There is a frankness and honesty about this part of Acts. Paul and Barnabas – two great friends and missionary colleagues – had a major spat over whether or not they should take John Mark on what was to be a pastoral re-visit of the churches they had planted. Barnabas, ever the encourager, wanted to give this young man a second chance. (It is worth noting that Mark was a cousin of Barnabas – Col 4 v 10; and that Mark made good with Barnabas’ encouragement to the point when he was again helpful to Paul.- 2 Tim 4 v 11 ) So the pair of them set off on their own to visit the churches in Cyprus, and that is the last we hear of them in Acts. Paul set off with Silas on what started as a pastoral re-visit but turned into a whole new missionary adventure.
The transition from ‘they’ in v 8 to ‘we’ in v 10 seems to suggest that it was at this point that Luke joined Paul on the journey. It is even suggested that ‘the man of Macedonia in the night’ might have been Luke himself. What is certainly significant however is that Paul turned in a completely fresh direction. He had always been open to God’s leading, but to travel across to Greece and preach the Gospel there was a radical change. It involved him moving into a different culture, with its own religions and customs.
It is this transition that nearly every missionary faces today. It is not just a matter of leaving home and starting again in a different place. The issues of language, culture, and of being ‘a foreigner’ loom large. Adjustment is rarely easy, and learning to communicate Christian Faith in totally different circumstances is a challenge. Nowadays we refer to this as ‘Cross-Cultural Mission’ and those of us left in the home churches are learning to pray for our friends overseas with fresh insight as the problems they face.

For reflection: In many ways Christians have established their own sub-culture surrounded by a society that is increasingly secular and even hostile to faith. Learning to communicate the Gospel in such circumstances is much more challenging than we perhaps appreciate. It is then that our different life-style becomes increasingly significant. Does your life-style stand out as different?