PRISCILLA During AD41 to 54, Claudius Ceasar (full name: Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) ruled over Rome. During this time, he issued a decree to expel all Jews from Rome. Aquila, who was from Jewish descent, decided to take his wife, Priscilla and leave Italy in fear of persecution. They were tentmakers by trade and decided to make a new life for themselves in Corinth. Paul, who was also a tentmaker left Athens and made his way to Corinth. When Paul arrived in Corinth, he met Aquila and Priscilla. They opened their house to Paul, and he worked from there and stayed with them for quite some time. Every Sabbath Paul went to the synagogue to preach the Gospel of Jesus. We do not know if Priscilla and her husband Aquila were Christians when they met Paul or if Paul converted them, but we do know that in the end they worked as a missionary couple with Paul. Paul stayed there with them for about eighteen months. When Paul left and sailed for Syria, Priscilla and Aquila were with him, (Acts 18:18). When they reached Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquila stayed behind. While they were in Ephesus, a man by the name of Apollos came there. Apollos was very well educated in the Scriptures. He was fervent in spirit, and he spoke boldly and taught accurate things about the Lord in the synagogue. Apollos knew that John baptized Jesus, but he did not fully understand the ways of God. Priscilla and Aquila both had a very in-depth understanding of the Gospel after spending so much time with Paul. They took Apollos aside and explained to him the meaning and the ways of God. Due to his full understanding, when Apollos moved to Achaia “ he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ ”, (Acts 18:27-28). Later on in Paul’s journeys, we read how he greets Priscilla and Aquila. “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks , but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house ”, (Romans 16:3-5). Through this greeting we can see that both Priscilla and Aquila were highly revered by Paul and that they also had a church in their own home. The last reference to them was made by Paul when he wrote his final letter to Timothy. At that stage Paul was imprisoned in Rome and in his letter, he asked Timothy who was a pastor at the church of Ephesus, to send greetings to them. Many would refer to Priscilla as potentially the first woman pastor and teacher in the Bible, but nowhere does the Bible state this explicitly. We cannot know for sure as the Bible always referred to Aquila and Priscilla together. It does not state that Priscilla ever preached or taught on her own. What we do know is that Priscilla and her husband were a formidable team, and they shared the Gospel with others. They spent time in building up others in their faith and through their hospitality even opened up a church in their own home. Through the story of Priscilla, we learn how husband and wife can work together for the kingdom of God. As a wife it is important to work by your husband’s side and you should support each other. If you are not married yet, make sure your future husband is a believer and that you can study and serve together to become “ One in Christ ” (Galatians 3:28-29) as husband and wife are meant to “ become one flesh ”, (Genesis 2:24).