want to take him again. The two missionaries could not agree on this matter, and so Barnabas took Mark
and sailed to the island of Cyprus where they witnessed for the Lord.Paul chose Silas, the preacher from Jerusalem, to go with him. They went to Asia Minor and visited the churches there. At
Lystra, the town where Paul had been stoned, they met Timothy, a fine
young man.
Timothy's father was a Gentile and his mother was a
Jewess. Paul was much impressed with this young Christian. All the people of the region had good things to say about
Timothy. Before leaving Lystra, Paul invited Timothy to go with him and Silas, and Timothy accepted gladly.
The missionaries did not preach at each place, for in many places the people were not ready to accept the gospel. Finally they came to
Troas, a city on the seacoast. Ships came to Troas from places much farther away than Jerusalem. The people in those faraway countries had never heard the gospel preached.
One night while they were at Troas, Paul had a vision. In his dream he saw a man of Macedonia who begged him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
When Paul awoke, he told Silas and Timothy about the vision. All three believed that God wanted them to preach the gospel in
Macedonia.
Now another disciple, a doctor named Luke, joined the missionaries. Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke sailed to
Macedonia. Later Luke wrote two books of the New Testament - the Gospel of Luke
and the Acts of the Apostles.
|