It's likely that the first time the Gospel was preached in all of Europe, it was done by Paul in Philippi. As you’ll soon discover, it turned out to be quite an interesting trip (see Acts 16). After being “forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia,” Paul and his entourage arrived in Philippi to convert Lydia, managed to get arrested for casting out demons, and subsequently converted their jailer after an earthquake flung open the doors to the prison cells. These events, coordinated by a protecting God, were responsible for the birth of the European church. And it was to this church that Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians.