Overcomers

One of the things that amazes me most about Richard Wurmbrand is how learned he is. The book is made up of 2 or 3 page stories of people who have suffered/been tortured for their faith in Christ the Lord, but every here and there are references to important personages of history, i.e. how Lenin and Freud became atheists, or how even Lenin might have accepted Christ in his deathbed; explanatory notes on subjects as varied as science and philology, i.e. the idea that Mark, the Evangelist, might be the rich man whom Jesus told to give everything to the poor and follow him, based on the word "eutheos", immediately (p.201). The story about the Christian man was a mole in the Soviet secret police, Nikolai Khokhlov, who even wrote a book that now is out of print, is completely intriguing. Pity he didn't dwell more on some of these issues. Another little chapter that I will always treasure was the Parable of the Three Trees. A wonderful little story to tell to children (p.101). The mention of the fact that in Aramaic there is no word to say "to have" (so jesus never pronounced this word) is quite intriguing too. (p.100); or that there are 40 ways to say No in Japanese. But definitely, the lesson to learn from here is that though not everybody is made of the stuff to withstand torture or be a hero of the faith, every one has a way to do his part, even though not in a very orthodox way: like the Christian preacher who praised -as he was told to do- the Rumanian dictator Ceausescu with his speech, while gesturing the opposite with his body language. Was his real meaning understood? Yes. Then he was not failing God. He was serving, astutely, Him, his won way (p.93).

Many books are able to make us think but some go beyond that and cause us to look at our flaws and desire to improve them. This is one of them. Having read Wurmbrand's "Tortured for Christ", I looked forward to reading this book. I was far from disappointed. Wurmbrand presents his audience with often chilling but highly inspiring stories of persecuted Christians in the twentieth century. Some of the people he mentions are fairly well known, most aren't. In fact, that makes the book more interesting. The heros and heroines aren't superhuman, they're usually flawed everday people put in extradinary situations. Some as better than others. These people are mostly from Communist-controlled countries but some suffered under the Third Reich or radical Muslims. Their willingness to suffer for Christ and their love for others are their redeeming features. The most fascinating part of "The Overcomers" is Wurmbrand's powerful optimism despite the cruel persecution suffered by himself and many, many others. Reading this book actually gave me spiritual encouragement to improve my own often sinful nature. Overall, a fast read and and excellent book.

This is a collection of sad true stories of many heroes of the faith from all over the world who have suffered for Christ. Especially disturbing are the descriptions of the prison lives of the martyrs of Communist Russia. It is so important that we, who live such comparatively sheltered existences remember those who have given their lives for Christ even though the Iron Curtain is now longer.Perhaps this book will encourage us to turn our attention to the many other countries where spread of the Gospel is prohibited, such as China and Albania. Wurmbrand, who himself has spent many years in communist prisons for his beliefs, has written a number of books about his experiences and the outlook he acquired behind bars when his faith was being tested the most.