Sabrina Wurmbrand – 1913 - 2000

Wurmbrand was born Sabina Oster on July 10, 1913 in Czernowitz, a city in the Bucovine region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which became part of Romania after WWI, and since WWII has been part of Ukraine. This area was an important educational and cultural hub for the Jewish faith. Sabina graduated from high school in Czernowitz, and then studied languages at the Sorbonne in Paris. While working in Bucharest, she married Richard Wurmbrand in 1936. During a vacation that year, both Richard and Sabina were converted to the Christian faith, joining the church of the Anglican Mission in Bucharest.

During the occupation of Romania in 1940-43, Sabina’s parents, two sisters, and one brother were killed in Nazi concentration camps. From 1940 to 1945, she smuggled Jewish children out of ghettos, taught in bomb shelters, and was arrested several times for underground Christian activities during a state of war.

Sabina and her husband were spared from execution through the intervention of the chief editor of Romania’s main newspaper and interest shown in their case by prominent religious leaders. During this time, Sabina was one of the founders of the Jewish-Christian Church in Bucharest.

At the end of the war, Sabina travelled regularly to Budapest, smuggling in goods and food, especially salt, that were needed by refugees living there. During her travels, she would actively speak to the Russian occupation forces about the Christian faith. In 1946, she organized a soup kitchen in Bucharest which served 1,000 people a day during a severe drought. During the summers of 1946 and 1947, she organized Christian camps for Romania’s religious leaders of all denominations. During these years she also conducted street meetings with gatherings of up to 5,000 people.

After Richard’s arrest by the Communist government in 1948, Sabina encouraged young ministers to continue underground Christian activity. She was arrested in 1951 and taken to a labor camp to build a river canal. She spent three years in prison, and was under house arrest for several years after release.

The Communist authorities promised to free her if she would divorce her husband and renounce her faith, which she refused to do. She and her family escaped Romania in 1966, traveling throughout Europe and America, speaking for Christian Mission to the Communist World, which became the Voice of the Martyrs in 1992.

Sabina actively spoke to churches, groups, and conferences for 32 years after the founding of the ministry, and accompanied her husband to testify at Congressional hearings on religious persecution. She wrote, “The Pastor’s Wife,” detailing her testimony which continues to be published in six languages. Sabin Oster Wurmbrand lived to be 87 years old. She died in California on August 11, 2000. Her husband, Richard followed her in death on February 17, 2001. Their ministry to the persecuted church still continues into the 21st century through the on-going efforts of The Voice of the Martyrs.

• Sabrina went through sorrow and grief when her parents and siblings died but she remained steadfast.

• She was a woman in travail but was not deterred by the painful events happening to her.

• Sabrina despite her situation/circumstance saved Jewish children from destruction.

• She took it upon herself to forgive and even pray for the Nazis that killed her family.

• She did not live in bitterness or self-pity. She knew whom she believed.

• She ministered Christ to the Russian army and was committed to feeding the refugees.

• She continued in the faith against all odds though her husband and later herself were imprisoned, she did not leave her husband nor denounce her God.

• Even after Sabrina and her family escaped from Russian, she continued to be a voice to the voiceless - Martyrs.

Romans 9 vs 1-3, 14 - 17; I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me [enlightened and prompted] by the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For [if it were possible] I would wish that I myself were accursed, [separated, banished] from Christ for the sake [of the salvation] of my brothers, my natural kinsmen.

 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion.” 16 So then God’s choice is not dependent on human will, nor on human effort [the totality of human striving], but on God who shows mercy [to whomever He chooses—it is His sovereign gift]. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “I raised you up for this very purpose, to display My power in [dealing with] you, and so that My name would be proclaimed in all the earth.” 

PRAYERS

1) Every sorrow, grief, pain, anxiety and anguish in our heart will not hinder us from remaining steadfast in Jesus name. The Holy Spirit will come through for us and strengthen each and every one of us in Jesus name.

2) As we arise from here this morning, we shall receive fresh grace to continue no matter what our situation or circumstance may be in Jesus name.

3) God of Justice Himself will strengthen every one of us individually in Jesus name.

4) As God’s mercy and compassion came upon Sabrina to save the Jewish children, we pray for our very lives to carry out His instructions and continue tenaciously in Jesus name.

5) Ask that you will be chosen to receive God’s sovereign gift of mercy upon your live so that you can forgive every man, woman or even authority that has hurt, offended, frustrated, schemed, ganged up against you in Jesus name.

6) Let us confess and let go of every bitterness or self-pity we might be feeling and ask for the Holy Spirit himself to be poured afresh upon us in Jesus name.

7) Like it was stated in Romans 9 vs. 17, let us commit and dedicate our lives to God afresh so that from today He will display His power through us even in our sorrowful or painful state in Jesus name. We shall continue in faith in every aspect of our lives in Jesus name.

8) We will not denounce our God nor leave His presence so that His name would be proclaimed in all the earth in Jesus name.

9) Let us pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us to love everyone even those who hate us in Jesus name. May He grant us the grace to treat people the way we want to be treated in Jesus name.