In conversation with Jan Slot
Jan and Imma Slot
“We’ve become richer by living for others and for Him.”
After 57 years, we look back on a miraculous life.
A life guided by trust
It’s a warm reunion to reconnect with Jan Slot in this way after fifty-seven years. We’ve known each other since 1968, from our time together in the youth group of the Reformed Church in Rotterdam. It feels special to look back together after all these years on a life full of twists, turns, challenges, and — as Jan calls them — miracles.
From Rotterdam to the world
Jan Slot was born in Friesland but grew up in Rotterdam, which is where our paths first crossed. “I actually got a new life in Belgium,” he tells me, speaking about his journey. His life’s travels led him from Rotterdam to Eindhoven, then to England, on to Africa — first Ghana, later Cameroon — and finally back to the Netherlands, where he has been living in Amersfoort for years.
When I ask him if he misses Rotterdam, he laughs. “I don’t miss Rotterdam, although maybe that’s a shame. I go there sometimes. Especially in the first few years in Eindhoven, I’d sometimes drive near Rotterdam, by Ridderkerk. I’d roll down my window and think, ‘What’s that smell in the car?’ But it was the surroundings.”
The turning point at sixteen
For Jan, one memory stands out above all others: his conversion at the age of sixteen. “My most beautiful memory, I’ve shared it with you,” he tells me. “We had just moved to Schiebroek. I had almost no money, and my brother offered me this: ‘If you pass your MULO exam, I’ll give you a weekend trip with the new Reformed Youth Association of Schiebroek as a gift.’ I thought, ‘That’s a risk, because if I fail, I won’t have the money.’ So I signed up.”
Something special happened during that weekend in Belgium. There was a small group I belonged to, along with Jan de Haan, Teun Stortenbeker, Willem van der Linden, and Jaap van der Ree. “You guys were praying with someone who wanted to ‘give his heart to the Lord.’ I had no idea what that meant. I was so tense, I stuttered every word, and I had rashes all over my skin. When you started praying with that young man — I don’t even remember who it was — I secretly prayed along. Such a profound peace came over me that I knew, ‘I am accepted.’ That peace has never left.”
A life of faith and action
This conversion became the foundation for everything that followed in Jan’s life. “You dedicate your life to the Lord, and everything flows from that,” he explains. This principle was put to the test early on when he and his wife Imma had been married for only six weeks. A young man in a lot of trouble needed help, and Jan and Imma took him in — a decision no one would have recommended so soon after getting married.
“He ended up living with us for over two and a half years and later got married from our home. God had provided for that. He’s still doing well; he’s now helping other people himself.” How could they make such a difficult decision? “First, Imma and I both felt it on our hearts at the same time, and we didn’t disagree about it. Second, we had people around us who supported us.”
Architect by trade, servant by heart
As an architect, Jan has worked on impressive projects, including large government buildings in The Hague. When I ask him if he’s proud of that, he gently corrects me: “The word ‘proud’ doesn’t fit me. I call it gratitude. It’s a miracle.”
He illustrates this with a specific example. “At one point, I was leading a group of forty, forty-five people. We had way too little work. I pray for that. I also pray for my work. I heard about a huge project in The Hague: the Ministries of Justice and Internal Affairs.” After a phone call with the German architect, he was allowed to present the very next day. “It was fantastic! I put together a presentation, went there the day after, and called a day later. ‘Was this enough, or do you need more?’ He said, ‘No, we’ve just decided.’ My secretary said, ‘Thank God!’ And one of my project leaders said, ‘This is a gift from heaven.’ I realized: God takes care of us.”
Crisis as a turning point
Not everything went smoothly, however. In Ghana, where Imma became seriously ill with a suspected liver tumor, their marriage hit a crisis. “We thought we had a decent marriage, but it was shaking to its very foundations. I had too high expectations of her, and she of me.”
The solution came through humility and prayer. “At one point, we made a promise to each other: we would both get on our knees and pray together to God, ‘Lord, will You show me my faults?’ That was a turning point for us.” This later became the foundation for their marriage counseling. “When we came back to the Netherlands, God gradually began to use us to help other couples. It started small, but it grew.”
Trial in mission work
Jan also faced severe trials in his mission work. In Cameroon, where he was working with Bible translators, he received a letter from the organization. “We admire you; you’re doing good work. It’s fantastic what you’re doing. It’s great. But… you can’t come back unless you unconditionally do everything we say, without speaking a word about it.”
“I worked myself to the bone, and I cried my eyes out. I’d never cried so much. We were completely devastated.” Yet his faith remained. Later, he was even asked to join the PR department of that same organization. “Can I still speak enthusiastically about something where I saw so many problems? Yes, I can, because I’ve seen so many pearls in mission work.”
A philosophy of trust
Jan’s life philosophy is clear: “There’s one constant thread running through our lives, and that is: God provides. God takes care of us, even in the deepest valleys.” He likes to quote Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”
“In such a valley, it doesn’t feel that way; it feels like God is gone for a moment, but He’s still there. We like the mountaintops more, but you learn more in the valleys.” What do you learn there? “That He, no matter what, will always continue to take care of us.”
Inspiration from authenticity
When I ask Jan about people who have inspired him, he mentions — besides myself — names like Anne van der Bijl, Jan Pit, Kees Goedhart, and Ger Prakken. “What they radiated from their own faith, what they passed on. Their authenticity.”
This touches on an important point. “We’re not meant to be a cookie-cutter version of one another. We’re all allowed to be who God made us in our DNA. We don’t have to be alike. We’re allowed to serve God in our own authentic way.”
Dreams for the future
Even at his beautiful age, Jan still has dreams. He and Imma are working on a book titled, “Help! We Are So Different.” It’s about one of their core messages: “God places someone next to you to shape you into His image. It’s actually wonderful if you’re married to someone who is different. If you’re married to someone who’s the same, they can’t give you anything.”
“My great dream is that God can use us in that. That we might be a support to others in their faith and their marriage, and that we can help stop that flow of divorces.” He points to the societal consequences. “Did you know that the current housing crisis is partly due to divorces? A couple with children gets divorced, and both the man and the woman need a house where the children can come.”
A legacy of miracles
To conclude, Jan shares something special. “Recently, after Christmas, I was having coffee with the kids and I said to them, ‘I want to talk to you about the inheritance.’ Then my daughter said, ‘Does that mean the grandkids have to leave?’ I said, ‘No, the inheritance, the house, the car, or the caravan, you can divide that yourselves. But my legacy is the things God has done in our lives, and I’m writing them down.’ It’s a list of things where we’ve seen how God has worked. That is my legacy.”
God is a God of miracles
“God is a God of miracles,” Jan summarizes his life. “And by that, I mean that we don’t always see them, but right through it all, extraordinary things happened in our lives.” It doesn’t mean everything always goes smoothly, but that God is there with you and takes care of you.
“We’ve noticed that we didn’t start living for ourselves, but for others and first and foremost for Him. Did it make us less? No, we’ve become richer. We’ve become much richer by living for others and for Him. We’ve become incredibly rich. And I don’t mean financially. That’s okay too, but it’s primarily about your life with God and with each other.”
After fifty-seven years, the friendship between two boys from Rotterdam has grown into something beautiful. Jan and Imma are still busy helping others, inspiring them, and giving them hope. A life guided by trust—that might just be the best summary of Jan Slot’s story.
@wimvanputten