Xander Ordinola
Xander Ordinola
Xander Ordinola
Xander Ordinola
Eleven women and one man from the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference joined 37 others for a fast-paced Reformation tour through six countries, including the Vatican, on October 26, 2025. Guided by Johnny Suarez of Pan Di Vida Tours, the group became a band of time travelers, walking through centuries of courage, conflict, and costly conviction.
A sobering moment came standing by the river in Zurich where Felix Manz became the first Swiss Anabaptist martyr who was drowned at the hands of the magisterial Protestants. Watching the cold water swirl, it almost whispered a reminder of the depths that men will go to suppress religious freedom, and the even greater depths others will go to defend it. The Wall of Reformers in Geneva testified of great men and women who would not allow opposition or persecution to silence the message of the Gospel.
The journey was full of contrasts — from the opulence of King Charles the III’s palace in Naples, which boasted 1200 rooms, yet was never lived in by the King himself, to the rock-hewn cave of the Mamertine prison in Rome where Paul awaited execution. The distinction glaringly spoke of the stark difference between worldly power and the humility of sacrifice and the cross.
The group’s Sabbath in Torre Pellice, in the Waldensian valleys, was an unforgettable highlight. Climbing three mountains, sitting on the stone benches of the ancient Barb’s School, and ending the day with a sacred foot washing and communion brought more clearly the past into communion with the present.
What was learned was not just stories about places, names, and legacies, but a spiritual pilgrimage. They walked where martyrs lived, suffered, and died — not for political conquest or fame, but the simple, profound right for every person to read the Bible in their own language and worship as they believed, and, most of all, to know Christ for themselves, which is why God loves history!
Kentucky-Tennessee | February 2026
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