|
E.G.Vajt"Velika
borba"
[Izdanje 1962,
str. 58]
|
E.G.White "Great
controversy"
[Edition 1886.]
|
J.A.Wylie, LL.D."The
History of Protestantism"
[Written in 1876]
|
| Oni su
osećali
da Gospod očekuje od njih nešto više negoli da samo sačuvaju
čistu
istinu o svojoj crkvi. Na njima je počivala ozbiljna odgovornost da
svetlost istine zasija i među onima koji su bili u
tami. Moćnom silom
Božje Reči nastojali su da raskinu lance koje je Rim svima nametnuo.
Valdenžanski propovednici spremali su se za misionarsku službu. Svaki
koji je nameravao da stupi u propovedničku službu morao je najpre da
stekne iskustvo kao evanđelist. Svaki je morao da služi tri godine u
nekom misionarskom polju pre nego što je mogao da primi službu u nekoj
crkvi u domovini. Ova služba, koja je već u samom početku zahtevala
samoodricanje i žrtve, bila je podesna priprema za propovednički poziv u
onim teškim vremenima iskušenja. Mladići koji su se posvetili ovoj
svetoj službi, nisu imali pred sobom izgled na zemaljsko blago i čast,
vec život rada i opasnosti a možda i mučenicku smrt. Misionari su
odlazili dva po dva, kao što je Isus slao svoje učenike. Sa svakim mladim
obično je išao jedan stariji i iskusniji pratilac, koji je služio kao
vođa mlađemu, koji je bio odgovoran za njegov odgoj i kome se mlađi morao
pokoravati. Ovi saradnici nisu uvek bili zajedno, ali su se često
sastajali na molitvu i savetovanje, i tako su se medusobno jačali u veri.
Otkriti cilj svoje misije značilo bi prouzrokovati sopstveni poraz. Zato
su oni pažljivo prikrivali svoj pravi zadatak. Svaki propovednik je znao
neki zanat i imao neko zanimanje; ovi misionari su obavljali svoj rad pod
plaštem nekog svetovnog poziva. Obično su dolazili kao trgovci ili pokućari. Prodavali su svilu, nakit i druge predmete koji su se mogli
nabaviti samo u najudaljenijim centrima, i kao trgovci bili su dobro
primljeni i tamo gde bi kao misionari bili oterani. Bez prestanka su
podizali srca Bogu, tražeći potrebnu mudrost da bi mogli otkriti prepis
Biblije u celini ili u delovima, i gde god bi se pružila prilika, obraćali su pažnju svojih kupaca na ove rukopise.
Često su na taj nacin
probudili interesovanje za čitanje Božje reci i rado su ostavljali poneki
deo Biblije onima koji su to želeli. |
The Waldenses
felt that God required more of them than merely to maintain the truth in
their own mountains; that a solemn responsibility rested upon them to let
their light shine forth to those who were in
darkness; that by the mighty
power of God's word, they were to break the bondage which Rome had
imposed. It was a law among them that all who entered the
ministry should,
before taking charge of a church at home, serve three years in the
missionary field. As the hands of the men of God were laid upon their
heads, the youth saw before them, not the prospect of earthly wealth or
glory, but possibly a martyr's fate. The missionaries began their labors
in the plains and valleys at the foot of their own mountains, going forth
two and two, as Jesus sent out his disciples. These colaborers were not
always together, but often met for prayer and counsel, thus strengthening
each other in the faith. To make known the nature of their mission would
have insured its defeat; therefore they concealed their real character
under the guise of some secular profession, most commonly that of
merchants or peddlers. They offered for sale silks, Jewelry, and other
valuable articles, and were received as merchants where they would have
been repulsed as missionaries. All the while their hearts were uplifted to
God for wisdom to present a treasure more precious than gold or gems. They
carried about with them portions of the Holy Scriptures concealed in their
clothing or merchandise, and whenever they could do so with safety, they
called the attention of the inmates of the dwelling to these manuscripts.
When they saw that an interest was awakened, they left some portion with
them as a gift. (White, 1886) |
Whom they
traded, and the landlords in whose houses they lodge. The priests seldom
carried to meet in argument the Waldensian missionary.
To maintain the
truth in their own mountains was not the only object of this people.
They
felt their relations to the rest of the Christendom. They sought to drive
back the darkness, and re-conquer the kingdoms which Rome had overwhelmed.
They were an evangelistic as well as an evangelical Church. It was an old
law among them that all who took orders in their church should, before
being eligible to a home charge, serve three years in the mission field.
The youth on whose head the assembled barbes laid their hands, saw in
prospect not a rich benefice, but a possible martyrdom. The ocean they did
not cross. Their mission field was the realms that lay outspread at the
foot of their own mountains. They went forth two and two, concealed their
real character under the guise of a secular profession, most commonly that
of merchants or pedlars. They carried silks, jewellery, and other articles, at that time not easily purchasable save at distant marts, and
they were welcomed as merchants where they would have been spurned as
missionaries. The door of the cottage and the portal of the baron's castle
stood equally open to them. But their address was mainly shown in vending,
without money and without price, rarer and more valuable merchandise than
the gems and silks which had..." (Wylie, 1876) |
"
