Philippi

In New Testament times, Philippi was a city in eastern Macedonia. It is presently located in Greece. As recorded in Acts 16:9-40, after Paul received a vision of a Macedonian man begging him to come to Macedonia, Paul traveled to Philippi with Silas, Timothy and possibly Luke (the author of Acts). While in Philippi, Paul baptized Lydia (a purple dye merchant) and exorcised a demon from a slave girl which led to he and Silas being publically flogged with rods and arrested (Acts 16:16-24). While Paul and Silas were singing hymns and praising God in the prison, an earthquake hit opening up all the jail cells. The jailer prepared to kill himself because he thought he would be severely punished for letting the prisoners escape but Paul stopped him and the jailer became one of the first Christians in Europe (Acts 16:24-40).