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During the first decade of the fourth century a bishop's [[see]] was established at Cherson, a trading settlement on the Crimean peninsula. This missionary activity in the Black Sea was encouraged by [[Hermon of Jerusalem|Hermon]], the Bishop of Jerusalem. Beginning that decade, he sent a series of missionary bishops to Cherson to preach Christ's Gospel. The first to go were Basil and Ephraim.
After they arrived in Cherson, Ephraim proceeded to the area along the Danube River to preach to the people. Basil remained in Cherson where he preached the Word of God to the [[PaganisPaganism|pagans]] of the Crimea. While Basil was successful in setting many of the idol-worshippers on the path of truth, others rose up against him. Basil was arrested, mercilessly beaten, and then expelled from the city.
He proceeded to the mountains, and there he settled in a cave where he prayed to God for those who had driven him out, asking that He might illumine them with the light of true knowledge. Soon the Lord presented the unbelievers with a miracle. The only son of an important citizen of Cherson died. In a dream the dead child appeared to his parents and told them that a man named Basil could return him from the dead through his prayers.
