Good question! We’ll get back to that…

If you read our blogs just a bit, you can see that the requests for help we receive are quite diverse… very diverse…. You are talking to someone, and suddenly, they have a question about… illness, poverty, Bible, war, family, you name it. That sometimes really varies per minute, and it’s all over the place.

The risk is that you want to answer it immediately. Sometimes that’s necessary (if you only speak to someone once, this is your chance), but sometimes you also have the choice… because let’s be honest… is the first answer that comes to mind also the best? Or is it even true what you think so quickly?

So, if possible, we want to be prepared for a huge range of questions, and we have studied this, sometimes for years. What is the correct answer, what is in the literature about problem X, what helps, what does not, what… and so on.

And those studies do not stop once you are working with the target group for which you have studied, on the contrary. If you were to observe us on a normal working day, you would be shocked at how much time is spent on research and preparation for conversations. Often there is much more time spent on research and preparation than the conversation itself. But then you can be sure that the answer you give is correct and has been tested.

So yes… sometimes we don’t have an answer right away… and we say: wow, interesting question, I’ll find out for you and come back to it tomorrow.

And if the “questioner” is genuinely interested in the answer, he or she won’t mind. Better to have a good answer tomorrow than a half-answer today… because with the target groups we have on this side… they don’t want a half-answer, or a “I guess”, or an “I think so”. They want clarity. As much as possible.

And? How much time do you think we “lose” on average per day on study and preparation?

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Timothy 3:16-17