Aquila is described as a Jew from the region of Pontus who had to leave Rome due to the persecution of Jews (Acts 18:1-4). Priscilla and Aquila supported themselves through specialized work involving leather. Few tools were necessary for this trade, making mobility possible. It was an ideal occupation for a traveling man like Paul. Acts says that “he stayed with them, and they worked together” (18:3, NRSV, used throughout). After “a considerable time” (v. 18), the trio moved on to Ephesus. By the time Paul wrote his letter to the Romans, the faithful couple had returned to Rome; the apostle praises them as people for whom he and “all the churches of the Gentiles” are thankful (Rom. 16:4). During their journeys, voluntary and involuntary, Priscilla and Aquila planted churches in at least three cities of the empire. The pattern continues in our time. Employees of a British railway company planted many evangelical churches in Argentina in the early 20th century. I have worshiped in churches in Brazil, Peru, and Spain founded or developed by Korean businessmen. In the 1960s, Spanish migrants planted Spanish-speaking churches in Germany, now attended by Latin American migrants. More recently, Filipino young people have planted churches in the United States, and Ghanaian migrants have done the same in the Netherlands.
