Have you ever read a verse (or verses) in the Bible and wondered, "What does this mean?" Well, you're not alone. Many times when you read a passage in the Bible from the context of the people who were living at the time, it opens up a whole new understanding of what the author was trying to say. For example, here is an excerpt from an assignment one of our students completed while they studied Ephesians:

​So you’ve been looking into missions, yay! You’re getting excited, everything looks amazing… and you come to a screeching halt. You realize that you have no gifts or talents that would be useful in missions.
 
Let me stop you right there. 

I was born and raised in a small town in Wisconsin with a population of 1,000. My question has always been, "What could God possibly do with such a small-town girl?" There's nothing special about me. I hung out with my friends on the weekend and I don't like to eat tomatoes. I'm not any good at sports, nor am I musically-inclined. I have zero cool talents to bring to the table, so I didn't expect God to want much to do with me.

Where do you come from? What lack of qualities “disqualifies” you from being a missionary? What lack of talents do you have? Come join me in the unknown for a minute. 

I don’t know anything about you, but here’s some things I do know about missions: