Stephen
Stephen, one of the seven deacons chosen by the early church, was full of faith and the Holy Spirit, performed miracles, and became the first Christian martyr after his powerful testimony before the Sanhedrin.
Stephen was one of the seven deacons chosen by the Jerusalem church to oversee the distribution of food to Hellenistic Jewish widows (Acts 6:1–6), who became the first Christian martyr following his arrest by the Sanhedrin and his powerful speech recounting Israel's history of rejecting God's messengers (Acts 7). His vision of 'the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God' (Acts 7:56) and his dying prayer of forgiveness for his executioners (Acts 7:60) established the pattern of Christian martyrdom, and his death scattered the Jerusalem church and inadvertently accelerated the missionary expansion described in Acts.