Philip’s Missionary Journeys
In the Gospel of John (1:44-51) it was the Apostle Philip, who upon learning of Jesus, brought Nathanael (Bartholomew) to the Lord and thus he became one of the 12 Apostles.
After Pentecost, the lots were cast to distribute the territories in which each Apostle would preach. The Apostles Philip and Bartholomew were assigned the regions of Syria and Asia Minor. Sometimes they worked together, sometimes apart in their ministry of the Gospel.
Jerusalem: Begins
Syria: Teaching, Wonder-working, Baptizing and Ordaining
Greece: Teaching, Wonder-working, Baptizing and Ordaining
Parthia: A kingdom East of the Caspian Sea (modern Turkmenistan), where he was strengthened by a vision form God.
Arabia
Candacia
Azotus of Syria by sea: On the way, there was a life-threatening storm at sea which was calmed by his prayers, at the appearance of a large, luminous cross appearing in the sky above them.
Western Asia Minor (now Turkey): There he worked in the regions of Lydia and Mysia, in neighboring cities to which the Apostle Bartholomew was working. Bartholomew had received a command from the Lord to go to the aid of Philip and Philip’s sister and co-laborer for the Gospel, Mariamne, and help them. Thus, they met up in Hierapolis of Phrygia.
Hieropolis: There, they were joined also by the Apostle John for a short time and by their prayers, God killed a large serpent that lived in a pagan temple, which was worshiped with sacrifices by the people there. They baptized multitudes and ordained bishops and presbyters. They taught the people, healed many; including a man named Stachys who was forty-years blind; and the wife of the mayor who was dying from a snake bite.
The mayor, who was not happy about his wife’s conversion to the Christian Faith, tortured and crucified both Philip and Bartholomew. Philip received the crown of martyrdom in Hierapolis around 80 AD, but by a dramatic and miraculous turn of events, Bartholomew survived and continued preaching and strengthening the newly founded Church there.