Acts 28:1-6. The ship bringing Paul and other prisoners to Rome has run aground and been destroyed. As Paul predicted, though, the passengers and crew have all survived and now find themselves on an island they learn is called Malta. The natives there welcome them in the cold rain with a warm fire, but when Paul throws some sticks on the fire, a viper leaps out and fastens onto his hand. The natives all assume Paul must be a murderer, not meant by justice to remain alive, but Paul shakes off the snake and suffers no harm. When they see that even after a long time he does not swell up or fall dead, they change their minds about him and say that he is a god.

Paul is to go to Rome and Caesar, we know this because an angel told Paul when assuring him he would survive the shipwreck. We know that Paul will not be staying in Malta long, certainly not long enough to preach Christ to natives who have no knowledge of the Jewish religion at all. But just because now is not yet the time for Malta to be sent a missionary doesn't mean that God won't use Paul to convert anyone He can, and plant a seed in any others He can.

Having just escaped a terrible shipwreck, Paul is immediately bitten by a poisonous viper. One can certainly understand how the natives thought Paul must be have been a very bad man for fate to punish him like this. But Paul shakes off the snake and doesn't give it a second thought. The natives watch Paul intently for some sign of harm, but none comes, so they decide he must be a god! Paul is obviously not a god, but he is godly - he is a messenger of the one true God and is under His protection. The natives have now seen this protection, so when Paul tells them about his God, they will be more ready to believe.

It might not happen right away, this might be just the seed being planted, but this one incident will be in the memories of these islanders, and as time goes by and they hear more and more about Christ, they will be ready to believe. This is God playing both the short and the long game again.