Two Seventh-day Adventists from the Czech Republic have walked more than 350 kilometers (210 miles) and passed through three countries in a dramatic re-enactment of the exile of the Moravian Brethren, a Christian group that left the former Czechoslovakia because of beliefs that did not conform to the dominant Roman Catholic ethos.

Wearing national costume, Daniel Riman and Pavel Kunz walked for ten days, from May 17 to 26. Beginning in Suchdol nad Odrou, in what is now the Czech Republic, they continued through Poland and Germany, tracing the route traveled by the exiled Moravians before they found asylum in 1722 on the lands of Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf, where they founded the city of Herrnhut. Along the path of their re-enactment, Riman and Kunz distributed literature in three languages, explaining the significance of this 18th century event to the concept of religious liberty in Europe and around the world.

The Moravian Brethren, as they became known, came to symbolize the long struggle for religious freedom among many protestant groups in Europe. The Brethren were organized in 1457 by followers of the martyr John Hus who taught, among other things, that the Gospel should be available in the common language. Hus was burned at the stake at the Council of Constance in 1415.

The march, says Adventist Zednek Valchar, secretary of the Moravian Society, was intended to remind people that the “heritage of the Moravian Brothers is not a sentimental looking into the past, but a reminder of how a couple of people with living faith and strong dedication to God can change the world.”

Today the Moravian Church is active in mission and humanitarian work around the world. (See related ANN Report March 21, 2000.)