Dear Youth Leader, More than fifty years ago, the founder of The Voice of the Martyrs, Richard Wurmbrand, asked the youth group at the church he pastored in Romania to do something bold for Christ—smuggle Bibles. Pastor Wurmbrand and his young people would go to the train station where thousands of communist Russian troops were coming and going. Wurmbrand saw these troops not as invading enemies, but as a mission field. He had thousands of copies of the Gospel of John printed in Russian, and he came up with a bold way to get them into Russia. As loaded troop trains heading back to Russia would pull out of the station, Wurmbrand and the youth would toss bundles of books through the open windows. Some of the soldiers would grab the literature and stuff it in their pockets to hide it from their protesting communist officers. Their work done, Wurmbrand and the youth would blend back into the bustling train-station crowd. God has always wanted to use young people to build His kingdom—from David killing the giant, to a Romanian youth group smuggling Bibles, to the young people full of potential in your church right now. God’s desire to grab the hearts of youth for His kingdom is unchanged. An amazing number of Christians we meet in restricted nations—many of whom have suffered greatly for their faith in Christ—are young. For example, in North Korea, a young man nicknamed “Pencil� planted a church in a political prisoner camp—and gave his life there—before his twentieth birthday. His is one story among countless others. For more than forty years, The Voice of the Martyrs has been telling the world about people who live for Christ despite the trouble and suffering they face for their faith. These brothers and sisters illegally print Scriptures in communist China. They share Christ’s love with Muslim neighbors in Indonesia. They hand out tracts to hopeless Hindus in India. Most Christians in the West do not suffer for their faith in the same way that these brothers and sisters are suffering. But we are called to remember their suffering (Hebrews 13:3), and to fellowship with them (Philippians 3:10). These are the reasons The Voice of the Martyrs sent eight teenagers to Vietnam to meet with persecuted Christians—to remember and to fellowship. These teens needed to see and hear and talk to Christians whose priority isn’t the latest fashion or video game. Each teen came back from the trip changed and challenged. We don’t want that transformation to end with the eight teens who went to Vietnam. We filmed their trip, and now we are presenting you with this curriculum to help the teens in your youth group dig into the truths that we can learn from our persecuted brothers and sisters—truths that will sustain them in their own trials. Our hope is that your teens develop a deeper understanding of their faith and the strength to stand for Christ no matter the cost. God probably won’t ask your youth group to throw Bibles through a train window, but He has a specific plan to impact the kingdom through you and every member of your youth group. Our prayer is that Underground Reality: Vietnam will increase your faith and inspire you to do all you can for Him. For those in bonds,
Tom White Executive Director, VOM
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