Marigold Hunt, author of A Life of Our Lord for Children, here continues the tale of Jesus and His Church by retelling the exciting events reported in The Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke's account of the dangerous early days of the Church. Focusing on the deeds of Sts. Peter, Paul, and Barnabas, she shows that the Church, which today seems so ancient and established, was born in turbulent times, when merely confessing that you believed in Jesus could get you killed -- and not by rowdies and brigands, but by public officials carrying out their sworn duty. Time and again, the apostles wind up in jail (some for years), and time and again, God frees them by miracles of one sort or another. With Christian hope and great good cheer, they take up once more the task with which Jesus charged them before He ascended into Heaven: "Go forth and teach all nations."

By foot, on horseback, and on frail craft tossed in stormy seas, they preach and teach their way across much of the known world, winning converts and establishing churches in Palestine, Crete, Cyprus, Malta, Phoenicia, the lands that are now Turkey, and even in Rome itself, the pagan capital of the anti-Christian Empire. Along the way, the apostles heal the sick, cast out devils, and work other miracles. They face down mobs, evade murder plots, and defend themselves in courts in city after city. All this and more is told in The First Christians, the thrilling -- and true -- saga of the lives and works of the first apostles.