a very primitive
-
think I had made a chess play and I
-
would play chess with myself and then
-
again I would walk around free and speak
-
to God this for the time but afterwards
-
a narcotics which we are putting our
-
food had effect upon our minds and we
-
could not really pray is usual sense of
-
the world anymore it was one of the most
-
desperate moments in my life when I
-
tried one evening to say the Lord's
-
Prayer that I found out that I had
-
forgotten it I said our Father which art
-
in heaven hallowed be thy name and I
-
didn't know what follows and then for a
-
long time I prayed only so much Jesus I
-
love you Jesus I love you
-
he seems that is fair enough and then I
-
could not concentrate my mind evening on
-
that and my only prayer would be the
-
beating of a loving heart sometimes we
-
would be overcome by such a joy of the
-
presence of the Lord that we would have
-
to dance and we danced like this this
-
shows this love of singing Don will
-
encounter Lysa
-
my multitouch am i free you would feel
-
that your heart-wrenching pieces if you
-
would not dance for joy so great was the
-
joy of the presence of the Brethren
-
sometimes we would be handcuffed to his
-
handcuffs like this to the back the
-
hands tied to the back we could not move
-
them food was brought to us we have to
-
lap it exactly like the dogs like it
-
we could not move our hands so the human
-
body has many necessities the hands were
-
tied to the back day and night but we
-
can tie a soul the soul can fly to the
-
Lord it has not even to fly because the
-
Lord is everywhere we forgot that we are
-
with our hands tied and repeated the
-
Communists they have killed many
-
Christians minions they have tried to
-
kill earth not stupid
-
they can kill only bodies we are not
-
bodies we are spirit and the spirit
-
can't be killed to die for Christ loving
-
Christ means to go to glory means to
-
Christ time during the present life we
-
won for Christ our fellow prisoners even
-
in the years of solitary confinement in
-
the great silence
-
you could hear during the night very
-
discrete noises through Morse code
-
through the wall from one cell to the
-
other we preach the gospel and souls
-
have been brought to Christ and the head
-
before me the impose declared communist
-
officer we confessed to them about
-
Christ and we converted them I myself
-
had before me a communist officer with a
-
rubber truncheon in his hand and they
-
told him about the love of Christ I told
-
him about
-
about God he put his rubber truncheon
-
aside he asked me mr. hood not how can
-
you love me I would never love somebody
-
who puts me in prison and beats me and I
-
told him about the new character about
-
the new heart which Christ gives to men
-
and they become embodied love and he
-
became our brother in prison for having
-
taken our defence Sabina endured her own
-
torture haven't been put into a car sir
-
on several occasions a small closet in
-
which one can only stand and which is
-
fitted with spikes so is not to allow
-
movement many prisoners were placed
-
there for an entire night
-
she was allowed to see me high just once
-
and only briefly enough to encourage him
-
not to abandon the faith but there was
-
also wonderful fruit in the midst of
-
suffering even though it would take
-
months or years the neighbor children
-
there mentioned immediately tears were
-
on the face of their mothers behind
-
locked doors behind iron bars we didn't
-
know anything about our children and
-
here the children we are mentioned you
-
sign a statement you deny your God and
-
you will be with your children who could
-
answer who could stand it
-
who could ever refuse to start to sign
-
the statement in order to be with the
-
child no mother could no mother could
-
ever but Jesus has promised I will be
-
with you always and Jesus keeps his
-
promise and just to mention in Hebrew
-
always means call young all the days but
-
it means all the days the whole day not
-
that he comes to visit us for 10 minutes
-
as we go to somebody visiting he
-
promised he will be with us all the days
-
the whole day eventually in 1953 after
-
three years of incarceration Sabina was
-
released but not before she was informed
-
by the authorities that Richard had died
-
in prison she went home in her mind a
-
widow to uncertainty however what Sabina
-
was told was not true Richard was alive
-
and remained in prison experiencing both
-
despair as well as glories of a God who
-
had not abandoned him
-
before in history just as a flower when
-
you bruise her under your feet rewards
-
you with her perfume the moment we were
-
mocked the more we were tortured repeat
-
it and beloved
-
those who torture us it must be clearly
-
understood
-
we hate communism from all our art this
-
devilish system of militant atheism
-
which must be defeated if the Christian
-
Church wishes to live but we loved the
-
man and we asked ourselves how to win
-
these men for Christ and when we were in
-
the depths of this remorse and of the
-
Spain at once words of the cell began to
-
shine like diamonds I have been open in
-
my life I've seen California I have seen
-
Napoli I have seen many beautiful things
-
never have I seen beauties which I have
-
seen in the dark cell beneath the earth
-
such beautiful music as a third day the
-
King of Kings Jesus was with us we saw
-
his understanding his loving eyes he
-
wiped away from our eyes our tears he
-
set wise words of love and words of
-
forgiveness we knew everything which had
-
been
-
in Our Lives has passed away being
-
forgotten by God now that came wonderful
-
days the bright rose in the arms of the
-
bridegroom we were with Christ we didn't
-
know that we were in prison sometimes we
-
were taken to interrogatories we were
-
beaten we were tortured just a st.
