Paul's First Missionary Journey

"From the standpoint of ministry and mission, the most significant feature of the [first] missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas was the journey itself. As far as we know, this was the first time when a church had adopted and carried out a specific plan to carry the gospel to the lost world. On the other hand, from the standpoint of theology or doctrine, perhaps the most significant feature of that missionary journey was the fact that churches which were specifically and primarily Gentile had been established."

Robert L. Cate, A History of the New Testament and Its Times (Nashville: Broadman, 1991), 296.