What is your role at the Center for Bible Research?
It was sometime in the month of June this year that Dr. Mart-Jan Paul approached me asking if I would like to join the CoB team. The Study Bible online version of the Old Testament is in need of revision and I could help him with that. Added to that was the fact that the Study Bible also has a Spanish edition and I might be able to contribute in that area as well. Together with my family, we lived in Chile from 1998-2007 and Spanish has been my second language ever since. After an initial introduction, further conversations with the Executive Board followed and we experienced a special mutual click. Mart-Jan's question came at a special time, because in the meantime I had decided to stop as church pastor in order to re-enter the mission. Over the past year, a new calling had come to me to work as an Old Testament teacher at a theological seminary in Medellín, Colombia. In fact, a renewed vocation,

because I had also done this before in Chile. My appointment with the GZB is a part-time appointment, which means that I was also looking for other work. Looking back, we experienced the request of the Executive Board as special and saw in it the guidance of God. I was looking for a further fulfillment of my time and can now do something with my experience and knowledge of the language. Like Mart-Jan Paul, I am an Old Testament scholar, having received my doctorate in 2013 for a study on Psalm 91 and demons. Around that theme, we had had contact in the past. We had known each other for quite some time. I am confident that we can make a good team.

What is your motivation for working at the Center for Bible Research?
What I love about the BoM is that it has written a wonderful Study Bible that is suitable for a wide audience. I myself had been using the Study Bible for years as part of my sermon preparation. That the BoC has now broadened its mission to the Spanish-speaking areas I find particularly wonderful. Now that I work at a seminary in Colombia, I have ample opportunity to promote the Study Bible among students and at conferences with pastors. Thus, the work of the past 40 years benefits believers and church leaders, who often do not have many financial resources.
I myself can also contribute to the translation and updating of important parts of the Study Bible. It is wonderful that in this way believers are equipped (for free) with (further) access to God's Word. It is special to be able to contribute to this ministry and mission.

What encourages you most to examine the Bible?
Since my college days, I have developed a passion for the Bible. I love to delve into the Word. I myself taught Hebrew for several years at the University in Utrecht and also in Chile. I love working with the root languages and digging up old and new treasures from the Bible. Since September 1, I have again had the privilege of studying the Bible and the world of the ancient East with students every day, and I find that a great privilege. The questions of the students, who live and live in a very different context, sometimes force me to look at the Scriptures with new eyes, which is extremely instructive.

If you could speak to one Biblical character, who would you choose? Why?
I myself am a big fan of the Biblical Psalms, I read them a lot, often in the root text. So many riches of daily life with God are found in them. I am also a fan of Paul's letters. Since my college days and partly due to a trip to Oxford, I have been reading and studying the apostle more and more, partly also due to the work of N.T. Wright.
Through Paul, the Old Testament also does plenty. I can't get enough of that.

What touches you most when you think about the kingdom of God?
Through my stay in Chile and now Colombia, the world church has become more and more on my mind. I learned so much from my Chilean brothers and sisters about faith, about living with Christ, about the Holy Spirit and the gifts, about being a church. I wouldn't have wanted to miss this for anything.
The Church in South America has a very different stature than in Europe, which I find instructive and also puts into perspective a lot of things that do not belong to the core of the faith. Say tradition with a small t. The realization has become stronger and stronger that only together with all believers can we understand the height, width, length and depth of Christ's love and God's salvation.

What discovery did you make that changed your view of something?
Since my stay in Chile, my theological thinking has circled around two poles: the person and work of the Holy Spirit and the reality of evil powers (spirits and demons). Many of my publications have to do with the forces of Word and Spirit on the one hand and the opposing forces at work in this world. Reflection on this I consider of great importance.
Through this I hope to serve Christ's church there and here, here and there. A text that means especially much to me is Isaiah 55:10-11:
"Just as rain or snow descends from heaven and does not return there without first drenching the earth, fertilizing it and making it thrive, so that there may be seed to sow and bread to eat - so also is this true of the word that proceeds from my mouth: it does not return to me fruitlessly, not without first doing what I will and accomplishing what I command.
Being engaged with the words of God is not fruitless, because the Holy Spirit comes in and makes hearts be touched. Those who are engaged with the Word of God, in whatever capacity, will find to their surprise time and again that from the Word of God emanates tremendous power.

Dr. Gerrit Vreugdenhil
Medellín, Gouda

You might also like to know a little more about the other staff and editors at the BoE. Each month we will introduce one of them to you. Last time:

• Richard van den Bos – General manager
• Evelyn Flores Infantes – Marketing
• Rieke van de Lagemaat - Content Officer
• Haije Bergstra - Employee support & development
• Hans Bette - Editor-in-chief and board member
• Jan Kranendonk - Financial manager
• Gijs van den Brink - Editor-in-chief and writer
• Hermien Henning - Content import employee 
• Marijke Diepeveen - Administration & support at the BoE
• Mart-Jan Paul - Editor-in-Chief
• Raymond R. Hausoul - Editor and writer
• Marianne Marchal- Administrative assistant/support workerr