-
Stephen while they threw stones at him
-
did not see his murderers did not see
-
the stones so heaven open and Jesus
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standing at the right hand of the Father
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so we didn't see any more succumbing
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torturers we didn't see that we are in
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prison we were surrounded by angels we
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were with God
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after years of barbaric treatment
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Richard became extremely ill and was
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transferred to a room known as the death
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room the area were those without any
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hope of recovery were simply sent to die
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but Richard prayed and little by little
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to the amazement of his captors he began
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to recover he used the opportunity of
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being with other prisoners to minister
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to and help them the men would pray
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together they would sing hymns while
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using their shackles and chains as
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instruments and one by one each man came
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to Christ then one day in 1956 eight
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years after Richard had been taken there
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was a news after eight years
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it so happened that he turned around a
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very high official in the secret police
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my team Lucretia
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he's so witness to this guy he came back
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from one of the interrogatories and told
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his wife this well said I met today a
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man like I didn't think that existed on
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the surface of this earth I am sick I
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want to go into bed and he went to bed
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and then he made a plan how to free my
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father from prison and this secret
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policeman happened to be the immediate
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helper or secretary of the top secret
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police leader or if he was called the
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Minister of the Interior and this meant
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that my father turned around him and
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witness to abort the love of Christ and
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like that and said you live hate your
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whole life is full of hate you torture
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people you hate us you hate me you hate
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everybody one day you will turn around
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you'll hate your own wife your hate your
-
own children what kind of life is that
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you and he witness about Jesus Christ
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and he was Jewish he turned the Jewish
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secret policeman into a Christian he
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made a plan how to free my father
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so what he did he he introduced and
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there's a hundreds of paper he usually
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gave to the Minister of Interior to sign
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every morning he was the guy who would
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give him hundreds of papers to sign
-
official stuff he introduced one paper
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that said free Richard Wurman it was a
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dick a degree a decree of pardon for
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each of them he had no idea what he was
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saying
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hundreds of papers he's saying that and
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one day my father was freed out of
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prison after eight years of prison a
-
frail Richard suddenly found himself out
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of prison he had nothing no clothes no
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money but he had his freedom a blessing
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he could not but praise God for it was
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through the help of local people who
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recognized him as a freed prisoner and
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took pity that he got enough coins to
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take buses back to his old home seeing
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Richard again was a shock for Sabina she
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thought he was dead it was a joyous
-
reunion
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the first thing Richard did was to kneel
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with his family and give thanks to God
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not long thereafter he began to minister
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again he was re-arrested in 1959 through
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the conspiracy of an associate and
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sentenced to 25 years he was accused of
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preaching ideas
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contrary to communist doctrine due to
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increased political pressure from
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Western countries
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Richard was granted amnesty and released
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in 1964 some churches in the West had
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paid a ransom for their family of ten
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thousand dollars and letters from
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different officials I think this was
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from a group in Norway and during this
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time after one of his releases from
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prison and it was felt he would be more
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valuable in the West in the free
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countries to share the message of
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persecuted Christians sort of tried to
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keep him alive and get him out of
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Romania at that time and so they flee
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from Romania to a refugee camp in Italy
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and eventually made their way to America
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God had a plan for him but after having
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tuberculosis bones broken many things in
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prison he continued to live perhaps to
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bring that message out to to the rest of
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the world
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Richard began his ministry of being a
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voice for persecuted Christians in
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England with Reverend Stewart Harris
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where he also wrote his testimony in the
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book tortured for Christ
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later the worm brands moved on to the
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United States and in 1965
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Richard appeared before a US Senate
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Internal Security subcommittee he took
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his shirt off in front of the Senate
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showing them the scars that that these
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different forces around the world that
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opposed Christians in his case communism
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are real they tried to do physical
-
damage to their body out in the West we
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will reward us by creating a mission to
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the community his story spread rapidly
-
leading to more and more speaking
-
engagements in 1967 the worm brand's
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officially began a ministry committed to
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serving the persecuted Church called
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Jesus to the Communist world and later
-
named the voice of the martyrs the worm
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brands poured their heart and soul into
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the ministry which in turn helped to
-
open the eyes of many people to the
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plight of persecuted Christians around
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the world
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Richard and Sabina never forgot their
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time in prison and prayed desperately
-
for those who continue to experience
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hardship in Romania the Beloved Country
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they had never expected to return to
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until a change of events opened a door
-
in 1989 a revolutionary wave that began
-
in Poland swept across the communist
-
countries of Central and Eastern Europe
-
resulting in the fall of Soviet style
-
regimes one by one countries once under
-
the rule of communism began to collapse
-
the Romanian head of state Nicolae
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Ceausescu a dictator since 1965
-
stubbornly clung to power until an
-
unprecedented revolt by his own
-
countrymen toppled him in Timisoara the
-
people gathered in the public square and
-
prayed the Lord's Prayer the gathering
-
itself was considered illegal and even
-
much more so the fact that so many
-
people were praying in public and
-
chanting communism is dead God is alive
-
the cry was heard across the country and
-
not long thereafter the suppressive
-
communist government of Romania came to
-
an end what a time of jubilation it was
-
and what a triumph for those who had
-
endured such torment for so long after
-
25 years of exile and continually
-
upholding their country in prayer
-
Richard and Sabina returned to their
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beloved Romania the country where they
-
had given their hearts to Christ and
-
labored so fervently for him it was a
-
memorable and emotional occasion and
-
they were warmly received Christians met
-
him at the airport with flowers saying
-
he spoke in many large churches they
-
returned two maybe three times the
-
Christians the government the media they
-
had opened doors across the country many
-
things in Romania had changed since the
-
worm brand's departure constructed on
-
top of the deep underground cell where
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Richard had suffered the tortures of
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solitary confinement there stood a new
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building the thousand room palace that
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the former dictator Ceausescu had built
-
for himself it now stood empty The
-
Dictator now dead
-
but beneath in some of the areas where
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the cells had once stood Richard and
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Sabina were now able to store Bibles and
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Christian literature which would be
-
openly available to their countrymen
-
Richard's place of torture where he had
-
labored quietly in prayer was now used
-
for the service of his Savior arrogant
-
communism was gone and in its place God
-
now began his work
-
although happy to be back in Romania the
-
worm brands did not settle they had a
-
mission to continue when we lived in the
-
same house with him for some seven eight
-
years we only really saw them about two
-
months a year because they lived out of
-
a suitcase they had five or six
-
suitcases and they spoke in 10,000
-
churches in America they stayed active
-
as long as they could even editing and
-
writing from their hospital beds so they
-
lived their faith their love right up
-
until the last moment on earth Sabina
-
went to be with her Lord in August 11th
-
2002 months later in February 17th 2001
-
both left a legacy rich in devotion to
-
Christ and His Church
-
their talks books instant form of
-
witnessing and their courage in the face
-
of so much spiritual and physical
-
adversity remain a lasting example for
-
Christians everywhere
-
they brought a depth of love and mercy I
-
think to many Christians in America that
-
were unused to this aggressive love in
-
the face of evil this was something that
-
caused many people to say what where
-
does this strength come from well the
-
first time for me to a large extent I
-
understood how we went through it was
-
when I saw the Sequoias in the Sequoia
-
National Park it turns out to be that
-
the secret of the non gvt of this
-
Sequoia and it says that these trees
-
have very thin bark extremely thin bark
-
it's very easy for insects and for pests
-
to penetrate this part but this bark
-
excretes a substance called tanning that
-
kills all these insects and all these
-
pests they cannot penetrate this thick
-
bark because unlike other trees it has
-
this substance that would kill the moans
-
on touch and that's the nature of the
-
Christian faith you have seen skin like
-
everybody else and you suffer if you
-
have the face and the knowledge from the
-
gospel no communist propaganda thing
-
no no idea can penetrate tell you my
-
last confirmation class in Romania I am
-
a Lutheran pastor and I took a group of
-
10 15 boys and girls on Sunday morning
-
to the zoological garden before the den
-
of lions and tigers and there I told
-
them your forefathers in face the throne
-
before the
-
beasts for the love to Christ and they
-
died gladly for their Savior you also
-
may be arrested maybe beaten or killed
-
decide here and now if you wish to be
-
Christians or not they had tears in
-
their eyes when they said yes and then
-
we didn't bother them anymore
-
asking them Bible verses they didn't
-
know them we have no Bible then they
-
they are arrested every scene was taken
-
from us everything everything even our
-
clothes we were put in a prisoner
-
uniform but what we had gathered in our
-
heart nobody could take it away nobody
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[Music]
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you