christianwitnesses.com

More of the other apostles will be added later.

THE APOSTLE ANDREW

The Bible notes that Andrew was the first Apostle. He had been born at Bethsaida (House of Fish) on the lake of Galilee in the region also called Galilee. Like his twin, the apostle Peter he was a fisherman at Caperneum where Peter also had a fishing boat and home. Andrew had previously been a follower of John the Baptist, and he was also the person who introduced his brother Peter to the Messiah, that is Jesus Christ.

Not the Bible but church writings say that after the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Andrew also went on to preach in Asia Minor at least as far as Byzantium or Constantinople, also Greece, and possibly the Scythian part of what became Russia and Poland at least as far as the Black Sea or even the Volga River and city of Kiev in the Ukraine. He may also have preached at Alexandria, Egypt.

webassets/Ukraine.jpeg

A tradition says that he converted Maximilla, wife of the ruler Aigeates, to Christianity. For this “crime”he was crucified at Patras in Achaea which is part of Greece. Early writings say he was not nailed but bound to the cross. A tradition mentioned later is that he died upon an X shaped cross now known as the Saint Andrews Cross after he said he was not worthy of being put upon a cross as Jesus Christ had been. It is also said that he stayed alive two entire days and preached from it.

LEARN MORE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capernaum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Andrew
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scythia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiev

THE APOSTLE MATTHEW

Before meeting Christ and becoming a disciple, Matthew was trained as a Jew "hated" by other Jews for being a tax or toll collector for the Romans. So he was doubtlessly good at mathematics as well as a good reader and writer, being also the author of the Book of Matthew. The Hebrew name Matthew means Gift of the Lord, and he was also sometimes called by the Hebrew name Levi. (Mark 2:1-22^; Luke 5:27-39).

Legend and a little history say he preached among the Hebrews possibly for fifteen years, wrote the Book of Matthew then probably preached around the Caspian Sea, some of Persia and in the kingdoms of Parthia, Macedonia, and Syria. There is wide disagreement about his manner and place of death. Some have said Matthew was beheaded, stoned or crucified at Hieropolis near what is now Denizli in southwestern Turkey. Others have said he was stabbed to death in Ethiopia, not the Ethiopia of Africa but a kingdom south of the Caspian Sea. Still others have said he died naturally as also did the apostle John.

An Associated Press report dated August 29, 2002 says an American archaeological expedition claimed it might have found where Matthews remains had been stored in Kyrgyzstan. Matthew may have died of illness while there and been buried along the northeastern shores of Lake Issyk-Kul at what was one of the monasteries that he founded. It was later flooded as were a number of ancient towns reported by early travelers from the Middle East and still known to archaeologists.

Kyrgysz archaeologist Vladimir Ploskikh said that a fourteenth century Catalan map in Venice noted upon it the location of "a cloister of the Armenian Brothers where the body of the Apostle and Evangelist Saint Matthew is." Russian-born U.S. photographer, Sergei Melnikoff, had previously said he found Matthew's grave near Issyk-Kul but at that time Kyrgyz scientists dismissed his claims, and he was called a mere sensationalist.

The account telling of his death in the then existing ancient nation called Ethiopia south of the Caspian Sea, says that there he converted the land's king and wife. Then the entire nation became Christian. After the king died his successor was Hirtacus who wanted to wed Iphigenia, daughter of the former king. However Matthew had influenced her to never marry but stay dedicated to God. This angered Hirtacus, so on a September 21, he had Matthew stabbed to death at an altar.

In any case, Matthew's own life is an example for many. He held a job which many other people did not like, even despised, but he did not let this harsh reality keep him from helping and preaching to other people. By his example, no doubt many others have been lead to do the same. Too, Matthew did not miss the opportunity to record his knowledge of Christ for transmitting to future generation, another good, practical example. It noting these things, it is hard to not ask oneself, given what he had to overcome to accomplish so much, why should any of us let a difficult job or other circumstances hold us back?

LEARN MORE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierapolis

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10056b.htm

http://prayerfoundation.com/how_apostles_died.htm

http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/29-08-2002/1016-kyrgyzstan-0

http://www.livingwatercommunity.com/saiints/st_matthew_apostle.htm

http://www.atrium-media.com/rogueclassicism/Posts/00004173.html