Voice of the Martyrs

Voice of the Martyrs Logo

Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is a Christian organisation which provides support for persecuted Christians around the world. There are hundreds of thousands of Christian martyrs each year, and many more who are tortured, imprisoned and harassed for being Christians. The organisation is funded through donations and is not subsidised by government support.

Table of contents

1 Organisation & Philosophy
2 History
3 Mission Websites
4 References

Organisation & Philosophy

VOM is organised as an international group of autonomous missions that co-operate through the International Christian Association (ICA) where each country's mission has its own area of responsibility and performs actions on its own. Each mission also contributes to the ICA, which enables the pooling of resources to allow larger projects to be undertaken.

The mission is guided by five main purposes, these being

To encourage and empower Christians to fulfil the Great Commission in areas of the world where they are persecuted for their involvement in propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We accomplish this by providing Bibles, literature, radio broadcasts and other forms of aid.
To give relief to the families of Christian martyrs in these areas of the world.
To undertake projects of encouragement, helping believers rebuild their lives and Christian witness in countries that have formerly suffered communist oppression.
To equip local Christians to win to Christ those who are opposed to the Gospel in those countries where believers are actively persecuted for their Christian witness.
To emphasise the fellowship of all believers by informing the world about atrocities committed against Christians and by remembering their courage and faith.

History

Voice of the Martyrs was started in 1967 by Richard Wurmbrand, who was a Romanian Lutheran pastor when Romania was taken over by the USSR in 1944. He was imprisoned for 14 years for preaching Christianity and was eventually brought out to the west after a ransom was paid for his release.

He testified before the US Senate about the terrible treatment that Christians received under Communist governments, and he started a mission to help support Christians who suffered under Communist persecution.