Why were the Macedonian churches so poor in Paul's day?
The Macedonian churches were poor because Macedonia was mountainous, with very little means of making a living or growing crops, leaving the area poor and destitute. Paul took wages from those poor believers so he would not take money from wealthy, commercial Corinth.
Les explains that Greece is mountainous, and in Macedonia there was usually very little means of making a living or growing crops, so the people were poor. He notes that Paul, perhaps against his better judgment, actually took offerings or wages from those four poor people up in Macedonia. This allowed Paul to avoid taking a dime from Corinth, which was a wealthy, commercial city. The Macedonian believers’ poverty was due to their difficult mountainous environment and lack of agricultural or economic resources.