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The Waldenses (6)

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The Waldenses (6)

5 minuten leestijd Arcering uitzetten

Along a small, winding mountain path people were walking in a long row. The women held the little children by their hands and carried the babies. The boys and girls also had their portions to carry. The heaviest burdens, however, were for the men, who had big loads on their backs. And not only that, they also tried to lead a cow or a goat.

James turned his head. He could not see the end of the line of people. Nor could he see those who were walking in the front. So many people!

When they had decided to go to another valley, the people from a neighboring village wanted to join. The soldiers had not been there yet, but they expected them to come there, too.

It was so nice that those people had wanted to join them. They still had everything, so they could take all their belongings along. Everyone could carry something.

“Let us try to carry all that we can,” those people had said. “Then it will be for all of us. We will share.”

Wasn’t that nice? They cared for their poor neighbors, who had lost everything.

James had gotten an extra shirt and a pair of shoes from one of the boys. His mother got a nice warm shawl from one of the ladies. For Lisa and little Hank also there were new clothes, and his father got a beautiful knife and an axe.

James also had a heavy load on his shoulders, but he did not care. They had to take all that they could carry with them. They would need it in the new valley.

It was cold here in the mountains. They were quite high. A chilly mist still hung over the valleys. In a while the sun would come and chase those white clouds away. Then it would get warmer. They had already walked for three days. Everyone had become tired. James could see that his mother was very tired, too.

“Still one more day,” his father had said the night before. “Now we are coming to the end of our trip.”

In a beautiful valley, high in the Alps of Switzerland, smoke rose from among the trees. Everywhere, among those trees, small cottages were built from logs. All those cottages looked similar. Each had a door and two windows and a chimney of grey rocks.

James came outside and stretched. A new day! First he had to milk the cow, then he could start hoeing in the vegetable garden.

He looked over the valley and saw all those plumes of smoke going up into the clear, blue sky.

Here they were, in the new valley. Much work had already been done. Everyone had a cottage for his family. It was small, but convenient, and at least they had a roof over their heads when it rained. Maybe in the future they could build bigger houses of stone, as they had done in the other valley.

But first they wanted to build a church. That was good. Winter was approaching. They would need a church then.

There were many people living in this valley now. The people from the two villages now had formed one big group. They had helped each other as much as they could.

Would there be peace in this valley? Would it be possible to live their own lives, working, rearing children, tending the animals, and, the most important thing, worshiping the Lord according to the Bible?

James walked slowly to the barn. If only — if only the Waldensen people could live here in peace. Why were they hunted all over? They were hardworking people. They did not steal or fight. Still, the Waldenses were hunted down in several countries, only because the Pope did not want them to believe anything different from what the Roman Catholic Church taught.

Those soldiers, they did not know any better. They were sent by the servants of the Pope. Yes, the Pope had his men to handle the heretics. That was the name he gave to all those who had an opinion different from his.

He had appointed some men, cruel men, who formed the Inquisition. They had the task to inquire, to investigate those who didn’t agree with the Roman Catholic Church. Woe to that man, woe to that woman, who was brought before the inquisition. They were tortured until they confessed.

James had heard all those stories. They were the same men who sent the soldiers after the Waldenses. Again and again those troops of soldiers burnt the villages and killed as many of the Waldenses as they could. They thought that they were doing a good work for the church. Poor people! One day the Lord would judge all those men. The blood of all those innocent people would burn upon them to eternity.

James heard the door of their cottage open. Lisa came outside with little Hank. How that baby boy had grown! He was trying to walk already. Lisa took him to the barn, where James was milking.

“Do you have some milk for us yet, James?” she asked. “Mother wants to cook some porridge.” She gave him a little pan, and he filled it with the fresh, white milk.

“Thank you, James,” Lisa said, and slowly she walked with her little baby brother back to the cottage.

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Bekijk de hele uitgave van zondag 1 maart 1998

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's

The Waldenses (6)

Bekijk de hele uitgave van zondag 1 maart 1998

The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's