An Unforgettable New Year’s Day

Translated from De Banier

“Hurry, my boy! With God’s help, their deliverance depends on your courage and speed!” A French farmer’s wife spoke these words to her son as she said good-bye at the door of her house in the Cevennes Mountains. The boy, ten years old, was already sitting on a small white horse.

“Don’t be afraid, Mother,” the boy said, and he gave the horse a tap with the switch. He hurried along the small forest path, brown locks ruffled by the wind. Then he disappeared in the shadows of the woods.

Jean Cavalier was big for his age, quick as the wild goat and strong as a young bear. He wasn’t afraid, either, as he galloped along the narrow mountain path, the depth of the precipice beneath him. What drove Jean on was the knowledge that it was he who, with God’s help, could try to save five hundred people—men and women gathered in the wilderness of the mountains to worship the Lord.

It was in the time of bitter persecution. King Louis XIV of France had six thousand soldiers working to destroy three thousand Protestants. During the last few days, the people had found pieces of wood stuck in crevices and hollow trees in the surrounding valleys. Carved on these pieces of wood were the words, “Manna in the Wilderness.” Everyone involved knew hereby that the well-known minister, Rev. Brousson, would leave his lonely cave home to hold a New Year’s Day worship service with his persecuted congregation at a place in the valley previously agreed upon.

But the secret had leaked out, and one of the king’s officers was on the way with six hundred soldiers to track down and capture or kill the unsuspecting Protestants. That same morning Jean Cavalier had climbed a height behind his father’s house in search of a lost goat. Instead of the goat, he saw, deep beneath him in the valley, the red berets of soldiers! He understood immediately what this meant and ran to his mother, saying, “I saw soldiers passing by here! I’m going to warn our people!”

Soon he was on his father’s white horse and speeding through the woods. He was full of courage and hoped to arrive on time, but imagine how startled he was when he suddenly heard the blowing of a horn as he rounded a bend. Soldiers! And they had seen him, too!

Jean understood that trying to flee was of no use. He made a quick decision and rode to meet the soldiers. The leader was already coming towards him. “Where do you want to go, young man?” The officer’s voice was gruff. “This isn’t an area where a little fellow like you would dare to ride alone, is it?”

“I am not afraid, sir,” Jean answered. “Father says that those who fear God do not have to fear anything. The officer eyed the boy closely. “At any rate, you come along with us the rest of the way. I’ll take care of you.”

Jean didn’t answer. Calmly, he rode on with the soldiers, seemingly quite cheerfully, but when the path went along a steep hill, he managed to drop back gradually so that he became one of the last ones. The soldiers gave all their attention to their horses. Suddenly, Jean turned his horse, galloped down the hill towards a creek below, jumped from his horse, threw himself in the water, and disappeared from view.

Unsuccessfully, the soldiers chased him and looked through the thicket in all directions. They found no sign of him. Jean had hidden in a cave, the entrance of which was so covered with ivy and brush that no one unfamiliar with that area could ever find him. He lay there shivering from the damp and trembling j with fear. He listened to the voices of his pursuers. As soon as it was quiet, he left his hiding place and quickly stole from rock to rock along the brook, until, at a certain place, he began to climb up the hill. In that way he could, though with great difficulty, still get ahead of his pursuers.

In the “Church of the Wilderness,” the men and women had gathered together. Guns were lying nearby at the entrance of the small open area in case they were needed to defend their lives. The minister stood on a large flat stone at the foot of a steep rock. Just at the same moment that Jean Cavalier reached the top of the rock and cautiously looked down at the gathering in the depths, Rev. Brousson’s voice rang out, “What should you fear? Did God not take care of His people in the wilderness? And can He not still do wonders? He will give us strength and courage. His angels will protect us against all danger.”

Suddenly, the congregation below heard a voice loudly calling, “Flee, the enemy is coming!”

Surprised, everyone looked up. “Flee, the enemy is coming! ” the voice resounded urgently.

The amazed congregation saw a form brightly illuminated by the setting sun, while below they stood in the shadows. They did not recognize the lad; even his own father, who was also there, did not see that it was his ten-year-old Jean. In their confusion and surprise, they thought they saw an angel sent to deliver them.

The crowd fled, thanking the Lord in their hearts, and when, in a short time, the soldiers came, the “Church in the Wilderness” lay as still in the starlight as if a human foot had never been set in the area. Only later did the people find out through whom God had been pleased to warn them. The soldiers realized it much sooner than that, and the wrath of the officer knew no bounds.

The little Jean Cavalier grew up and later became the leader of the persecuted Protestants, their preacher in the wilderness and their commander in the battle against persecution and violence.

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