one of Jesus's most loyal followers was the apostle paul
he had not always been a believer in Jesus
when he was younger paul did not believe that Jesus was god's messenger on earth
but one day as he was on the road to Damascus
God himself spoke to paul and showed him that Jesus was in fact the son of God
since that day paul had become one of the most important followers of Jesus
and dedicated his life to spreading Jesus message about loving and accepting god
he preached this message everywhere he went
and was so passionate that he caused many others to also dedicate themselves to the message of Jesus
I myself was once lost but then I came to understand the word of Jesus and was saved
Jesus was crucified and yet he returned to life to offer us a chance to go to heaven
God is able to perform incredible miracles for us when we believe in him with all of our hearts
Paul was starting to make Jesus very popular across the land
and the local religious leaders started to take notice
they didn't like that people were listening to paul
and starting to care more about the word of Jesus than what they had to say
so together they hatched a plan to have paul imprisoned
Arrest him!
and so the guards arrested paul and took him to be put on trial
Paul!
we have brought you here today to put you on trial for spreading lies and trying to create riots in our city
all evidence we have proofs that you are guilty
and we will be sending you to prison
I have done no wrong
Paul knew that these were false claims and wish that there was someone who could provide justice
luckily during paul's trial, the king was visiting
the king himself reviewed paul's case and could see no evidence that Paul had done anything wrong
Paul simply told the king about Jesus and his message
and the king found great sympathy for paul
paul I see nothing wrong in what you have done
and in fact, I am moved by what you have told me about Jesus and his message
but even though the king himself had found paul innocent
this wasn't enough for the religious leaders
they wanted paul as far away from their land as possible so they hatched another plan
Aha! but paul here is in fact a citizen of Rome so we cannot fairly put him on trial here
we must send him all the way back to Rome to be judged by the emperor for his crimes
it was true paul was a citizen of Rome and so even though the king thought paul to be innocent of any crime
it was agreed that Paul would be put on a ship and sent all the way to Rome for judgment
once paul was put aboard the ship he and his fellow prisoners had a long and difficult journey to Rome ahead of them
there was not a lot of food onboard for the prisoners
and with such a long journey ahead of them they soon began to feel weak and tired
the ships sailed through the mediterranean sea
stopping at different ports to drop off cargo and pick up more prisoners to be taken to Rome
as they sailed the conditions grew worse and worse
winter was approaching and day by day the skies grew darker and the waves grew higher and more dangerous
eventually after many weeks at sea the ship pulled into a harbor on the Greek island of Greek
but soon after they docked the crew decided to continue sailing to another port in Crete
where they wanted to spend the winter months but paul pleaded with the crew not to leave
and to stay in fair havens and wait for the treacherous winter weather to pass
please, I beg of you
if we continue now we will find ourselves facing great danger in the winter waters
we should stay and spend the winter here and then continue our journey to Rome
but the ship's crew did not listen to Paul's warning
instead, they chose to listen to the ship's captain and continued the journey out to sea
when the ship left fair havens
the weather was quite calm but once they reached the open sea it suddenly turned to a great storm
harsh winds and giant choppy waves rocked the ship and threatened to sink it
the ship's crew tried their best to battle the storm and keep the ship on course
but soon they realized they were no match for the great hurricane
they had no choice but to give up and let the stormy winds sail the ship in whatever direction they were blowing
the ship stayed caught drifting in the storm for several days
and as food began to run out everyone on board feared that they would not survive this journey
one night as hope was running out an angel of God came to paul
and shared with him wisdom, that would save everyone on board
the next morning paul shared what the angel had told him with the crew and his fellow passengers
I warned you we should have stayed on Crete and we would have avoided this terrible storm
but do not be afraid last night an angel came to me and told me this
if we all stay on board this ship we will be saved
and so the ship's passengers listen to paul and hope that he was right
they spent two weeks on the rocky sea hungry and afraid waiting to meet their fate
eventually, they noticed a change in waters
the water seemed more shallow and there were more rocks
the sailors realized this meant they were close to land
some of the sailors saw this as their chance to escape
and tried to secretly lower the ship's lifeboats but paul spotted this and warned the roman officers
according to god we must all stay aboard this ship if these men leave none of us can be saved
this time the soldiers and crew listened to paul and cut the ropes of the lifeboats
they would all stay on board the ship until it was destroyed just as Paul said
that morning paul sensed their fate was about to arrive
he gathered everyone around and encouraged them to eat in order to prepare for the hardship to come
today is the day
we must all eat
and make sure to build up our strength for we have a difficult struggle ahead of us today
but if we find our strength and trust in God and we will survive
Paul was right that day the ship approached land
the waters were still rough and the battered ship was quickly damaged by the rocky coast
suddenly the ship began to break apart and the passengers began to panic
some jumped into the sea and attempted to swim towards land
others decided to wait until the ship was totally collapsed
and drift towards the shore using pieces of broken wood from the ruined ship
eventually every single person from the ship either swam to shore or was washed up on the beach
when they each saw this they understood that paul had been correct
as I told you God promised that if we all stayed on the ship, we would all be saved and he was right
it turned out that the ship had been wrecked on the island of Malta
everybody from the ship stayed on the island together as the harsh winter months passed
the locals of the island were very kind to the crew and passengers offering them shelter food and company
while on the island paul returned the kindness of the islanders by performing healing miracles
he healed the sick and injured of the shipwreck and cured the illnesses of the local people
thanks to his faith in god and his ability to trust god's word
Paul managed to save the lives of everyone onboard the ship
his good faith was met with kindness from the locals on the island of Malta
who took care of the ship's passengers until the harsh winter was over
and they were able to continue their journey to Rome