SHIPWRECK TO SHELTER

Navigating the Magnitude of Paul's Winter in Malta

A STORM TO REMEMBER

I’ve experienced several rough landings by plane, but none quite so dramatic as that cold mid-January evening when we touched down on Malta’s lone airport. Unbeknownst to us, Malta was in the first few hours of a storm of unparalleled magnitude - the likes which hadn't been seen in almost a decade. Excessive turbulence forced the pilot to abort the first landing just as the wheels were nearing the tarmac. At an upward swoosh, the passengers were only greeted with the FA’s com signal;

“The pilot as decided not to land. We will keep you updated.”

At this time, several babies are already screaming due to the sudden up and down movements. Of my two little ones, Joy River was already fast asleep while Zion was complaining about his stomach hurting. Eventually, he too dozed off. Less than 10 minutes later, the FA once again informed us that the pilot is attempting a second landing. Despite the turbulence, he succeeded - a roller coaster of a ride. An abrupt cheer and clapping then ensued from the passengers, relieved to have landed safely and not have been diverted to Italy.

But let's pause here. Who remembers a story of another winter storm off these same shores, but in this one instead of a safe landing, resulted in a shipwreck? Two hundred and seventy six men, wet, cold, disorientated and discouraged, were forced to swim for their lives toward a wave-battered coast.

I am talking, of course, about the Apostle Paul, who nearly 2,000 years ago shipwrecked on this very island, as told so beautifully in the Book of Acts. This was hardly a desirable circumstance, yet throughout Paul’s travels, these unfavorable places were often exactly where God intended him to be. And though he spent only three wintery months in Malta, the result was an island forever changed.

BRAVING THE STORM

I must have been the only one in this entire nation secretly enjoying this storm. After all, I came to Malta (in January specifically) to retrace Paul’s travels. I didn’t want the postcard beaches and bays full of sunbathers; I wanted the raw force of the Mediterranean Sea. And it’s what I got. Apparently, this storm was a big deal, reaching international news and triggered “avoid all coasts” warnings for the entirety of Malta. Just look up pictures of the January 2026 winter storm in Malta, and the damage was quite severe. At the peak of the storm, I (perhaps unwisely) drove my rental car with my family to the eastern coasts of the island where the storm was at its worst. From a “safe” distance, I wanted to see the untamed fury of these seas and envision what Paul and his companions would have felt. Standing on the coast of St. Thomas Bay, I stood speechless for a moment as I watched wave after wave pound the rocks, cliffs, harbors and roads.

It actually made me appreciate even more what Paul experienced, because I likely would not last more than a minute out there in the sea.

Considering the storm, there is a lot to unpack from the verses when Paul and the company left Crete and were battling the winds for fourteen days. Countless people have debated and written theses on the ancient Mediterranean Sea lanes and the wind directions, some to the point where they concluded Paul shipwrecked on an entirely different island altogether (Kefalonia in Greece) mostly due to over-analyzing a few small details rather than looking at the entire story altogether. I won’t get too in depth on it here, but I am firmly in the camp that Paul arrived on Melita, now known as Malta.

Luke records the island's name as Melita, a name never associated with Kefalonia. Furthermore, nautical logic holds: an Alexandrian grain ship would naturally harbor in Malta before heading to Syracuse. If he shipwrecked on Kefalonia, why would the ship go all the way to Syracuse when it could easily go to Brundisium and then the Via Appia, the superhighway to Rome? Thirdly, the winds were obviously pushing them in this direction, or it wouldn’t make sense why they would be concerned with running aground on the Syrtis - that is the sands of Northern Africa. Foruthly, in ancient times the Adriatic encompassed much more than what we know it as today, including the central portion of the Mediterranean Sea as well.

Further, let's consider the viper. The Greek word vipera means any creeping thing, not specifically a viper we know it as today. And is the fact that there are no known poisonous snakes on Malta today the main deterrent why it can’t be here? If elephants and hippos once roamed here, a venemous serpent is well within the realm of possibility.

Finally, local traditions matter. The Maltese for nearly 2,000 years have built their faith around Paul’s arrival and the conversion of Publius. In fact, Malta is the first Christian nation is Western Europe.

WHAT IS THIS PLACE?

“Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta,” - the first verse of the last chapter of Acts reads. I think it would do great service to this small island to share some of its history, which believe it or not, stretches thousands and thousands of years before Paul even stepped foot on shore. With our rental car and an all-inclusive pass to every heritage site in the country, we had busy schedules every day fitting in all the sites and trying to unravel the mysteries of the island.

On the first day, we traveled to Ghar Dalam Cave, an ice age time capsule full of fossils of elephants and hippos, among many other animals. Around 12,000 years ago during the great ice age, countless animals tried to escape the frigid north and migrate as far south as possible. Malta was once connected to land from Sicily, which was also connected to mainland Italy, thus creating a peninsular land-bridge, with Malta being the southern point. Also scattered throughout the island are megalithic "temples" of unknown origins and design, with estimates of construction reaching as far back as 10,000 years ago.

By the time Paul's ship struck the reef, he wasn't steppng onto an uncharted wilderness, but a land with deep, ancient roots. For some reason, I had always imagined Paul being greeted by a tribe of wild natives upon landing on Malta, much like the scenes you see in movies. Rather it had already been part of the Roman Empire for nearly 300 years by the time Paul arrived. There were dozens of well-established harbors, grandiose temples, lively towns, and a spectacular capital called Melita.

AN ISLAND CHANGED

Acts 28 says, “Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days.” This was not a tribal chief or a shaman, but rather a Roman-appointed official of high standing.

On Malta, several Roman villas still exist, some in better condition than others. The best-preserved lies in the center of the ancient capital of Melita. Interestingly, several statues of Claudius, his daughter, and the young boy Nero were found in this villa. This is an exceedingly rare occurrence for this type of structure in the whole Roman world. This signifies a few things: First: The owner of the estate must have been an important person, perhaps a high official of the island. Second: The time period of these statues places the site just within a few years of Paul’s visit to the estate of Publius

Could this villa be that of Publius? Could Paul have walked on these very mosaics that lie before us? For Mary and me, it certainly opened our eyes to that possibility. Tradition also holds that Publius became a believer and is known as the first Bishop of Malta. Publius’ conversion led to Malta being the first Christian nation in the west.

Though the violent storm nearly destroyed Paul, it became the very wind that carried the Gospel here. Is this not true in life, where often the winds of change land us exactly where we are meant to.

Thank you for reading "Shipwreck to Shelter"

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