Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city.
Acts 8:5-8

God providentially used persecution of His church to scatter His church. Phillip (one of the seven original deacons in Acts 6:5-8) was “scattered” to the city of Samaria. It is doubtful that this is a reference to “the city of Samaria,” as there was no city named Samaria. Rather, Phillip went to the region of Samaria, probably to its chief city, maybe Sychar. The region of Samaria was home to the Samaritans, the people most hated by the Jews—more than any other of the Gentiles. Why? Because they were a hybrid people, a mixture of Jewish and pagan. Being removed from that time and place, we can easily miss just how scandalous going to Samaria would have been to Jews. They routinely avoided Samaria, traveling miles around it rather than taking the shorter, more direct route through it.

But God led Phillip to Samaria to “preach Christ to them” as Jesus had said we must do in Acts 1:8.: “…you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

God used persecution to move the Church out of Jerusalem. What might the Lord need to do to get you and me to preach the gospel to people we might otherwise hate?