From the rules:

Apostle lets you take the role of a first-century apostle of Christ. Each player controls one or more Christian workers who start churches, help them grow, and protect them against false doctrines. You often have to choose between starting a new church or strengthening an existing one; improving your own churches or aiding another player in trouble; and spending score points on a new worker or saving them for a higher score. Hopefully, as you play this game, you'll appreciate what our missionaries have to go through today.