THE TWELVE APOSTLES-ANDREW

His name is Greek. We are unaware of any Hebrew name. He is Peter's brother, and by trade a fisherman from Galilee. From Mark (2:29), we learn that he lived with Peter. According to John's account, he was the first to follow Jesus (Jn. 1:35ff.).

Ministry: With only one or two exceptions, every time Andrew is mentioned in Scripture he is bringing someone to Jesus. On one occasion he brought some Greeks to Jesus (Jn. 12) (I must not fail to mention that there is a strong tradition that these were Armenians who were emissaries of their King (Abgar) who was ill and wished to be healed by Jesus. It was not uncommon to call gentiles greeks. According to tradition he preached to the Scythians, who inhabited the land north of the Black Sea. To the ancients, the Scythians were the most barbarous people on the face of the earth! That land today is modern Russia. Needless to say, Andrew is the patron saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. Tradition also says Andrew preached in Achaia where he was arrested and crucified on an x-shaped cross.