After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
When we think of missionaries, we tend to think of godly people who are supported financially to serve full time, normally overseas, in the work of the gospel. Rightly we value them – for this is absolutely vital work. We long for more.
But there is another way of being a missionary: it is to support yourself through a day job, but to do the Lord’s work along the way, perhaps in conjunction with a full-time gospel worker.
Priscilla and Aquila are the model for this. They happened to be in Corinth when the Apostle Paul came to preach Christ. Luke tells us that they were tent-makers, just as he was. They provided him with a roof over his head. Later, when Paul moved to Ephesus, after some significant ups and downs in Corinth, this couple moved with him, and were instrumental in helping a bold but inaccurate preacher called Apollos to know the gospel better, by inviting him to their home.
Sometimes this self-supporting service is a good model for overseas missionary work – we have one mission partner who does exactly that. The very term we use for such service is borrowed from Paul when he was with this couple: “tentmaker”.
But I also want to mention some examples closer to home. Over the years we’ve seen a few StAG members move intentionally to other parts of the UK in order to support the work of one of our mission partners, maybe in a church with fewer Christians and which might lack the resources for a staff team. For instance, Simon and Merry Bradshaw, Wendy and Simon Langmead, and Paul and Alison Bulman moved to small churches in the north of England; Matt and Sarah Kinton moved to Northampton; Martin and Lucy Brown went to Terrington St Clement’s in Norfolk. In each case they moved house and job to be with a minister who is one of our mission partners, in a pioneering situation.
Would you ever consider this? A well-taught Christian who is eager to serve and support an evangelical minister can make a huge difference. Why not have a read through of our UK mission partners in our church prayer diary and see where you might be interested in going. In most of the places listed, you can get a lot more house for your money than here in Cambridge!
Of course, we need people to stay here, too. Although we are a large church, it’s all hands on deck with our goal of training many, and we are very stretched. We also need people to be full-time missionaries, and of course, pastors – of whom there is an emerging shortage in the UK.
But do think about serving as these ones have. It is risky, and costly, but your life could be invested to make such a difference. Last word to the Apostle Paul,: Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. (Romans 16:3-4)
