Some serve God behind the scenes, distributing bread, tending to details, and feel that such work counts for less than preaching before crowds. The story of this Philip dismantles that idea. He is not the apostle among the Twelve who bears the same name, but a deacon of the Jerusalem church whom God moved from serving tables to opening the gospel to another continent.
Philip first appears in Acts 6, when the Jerusalem church needed to resolve a practical complaint: Greek widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The apostles asked the community to choose seven men of good reputation for this task, and Philip was one of them, alongside Stephen.
When Stephen was stoned and a wave of persecution scattered the Christians out of Jerusalem, Philip did not hide: he went down to Samaria, a region historically hostile to the Jews, and proclaimed Christ there. Signs accompanied the preaching, evil spirits came out, the paralyzed and the lame were healed, and the city was filled with great joy.
After this revival, an angel redirected Philip to the desert, to the lonely road between Jerusalem and Gaza. There he found an Ethiopian eunuch, a high official of Queen Candace’s court, reading the prophet Isaiah without understanding what he read. Philip climbed into the chariot, explained that the prophecy spoke of Jesus, and hours later baptized that foreigner in the waters beside the road.
As soon as they came up out of the water, the Spirit suddenly took Philip away, and the Ethiopian went on alone, full of joy, back to his own land. Philip reappeared in Azotus and went on preaching from city to city until he settled in Caesarea, where, decades later, the apostle Paul stayed in his house and met his four daughters, who prophesied.
Philip’s life shows that God uses those who are available for common work as well as for the unexpected task. No one imagines, on agreeing to serve tables, that one day they will be sent to the desert to reach someone from the other side of the world. Obedience in small things is what prepares us for the great ones.