Skip to content ↓

The Richard Wurmbrand Story

The Torchlighters video series is a series of animated DVD’s dedicated to “Highlighting the honor, integrity and life-changing experiences of those well-known and little-known Christian men, women and children who in response to God’s call, dedicated their lives to a life of whole-hearted commitment and passionate service to Jesus.” It is a production of Christian History Institute along with International Films and Voice of the Martyrs.

The series recently expanded to six videos with the addition of The Richard Wurmbrand Story. This follows The Jim Elliot Story, The William Tyndale Story, The John Bunyan Story, The Eric Liddell Story and The Gladys Aylward Story (each of which I have reviewed in the past). If you have seen any of the previous productions, you will know what to expect here. In 30 minutes, it tells the story of Richard Wurmbrand, though it does so through the perspective of his son Mihai. It is targeted at children from ages 8-12. It focuses on Wurmbrand’s stubborn refusal to forsake his Christian convictions in the face of Communism and equally on his ongoing Christian witness to both guards and prisoners behind the walls of prisons. I watched it with an assortment of children within the targeted age range and they seemed to enjoy it thoroughly, cheering when Wurmbrand defied his torturers by standing strong for Christ.

While the animated video is enjoyable, I found the hour-long documentary even better. Prepared, I believe, specifically for this project, it provides a more detailed overview of Wurmbrand’s life. It features interviews with Mihai Wurmbrand and plentiful video testimony from Richard and his wife Sabina. It is, obviously, targeted to the parents of the children who will enjoy the animated feature.

This really is a good series of videos and they are well worth including in a personal library or, perhaps even better, in a church library. You can learn more about it by visiting the Torchlighters Web Site.

Here is the trailer:


  • A Batch of New Books for Kids

    A Batch of New Books for Kids (and Teens)

    Every month I put together a roundup of new and notable books for grownup readers. But I also receive a lot of books for kids and like to put together the occasional roundup of these books as well. So today I bring you a whole big batch of new books for kids of all ages…

  • A La Carte Thursday 1

    A La Carte (March 28)

    A La Carte: The case against the abortion pill / What I’ve learned about grieving with hope / Heartbreaking deception: teen girls, social media, and body image / Could podcasts save the church from stupidity? / Count it all joy / and more.

  • What God Wants You To Forget

    What God Wants You To Forget

    We are never far from reminding God of our credentials, of providing him with a curriculum vitae that lays out all we are, all we have been through, and all we have accomplished for his sake. We are never far from making the subtle turn from grace to merit, from what is freely given to…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 27)

    A La Carte: New music / Millennials and GenZ / Scotland’s new hate crime law / Cate Blanchett, Easter is for you / Why the Reformed pray for revival / What truly happened to Jesus on the cross? / and more.

  • New and Notable Books

    New and Notable Christian Books for March 2024

    As you know, I like to do my best to sort through the new Christian books that are released each month to see what stands out as being not only new, but also particularly notable. I received quite a number of new titles in March and narrowed the list down to the ones below. I…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (March 26)

    A La Carte: God delivers from the suffering he ordains / The beautiful partnership of family and church / The end of religious liberty / On whales, menopause, and thanks to God / Ordinary women, extravagant gifts / and more.