"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." Matthew 24:14
The next few months of this blog will look at the lives of missionaries through the ages. It is my hope that you will be encouraged and strengthened in your faith as you see God's hand working through the lives of ordinary people as they followed the will of an extraordinary God.
The first period of time covers the time of the Apostolic Church, Christ to 500 AD. During this time, Christians often came into conflict with the Roman government because they refused to worship Caesar as God. Despite the persecution, "by the end of the third century, the majority of the residents of some areas controlled by Rome were Christians converts. (The Gospel had reached such places as Sri Lanka, Algeria, Portugal, Morocco, Britain, France, India, Switzerland and Belgium, with Armenia accepting Christianity as their state religion in 304 AD...see Timeline of Christian Missions). The high cost of following Christ was more to be treasured than the Roman sword," Foxes Voices of the Martyrs. And God brought great good out of this persecution because as persecution arose in one area, Christians would flee to other regions, thus spreading the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.
The missionaries that will be highlighted during this period are:
Ignatius of Antioch (30-107 AD)
Polycarp of Smyrna (70-155 AD)
Ulfilas (311-381 AD)
Patrick of Ireland (389-461 AD)
Patrick of Ireland (389-461 AD)
To read the story of Patrick to your children, go to:
After Saint Patrick died, Ireland was used greatly by God to keep Christianity alive in Europe during the Middle/Dark Ages. At that time, there was much corruption in the Church in Europe and very few people knew how to read, so it was difficult to spread the Gospel. However, the Irish/Celtic Church sent out many missionaries and helped preserve the Christian religion through its monasteries.
This early celtic Church flourished with many monks and priests leaving Ireland to begin missions in Europe. In the first two hundred and fifty years after Patrick's death, around five hundred Irish saints were recognized. These missionaries established monasteries in Scotland, England, Switzerland, France, Germany and as far south as Italy. We have much to be grateful for in the lasting Christian heritage and legacy of Patrick and Ireland!
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