In Acts 13, Paul makes his first missionary journey passing through Derbe and Lystra. On his second missionary journey, while passing through the same cities, he hears reports about a young disciple named Timothy. Paul took Timothy in and made him a member of his travel companions in the preaching of the Gospel. Throughout the Pauline Corpus, we see the progress and development of Paul’s relationship with Timothy. We see him grow from a travel companion to a troubleshooter for the apostle, appointing leaders and setting things right in the church at Ephesus.
In 1 Timothy, Paul calls him “my true son in the faith”; and in 2 Timothy, “my beloved child”. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he says of Timothy, “… I have no one like-minded… but you know his proven conduct, that as a son with his father, he served with me in the Gospel… ”(Philippians 2:20-22).