Acts 11:11-19

At that moment three men from Caesarea, who had been sent for me, approached the house where I was staying. The Spirit told me to accompany them with no questions asked. These six brothers here with me made the trip, and we entered into the home of the man who had sent for me. He shared with us about the angel who appeared to him and told him to send messengers to Joppa to find Simon, the Rock. The angel had told him, ‘He will tell you and your family the message of how you can be saved!’ “Shortly after I began to speak, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them, just like what happened to us at the beginning. And I remembered the words the Lord had told us: ‘John immersed you in water, but you will be immersed in the Holy Spirit.’ So I concluded that if God is pleased to give them the same gift of the Holy Spirit that he gave us after they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who am I to stand in the way of God?” When they heard this, their objections were put to rest and they all glorified God, saying, “Look what God has done! He’s giving the gift of repentance that leads to life to people who aren’t even Jews.” Because of the persecution triggered by Stephen’s death in Jerusalem, many of the believers were scattered. Some reached as far as the coast of Lebanon, the island of Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria, but they were still only preaching the word to Jews.