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Paul was midway through his second missionary journey when he suddenly received directions telling him where to go next. As Luke tells the story in Acts 15, Paul was in Troas when he had a vision of a man from Macedonia in northern Greece. The man was pleading, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” Paul and his fellow missionaries took the vision seriously and left for Macedonia right away. The first major city they visited was Philippi, and the second was Thessalonica.

Thessalonica had been founded in 316 BC by one of the generals of Alexander the Great, who named the city after his wife. It soon became a busy, international metropolis because of its strategic location.

Paul arrived in the city in around 49 AD. Acts 17 tells us that when he began preaching the gospel, many people—both Jews and Greeks—came to faith in Jesus. In fact, Paul’s ministry was so successful and caused such a stir that he was forced to leave town after only a few weeks. He fled to Berea, where he continued to spread the truth about Jesus. He was a bit worried about the new converts he had left behind in Thessalonica, but the church survived. In fact, Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians show that these new Christians were thriving. He said they had set an example for all the believers in Greece of how to stay faithful to Jesus even under persecution.

Today, Thessalonica is known by the name Thessaloniki. It’s the second largest city in Greece, after Athens. Excavating Thessaloniki has been difficult because of the many people who live there. But in the 1960s, archaeologists discovered a second-century forum under a deserted bus station. Then in the 90s, they discovered portions of a Roman bathhouse and a mint that would have been producing money in the first century.

Inscriptions have been found in Macedonia that confirm details found in Acts 17. Luke uses an unusual Greek word to describe the Jewish leaders who drove Paul out of Thessalonica. Centuries later, the same unusual word was found inscribed on an arch in Thessaloniki. Also, Luke says that “quite a few prominent women” in Thessalonica became Christians. Evidence has since been found that women did serve in prominent roles as synagogue leaders during that time, even holding positions among the elders. It’s possible that some of these women were among Paul’s converts in Thessalonica—strong, courageous, faithful Christians who Paul called his “pride and joy” (1 Thess 2:20).