Cyprus

Cyprus is the great island of the eastern Mediterranean, rich in copper (the metal takes its name from the island) and close enough to the Syrian coast to be Antioch’s natural first step westward. It was Barnabas’ homeland (Acts 4:36), and Cypriot believers had helped found the Antioch church (Acts 11:19-20) – so when the Spirit sent out Barnabas and Saul, they sailed first for Cyprus (Acts 13:4).

They landed at Salamis on the east coast, preached through the island’s synagogues, and crossed to Paphos, the Roman capital on the west. There the mission met both its first magician and its first government convert: Elymas the sorcerer opposed them and was struck blind, and the proconsul Sergius Paulus “believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord” (Acts 13:6-12). It is precisely at Paphos that Luke quietly shifts from “Saul” to “Paul,” and from “Barnabas and Saul” to “Paul and his companions” – the island watched the changing of the guard.

Cyprus got a second mission anyway: after the sharp disagreement over John Mark, Barnabas took Mark and sailed home to evangelize his own island again (Acts 15:39).

In the New Testament

• Barnabas, a Cypriot Levite (Acts 4:36-37)
• The first missionary journey begins: Salamis to Paphos (Acts 13:4-12)
• Barnabas and Mark return to Cyprus (Acts 15:36-39)
• Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple (Acts 21:16)