Michael Wurmbrand : „The reason I placed all in writing…”

The reason I placed all in writing was because I found out in numerous discussions I did have with VOM leaders, that what was orally communicated was repeatedly twisted and misrepresented. Therefore I wrote a letter to the entire board of directors of Voice of the Martyrs asking a reply in writing. I asked for an independent investigation of suspected pedophilia after their past chairman committed suicide within hours of a police-filed report by the parents of a 10-years old.

When I appeared in the board of directors, meeting some for the first time, I was listened-to in stone silence, not one of them volunteered one question, answer or comment. 4 days later I received a dismissal of employment letter, made out of canned paragraphs, with not one “reason,” “sorry” “thank you, ” or showing any interest in continuing ongoing missionary projects I managed, since I dared ask for an independent investigation of the pedophilia suspicions re. Tom White who had committed suicide. I was dismissed from a building named Richard Wurmbrand, my father, Center, having inside a museum on my parents displaying the Bible of my mother obtained from me ALSO with plain false promises. Unexpectedly 11 mature men, directors of the Voice of the Martyrs, “lost their voice” when it came to answering my letter. So much for talking face to face. Therefore I encourage you, if you have any contact with VOM demand it be in writing only rather than talking on the phone.

The reason the miracles described in the Gospels are different from nowadays children’s’ fiction of magic is that the word “truth” is mentioned as a standard of very being in the Gospel of John at least 26 times, the writer of the Gospel was ready to suffer and die for such truth. So were my parents Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand ready to sacrifice for truth when they underwent many years of communist prisons. So was I when I was kicked on the streets like an orphan, when both parents were in a communist prison and was arrested and thrown out of many schools and places of employment for my Christian witness. As many who inquired have been misled to believe, this is nothing personal. There is no open discussion between myself and VOM.

Christian truth may not be twisted into a “spin zone.” Sadly the parents of a 10-years old did dare file an accusation of pedophilia against Tom White to the very police department the chief of which is on the board of directors of VOM. Unlike the apostles when Judas betrayed the Lord who all went through self examination and contrition, not one of the VOM directors missed a beat, had a moment of self contrition, and even more not one would allow a proper independent investigation on what happened in the many expensive jaunts around the world of Tom White, but were quick to dismiss me when I asked for this investigation.

Next please be aware that anyone instrumental in raising money for VOM unwittingly participated in what I consider from a Christian point of view as far as my family name was used to raise money, a hoax. At least I was taken for a ride. Money raised destined for the mouth of widows and orphans was taken WITHOUT THE EXPRESS KNOWLEDGE AND ASSENT OF THE DONORS in difficult economic times in the United States, to just plain encourage construction in Bartlesville, OK. This funds diversion into construction allowed VOM go from what I was told by Tom himself, a $90,000 office to at least a $28,000,000 opulent buildings with hardly any other rhyme, or reason. Exactly how Tom lied to one and all re. his private life, so all donors were misrepresented as to where their donations really go. Considering VOM constant harping on the needs of persecuted Christians in poor countries, even $2,000,000 spent on construction would have been too much!

We deal with hardened deviants from Christian ethics who may be legally but UNETHICALLY!!! diverted more than $28,000,000 (documented and who knows how much more myself not being able to document further) to encourage the construction industry in Bartlesville, OK, while withholding again as documented funds to help the very victims for whom these donations were destined. There was a senator during Nixon times and he told Nixon some words to the effect that voters might not be sophisticated to understand fine points of politics but it is simple for them to understand numbers. The best email I got from various donors, following my letter was the shortest. Here I quote it:

“That 28 million dollar building is the deal-breaker. VOM is dead to me.”

The cheating of and taking advantage of donors well-intended expectations re. the use of their donations could not be better illustrated. On top of that since one lie engenders a lot more lies and one unclean spirit turns out into a legion, they participated in other evident nefarious activities like loaning tens of thousands of dollars to a convicted crook they made vice-president, allowing a fundraiser a personal cut of money raised, indulging Tom, their Chairman in dishonest behavior, misusing my family name, misusing pictures of persecuted believers, refusing to allow an independent investigation of supected pedophilia in their midst after they chairman committed suicide within 2-3 hours of a local police-filled accusation of sexual molestation of a 10-years old, etc. They terminated rather my employment from a building bearing the name of Richard Wurmbrand, my father, within 4-days after requesting such an independent investigation in writing.

They tried find may be any skeletons in my closet. Unfortunately a real skeleton fell out of the VOM closet ready to haunt VOM for the rest of their existence, unless they decide to repent. Yes, these are grave accusations and I did not make them lightly since as a Christian and mature in this respect, I tried for more than one year reason with the board of VOM. What I thought was a dialogue was a monologue. These are people of some experience and standing. One is still the chief of the Bartlesville police. Another a former mayor, one a lawyer brother-in-law of the president, some others professors at Oral Roberts University, an Australian printer by profession over 80 receiving a pension from VOM of ICA, another a retired banker. How would you feel if you appear in front of one of the top leaders in VOM, and ALL direct questions are answered with “mm”,”mm”,”mm?” In the end I thought the President of VOM is afraid his office is bugged. The only spontaneous, out-of-the-blue sentence I got from him was: “Never trust anyone!” and this in itself was for me very telling. My attempt is to stop one and all inspired by my parents’ lives being manipulated by these clever tricks at VOM. Don’t waste your energy to convince them. These people worked for years to divert donors money raised in the name of needy widows and orphans, into supporting the construction industry in Oklahoma. This is not rocket science to understand.

Judge for yourself. Tom White claimed in a book spread worldwide to have been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in Cuba. Then he was freed only by the grace of God after 1 1/2 years through the intervention of former President Carter. Then Tom White who committed suicide only 2-3 hours after a police filed accusation of the suspected pedophilia on a 10-year old girl, headed for 20 years the anticommunist organization called Voice of the Martyrs in numerous articles boasting of their underground work in Cuba and blasting the communist regime there. Then I found out for instance that Tom, whom I intensely helped while in a Cuban communist prison and afterwards, was dissimulating and lying to me to the point that he went back to Cuba as a tourist. Tom was either a communist plant or mentally seriously disturbed. His suicide which happened only 4 months later proved he was at least seriously mentally disturbed. But then those around him, either were in cahoots with him or also mentally unprepared to discriminate and control such insane behavior. Even Tom wanted to endanger himself going back to Cuba, persons around him in the leadership of VOM should have had some intelligence as to how they endanger naive underground Cuban Christians and their families meeting him. Tom White went as a tourist to Cuba, accompanied by Corey Odden, the head of VOM, Canada supposedly to meet Cuban underground Christians.

How can one underestimate the astuteness of the Cuban secret police which was smart enough to hold the country in the grips of communist dictatorship for scores of years. These persons in the leadership of VOM have such a darkness in their mind not to understand what happened here. There is more of a knot of intrigue in what happened than you and I could ever unravel and I have the darkest suspicions but because of libel laws I asked for a full lustration and investigation. VOM dismissing me only 4 days after I asked for that from the entire board in writing, confirmed a lot of my darkest suspicions and what others confessed to me, etc. I wish the organization would redeem itself but it is no more possible.

As above happened (Tom’s suicide) who do you think moves suddenly back to the US and becomes Chief VOM, US monthly magazine editor: Corey Odden’s spouse publishing in 2013 pictures of formerly persecuted Christians, claiming imaginary help to such. Since I also am from Romania and in touch with these Christians I know for a fact that for 2013 this claim of help on the part of VOM was a totally fake claim.

Yes, as a whistleblower I do not get anymore any salary from VOM. This is very bad news for myself but even worse news for the 80- or 90-years old Christians in Romania who passed through 5-10 years at least of communist prisons and who do not get even the equivalent of the two tanks of gas per month (about $100 I obtained for them from VOM.) They printed a whole page with my parents’ picture and writing in their December 2013 newsletter. It is outright hypocritical. 3 weeks after I was dismissed it downed on some the “shrewder” minds inside VOM what blunder they made placing the son of Richard Wurmbrand in an adversarial position and they proposed me to be paid about $32,000/year and act like some kind of a contractor so they would be justified to continue using my parents and even my persona for fundraising without me being able to raise an issue.

This was evidently a shrewd trap! This is not how honest Christians act. Not accepting an independent investigation re. pedophilia in their midst shows this organization being morally dirty. I urged them not to behave like some Catholic church bishops trying to cover-up pedophilia, keeping silent, moving priests around, preventing independent investigation. They also proposed to me even better, Had I been after their money: how about offering me nearly a quarter of a million dollars so long it included also a promise not to ever “badmouth” VOM? At my age of 75 it sounded very tempting but God protected me from falling for it.

In 2013 VOM published pictures of persecuted Christians, it claimed to help, another hoax as these families received nothing same year once I was dismissed. We had a story in Romania to illustrate such stinginess and hypocrisy about the Turkish story-character Nasruddin Hodgea relaxing on the veranda on his house roof. A beggar came knocking on his gate. He shouted to the beggar, “unless you climb up here, I cannot hear what you want. “After the elderly beggar climbed up on some primitive ladder, Nasruddin asked, “Now that I can hear you, what do you want?” The beggar asked if he could get a little bit of food and after having made him climb up the ladder to the roof, Nasruddin answered curtly, “no!” Any further discussion with VOM is pointless. It was tried by myself and other concerned Christians now for more than a year. While making plenty of use of my parents’ even my own long history of suffering, if some one had profited of your name and of your family and showed you the door when questioning unchristian behavior how would that make you feel?

As the Parable of the Good Samaritan details it, none of the four characters depicted in it could escape becoming aware of the one being robbed and left close to dying. The priest and Levite could pass away on the other side, even the Samaritan came, helped and left a day later. All these come and go, the innkeeper has nowhere to go. The most aware remains the innkeeper with a comatose man on his hands for time indefinite. His compassion needs be limitless. We are thrust in positions like that in life where washing our hands of responsibility or passing around the buck is impossible. How can I escape the long history of pain and responsibilities in my own family!

The way you may help is spread my initial letter to as many possible contributors to VOM or friends you know. If you need it in some quantity, please let me know. It may be found on the internet at: http://wurmbrandmichael.com The use by VOM of my parents’ name, even mine, I consider it a big misrepresentation. For reasons explained above as the only son of Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, if their lives inspired your faith and inspired your giving, I can only beg, please stop donating to Voice of the Martyrs.

If you want to help projects started by my parents in Romania like the orphanage in Pascani or some of these formerly persecuted old Christians, you may send a tax deductible donation to Help for Refugees, PO Box 5161, Torrance, Ca. 90510 (Internet address: http://helpforrefugees.com). I founded the organization in the late 70s, and there is no slick, expensive newsletter other than maybe once or twice a year I report simply to my friends-donors what has been accomplished. My father repeatedly used to say that today’s poorest Christian should be grateful to God for being financially better than any of the first Apostles. Apostle James wrote: “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble…” Thanks again for being willing to help.

God Bless, Michael