St Paul in Malta — Acts 28

While we were in Malta, we went on a boat tour and saw some very interesting sights. One of which is called St Paul’s Island. 

The Bible tells us that Apostle Paul brought Christianity to Malta! Malta has almost 2,000 years of Christianity in its history. As Paul was being taken to Malta to be tried as a political rebel, his ship was wrecked in a violent storm on the Maltese coast. The site where his ship was wrecked has been named St. Paul’s Island. He and a couple hundred other people swam to shore, where they were kindly welcomed by the islanders, who invited them to warm themselves by a fire. Little did they know, a poisonous snake was lurking among them. Paul was bitten by the snake, but he didn’t suffer any ill effects, which led the islanders to believe he was a special man. The Apostle Paul took shelter in a cave, where he was then invited to the house of Publius, the Roman chief officer on the island. Paul cured Publius’ father of a severe fever, which led Publius to become a Christian. Publius became the first Bishop of Malta and Malta became one of the first Roman colonies to convert to Christianity.