Pathways to the Nations Sample

Day 7

Business That Makes a Difference 

A married couple in a tentmaking business helped form the early church. Paul first met Aquila and his wife, Priscilla, as refugees banished from Rome because they were Jews. Through their mutual skill in tentmaking and their common heart for people, Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila formed bonds that held until the end of Paul’s life. The three first partnered in Corinth, making both tents and disciples. Paul found the couple so vital to his work that he asked them to follow him to Ephesus. When Paul left the couple behind in Ephesus, they helped the Egyptian Jew Apollos better understand the way of Jesus. Paul kept in contact with Priscilla and Aquila throughout his ministry. Paul entrusted them with others’ lives because he could trust them with his own. 

Whether in Rome, Corinth, or Ephesus, while with Paul or apart from him, Priscilla and Aquila served others and built up their fellow believers. This couple proved instrumental in spreading out the tent of the early church and pounding its supporting stakes deep into God’s Word.

Mission fields vary but businesspeople who follow Christ can still make a difference for the gospel. While many Western countries accept overseas workers on missionary visas, governments in other places don’t. But almost all countries want the economic and social impact that successful businesses can bring. Modern-day Priscillas and Aquilas can follow a business pathway to serve people and build Kingdom relationships in hard-to-reach places. 

Has God gifted you as a businessperson, maybe even as an entrepreneur? You may have the accounting, sales, or human resources skills to serve a missional business team. If so, how could you employ your acumen to serve people overseas, maybe with a business in a place where Christ isn’t known?