Paul and Barnabas returned to the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch so as to appoint elders (see Acts 14:23) and prepare the church to continue functioning without their presence and help. As a result of persecution, they were forced to leave each of these cities prematurely and thus they did not get to appoint office-bearers as they would have hoped to do before moving on.1 It would have been possible for them to make a journey east, overland back to Antioch, but they made a deliberate decision not to do so since their work was not yet done.2
21 Quand ils eurent évangélisé cette ville et fait un certain nombre de disciples, ils retournèrent à Lystre, à Icone et à Antioche,