This part of the Bible Paul wrote in the Greek language. The word he used here is προκοπή prokopé̄ . It means to drive forward. It is the beautiful picture of pioneers cutting there way through the wilderness. This is the team that slashes their way through the underbrush and pierce it so the troops following them can have a save trip.
There was a movie in 2006 that illustrates this principal of driving the gospel forward.
This true story of a group of Christian missionaries in Ecuador who set out to reach the Wadani tribe (a violent Ecuadorian tribe defined by revenge killing). When the 5 men from this group are speared to death by Mincayani and others in the tribe (who believe all foreigners are cannibals), the wives and children of those men move into the Wadani tribe to teach them about God. End of the Spear is an amazing story of Truth, Love, and Forgiveness.
(Video Clip End of the Spear)
Those five missionaries, even though they died for it, were the first to cut the path for the gospel message to the Wadani.