The Pellice Valley - Waldensian History & OM Italy

We arrived in Bobbio Pellice with very few expectations. We weren't sure what OM's ministry was in the area, what our housing situation would look like, or what exactly we would be doing. Taking each day in stride, we wound up with a rather packed schedule.

Monday, after unpacking a bit, we took a huge tour of Forterocca - the hotel/retreat center. Forterocca means "strong rock". It began as a vision with older OM missionaries and has developed into a very real ministry. The land they originally bought to make their vision come to life housed an old Fascist army barracks. They thought they could simply renovate the building, but due to construction codes, they had to tear down the army barracks and rebuild. Interesting Italian law - for anything built above ground, you have to build in the same footprint that existed before...meaning, their building had to be the exact same measurements and shape above ground.

The main building is now finished and fully functioning to host church groups, youth groups, arts conferences, sports camps, and more. A few smaller buildings used to exist on the property. They are hoping to turn these into a bigger dining area, fireplace/cozy area, and a cafe where parents can come while their kids are involved in camps or other things. The underground (where they are free to expand) is going to be built into an indoor soccer court, since there are no indoor recreational facilities in the area. It was fun to hear all of their dreams and what they are working towards!

We also learned some facts about Italy:
-Italy has more Muslims than Afghanistan.
-Italy is 0.6% Christian.
-Torino (40 min. from the valley) has the largest Satanic church in the world...they are free to practice as long as they are underground.

On Tuesday, we joined in on their morning team meeting. We heard more about their ministries and other ones going on across the world. We took a walking tour of Bobbio, they town where we were staying, guided by a sweet Canadian lady who has lived there with her husband almost 9 months now. It was fun to hear her enthusiasm for the people, the beautiful area, and the culture! The rest of the day we were hosted for lunch, snacks, dessert, coffee, and dinner with different people. It was a lot to take in - but so great to hear different experiences, histories, and stories from the missionaries there. We also loved the international community being so prevalent in the area. On the OM team alone, they had Holland, South Africa, Scotland, USA, Italy, Canada, Colombia, Germany, and other nationalities represented!



Wednesday we started our day with a Waldensian tour. Four hundred years before the Reformation, Peter Waldo, a rich French-man, purchases a Bible and had it translated. When he read it, he realized the Catholic church was misleading their followers and felt strongly that anyone should be able to read the Bible. Persecuted in France, he walked over the Alps into the Pellice Valley and started telling people about Jesus. He gained followers, but the Pope didn't like this. He didn't like people reading the Bible on their own. So he sent his army to the valley to make Waldo and his people renounce their faith. They refused so many children and families were killed. Eventually the Pope made a decree that they were allowed to live - but only above a certain altitude. This altitude in the Alps was dangerous and fairly unlivable, but if they came below that altitude, they would be killed.

On our Waldensian tour, we saw a cave church where the Waldensians met once a week to worship together. They would come from miles around and about 100-125 people could fit in the cave. There was only one way in and out of the cave, so the people had to have a lot of trust in one another and in God to protect them and keep them safe. At one worship service, someone had tipped off the Pope's army about the location of the cave church. The army snuck up, poured hot oil and fire into the cave, killing everyone present at the service. These were the risks that the Waldensians took daily to worship God.

Next we went to a Waldensian Bible school - what maybe the oldest reformed Bible school. For four months out of the year, the brightest young men of the community would go to Bible school. There were only two or three teachers at these schools and the only book used was the Bible. The young men would memorize entire books of the Bible. While we were walking around the school, Hannah went to stand in the sun because she was cold. All of a sudden, we heard a shriek and up the hill ran Hannah! She had been run at by a HUGE WILD BOAR! Thankfully, Hannah intimidated the boar and the boar took off running into the woods, never to be seen again. We then left the school in a hurry.

We spent lunch with Eliseo and Paula's family. Eliseo is the field leader of OM Italy. It was great to get to know him, his family, spend time in a home, learn more about OM Italy's vision, and learn more about the different ministries.

After lunch we went to an Italian language lesson. The OM team puts a big emphasis on learning Italian. It was a very overwhelming and fun class. We learned vocabulary words starting with A-F. One girl in the class couldn't understand English or Italian, so I could only imagine how difficult the class must have been for her!

We spent the rest of the day with Robert and Lara's family. They are American and have been in Italy for two months. We had such a fun time with them, playing with their girls, and hearing about how they ended up in Italy. They both have a huge heart for the Italian people and it was amazing to hear about.

Now we are in Florence and having a great time! Less than a week until Cairo!