Be Still And Know

Acts 13.5 NLT 'There, in the town of Salamis, they went to the Jewish synagogues and preached the word of God. John Mark went with them as their assistant.' This is the start of the first missionary journey. It was an incredibly important moment for the Christian gospel and it started on the island of Cyprus. Saul (who suddenly becomes known as Paul) was happy to preach about Jesus anywhere, but it was his usual custom to start in the synagogue and work out from there. I find it fascinating that on this most sensitive of missions he and Barnabas took young John Mark with them. We have already met John Mark in the previous chapter. He was clearly well known to Paul and Barnabas, but it was a major initiative to take him on this strategically important missionary journey. You can think of many reasons why it might not be wise to take a young and inexperienced person on such a crucial mission. But they were convinced that his presence was important. It’s impossible to know exactly why they took him, but it i