Waldensian Field Trip
The Waldensian Trail of Faith is situated in the mountains of Valdese, North Carolina, and resembles Italy’s Alpine Valleys on the country’s French border. Along the trail, replicas of locations significant to the history of the Waldensians are laid out in the time sequence as they occurred. Faithful followers of Christ made up part of the Waldensians who existed during the Thyatira Era; for a time, they held to many of the doctrines of the original New Testament Church before lapsing into spiritual compromise. Living Education students spent a day on the trail to learn more about this era of the church and God’s faithful people.
On The Trail
The students began their tour of the Waldensian Trail of Faith at the office building, where they watched a short film that summarized much of the Waldensians’ history and how they faced persecution as they were the subject of crusades for many years. One point that stood out from the film was the recognition that the early Waldensians kept the Sabbath on the 7th day. After this, the students set off into the crisp outdoors to view Italy’s replicas of important daily structures. Second-year students gave short speeches recounting the history of a building or essential site along the trail.
The first stop on the trail was the Barbi College, a stone building with low ceilings that housed only the bare necessities such as a table and fireplace, where teachers, or ‘barbes’, were trained in the church doctrines and memorized large sections of the Bible. This was a dangerous time as Catholic armies sought to exterminate these people and hunted down those who had copies of the Scriptures. From there, the students walked to a replica of the cave where the Waldensians would have held church services. Hidden in the mountain, the Waldensians secretly held Church worship services in the dark and damp without singing for fear of being heard. The only light was from a small opening in the cave’s ceiling. On all fours, the students slowly made their way through the claustrophobic passage leading to the cave, as the Waldensians would have. Inside the cave, a second-year student gave a short speech about the ruthless murder of worshippers discovered in the cave by Catholic inquisitors. Somebody lit a fire at the top of the cave, and the only way the Waldensians could escape the smoke as it filled the cave was to stumble into the wake of soldiers ready to shoot. The somber mood of the hymn “Be Not Afraid” was sung acapella by the students, who helped them reflect on the persecution of God’s faithful people in the Thyatira era.
Progressing along the trail, the students entered a replica of the Temple of Ciabas, used when the Waldensians joined the Protestant Reformation. From this point on, the sites that the students visited showed that a significant part of the true church gave into apostasy and absorbed many of the Catholic practices that their early forefathers would have shunned. Some faithful remnants eventually migrated to North Carolina, eventually building the Waldensian Trail of Faith.
Lessons Learned
The Waldensian Trail of Faith brought to life the church history of the Thyatira Era, which the students had been learning about in their Biblical Doctrines class. The trail represented not only the physical history of the Waldensians but also their spiritual journey. While it was encouraging to see how the early Waldensians showed faithfulness to God and many doctrines of the original New Testament church, the field trip also reminded them how they allowed themselves to spiritually compromise by outwardly conforming to the Catholic worship ceremonies. Will we continue to walk on in faith or lose zeal for the truth to avoid persecution?
