The First Journey of St. Paul:
Paul went on three main missionary journeys. The first missionary journey took place from 45-49 A.D. He traveled with Barnabus and a young boy named John Mark. John Mark did not stay with them for very long. He returned to his home in Jerusalem and left Paul and Barnabus without a helper.
Paul and Barnabus were worshiping at the church at Antioch, Syria and the holy Spirit came forth and sent them on their journey to convert and evangelize both Jews and Gentiles to believe the word of the Lord. They began in Cypress from the towns of Salamis to Paphos. They first proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They tried to lead the Jews to accept Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies that said He is the Savior or the Messiah. Many Jews turned against them, so they also spread the Good News to Gentiles (Non-Jews). Paul was invited to visit a high-ranking Roman official named proconsul Sergius Paulus who wanted to hear the word of God. His adviser, Elymas the magician, tried unsuccessfully to turn Sergius Paulus away from the faith. Filled with the holy Spirit, Paul temporarily blinded Elymas, and the proconsul as a result, became a believer.
Next, Paul went to Perga and continued on to Antioch in Pisidia. There he addressed the Jews in the synagogue and was invited to return again. The following week the crowd was so huge that some of the Jews were filled with jealousy and they stirred up a persecution against Paul and expelled him from their territory.
Next, Paul went to Iconium where he and Barnabus evangelized to both Jews and Greeks and converted many of them. The disbelieving Jews poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the apostles. There was an attempt to stone Paul and Barnabus, so they fled to the Lycaonian city of Lystra.
In Lystra, filled with the holy Spirit again, Paul healed a crippled man and the crowds were so astonished that