Joseph the Levite of Cyprus was renamed Barnabas — 'Son of Consolation' — by the Apostles (Acts 4:36). He sold his field and laid the money at the Apostles' feet, becoming an early example of evangelical generosity. He brought the convert Saul, distrusted by the Apostles, into their company (Acts 9:27) — without which there might have been no Pauline mission.
He was sent to Antioch to lead the new Gentile mission; fetching Paul from Tarsus to assist him, the two together gave the world the first city in which the disciples were called 'Christians' (Acts 11:26). They were sent forth from Antioch on the First Missionary Journey, preaching in Cyprus, Pisidia, Pamphylia, and Lycaonia.
After the dispute over John Mark at the start of the Second Journey, Barnabas took Mark and returned to Cyprus, while Paul went with Silas. He worked in Cyprus the rest of his life and was martyred at Salamis around AD 61 — stoned to death by a hostile Jewish mob, his body burned.
The Church of Cyprus, autocephalous since 488, traces its independence to Barnabas — when the Patriarch of Antioch tried to claim jurisdiction, the body of Barnabas was discovered at Salamis with a copy of Matthew's Gospel on his chest, presented to the Emperor Zeno, and the Emperor confirmed the Church of Cyprus's full independence.