(a) Those who formed the nucleus of the church in Antioch were teachers of importance and honour. Among them were Paul and Simeon Lucius. As they were worshipping and giving thanks to God, the Holy spirit directed that Paul and Barnabas should be set apart for the work which He (God) had appointed to them. After the apostles had prayed and fasted, they laid hands on them and sent them off. They travelled down to Selucia and from there, they went to Cyprus.
They preached to the people of Salamis in the Jewish synagogue when they got there. From Salamis, they went down to the Island. On the Island, they went to the residence of the proconsul named Sergius Paulus who gave them invitation so that he might hear the word of God. There, they met a Jewish false magician named Bar-Jesus who opposed their preaching. He did not want the Jewish officials in the Synagogue to listen to the word of God which Paul and Barnabas wanted to preach.
However, Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit looked at him and described him as an enemy of all righteousness who wanted to stop and make crooked the straight paths of the Lord. In the course of this, Bar-Jesus was cursed and immediately, he became blind. He sought for the help of people to lead him about. When the proconsul saw what happened, he believed in the teaching of Paul and Barnabas. From Paphos, Paul and Barnabas sailed to Perga in Pamphylia.