Who inspired Paul and Barnabas to take collections for the poor Jews in Jerusalem?

God, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, inspired Paul and Barnabas to take collections and offerings from the Gentile churches for the poor Jews in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem believers had sold property, and after about twenty years their funds ran out, leaving them destitute, but God did not abandon them.

Les explains that the Jerusalem church had a group of poor Jewish believers who had sold all their property, and after about twenty years the common fund ran out, so they became destitute. God did not abandon them. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He inspired Paul and Barnabas, as they traveled among the Gentile churches, to gather collections and offerings for those poor Jews in Jerusalem. This was one condition attached to the agreement with the Twelve, that they remember the poor. Les connects this to Romans 15:25-26 and 1 Corinthians 16:1, where Paul writes about the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem.

Why did Paul and Barnabas take up collections from the Gentile churches for the believers in Jerusalem?

Paul and Barnabas collected from Gentile churches to relieve the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem, who had sold their property and become destitute after about twenty years. This met the Jerusalem agreement's condition: Paul and Barnabas would go to Gentiles, the others would stay with the circumcision, and they should remember the poor.