Despite Paul's outspoken and often stern references to women in general, the Bible records bear witness to the fact that several women gave him aid which he not only accepted but appreciated. One of the most outstanding of these helpers was a certain Lydia, who appears to have been Paul's first convert on the continent of Europe. Landing in Macedonia, he had made his way to Philippi, and it was there that he talked with Lydia and speedily converted her to the Christian faith (Acts 16:14, 15). She was a business woman, who had come originally from Thyatira, in Asia Minor, but had settled in the predominantly pagan city of Philippi, where she traded in the rich purple cloth so highly prized in the East. She was evidently not a Jewess, but had for some time been attracted to the faith of Judaism, and so she is described in the idiom of her day as one who "worshipped God" (Acts 16:14)
It is noteworthy that it was Lydia and her household who formed the nucleus of that active and ever generous Philippian church to which Paul could later write in all sincerity, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you" (Philippians 1:3). It is surely typical of her that she went out of her way to insist that Paul and his companions should be her guests during their stay at Philippi, tactfully indicating that their acceptance of this invitation would confirm the fact that she was adjudged "faithful to the Lord" (Acts 16:15)
On leaving Macedonia, Paul made his way to Greece, and after his famous address on Mars' Hill at Athens, he settled in Corinth. There he remained for eighteen months, at the home of Aquila and Priscilia, who themselves had but recently arrived in the city, having been expelled from Rome as the result of an anti-Semitic decree promulgated by the Emperor Claudius (Acts 18:1,2,11). Aquila was a native of Pontus, one of the northern provinces of Asia Minor, and while we are not expressly informed that his wife Priscilla came from that district, it is generally assumed that she did so. Not only was Priscilla Paul's hostess during his stay in Corinth, at a time when he is believed to have written his two letters to Thessalonica, but she and her husband accompanied the apostle when he left Greece for Syria (Acts 18:18). At a later date we find Priscilla acting as one of the leaders of the Ephesian church, for it was she and Aquila who, recognizing the great potentialities of Apollos, "expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly," thus preparing him to act as a Christian missionary in Achaia—Greece (verses 21-28). The value which Paul attached to the aid afforded to him by Priscilla is shown by the fact that he describes her and her husband as his "helpers in Christ Jesus" who "laid down their own necks" to save his life (Romans 16:4).
