When and where did Paul begin his ministry to the Gentiles?
In the period 37 to 40, after three years of instruction, Paul went up to his home city of Tarsus and began his work among the Gentiles, always approaching the Jew first. From that beginning until the Jerusalem council was already eleven years.
Les explains that after Paul's three years of instruction—what he calls God's personal seminary—Paul went up to his home city of Tarsus in the period 37 to 40 and began his work among the Gentiles. He always approached the Jew first. Les points out that from the time Paul began this ministry among the Gentiles in Tarsus until the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 was already eleven years. During those eleven years Paul had not yet written any epistles, but Gentiles were being brought into the body of Christ. Later, after missionary journeys and established churches, he wrote his letters, beginning with the Thessalonian letters about 54, then Galatians in 58, 1 Corinthians in 59, 2 Corinthians about AD 60, Romans the same year, and later the prison epistles from Rome.