Paul and Barnabas next moved about 60 miles farther to the southeast to Derbe (meaning juniper, modern Kerti Hüyük) on the eastern border of the Galatian province.595Many more people became believers and disciples there (cf. 20:4). Luke did not record what the apostles experienced there, but this was the home of Gaius, one of Paul's later companions (20:4). Perhaps Gaius became a convert at this time.
The larger towns of Antioch and Iconium seem to have produced more influential churches, but the smaller ones of Lystra and Derbe contributed more young men who became leaders.
This is "a pattern not altogether different from today, where the larger churches often capture the headlines and the smaller congregations provide much of the personnel."596
