It didn’t take long after the birth of the church for persecution to begin. Saul, a zealous Pharisee, was present when the first martyr of the church, Stephen, was stoned to death. And Saul, later called Paul, seemed to be the ringleader of the persecution of the followers of Jesus. After Stephen’s death, Luke writes at the beginning of Acts 8 that “the church was subjected to vicious harassment. Everyone except the apostles was scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.” (CEB) This dispersion of the church seemed to be traumatic and painful at the time; however, we must remind ourselves that this is exactly what Jesus had in mind when he told the disciples, “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (CEB)

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