Inside Out: Where were you born and raised?

Aaron Batchelor: Delightful Dupo, Illinois.

IO: Did you go to Bible College? If so, when and where?

AB: Yes; Gateway College of Evangelism, 2000-2004, in Saint Louis, Missouri.

IO: Did you go to secular college? And, if so, when and where?

AB: The School of Hard Knocks in Yo’ Mommasville, USA.

IO: Tell us about your family?

AB: There’s not enough room to elaborate on my beautiful and faithful wife, Breanna, and my two gorgeous princesses, Breleigh (3) and Reagan (6 months).

IO: What is your favorite food?

AB: HOT crab legs smothered in melted butter.

IO: If you could have dinner with one person that is alive today and that you have never met, who would it be?

AB: Jerry Lewis (the comedian).

IO: Who is your historical hero?

AB: Billy Cole and Benjamin Franklin

IO: Do you have a hobby?

AB: Reading.

IO: What is your favorite book?

AB: God’s Reach by Glenn Clark and Wild at Heart by John Eldredge.

IO: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?

AB: On a wart on a frog on a duck on a log in a hole in the bottom of the sea.

IO: If someone wrote a biography of your life, what would be the title?

AB: Aaron Batchelor: An Invitation to the Endless Batchelor Party

IO: Has there ever been a time when you felt like you didn’t know God’s will?

AB: Yes; particularly, at the end of my Bible College experience. Others knew where they were going, and I was sent back to the “sheepfold” like David. I learned the will of God takes patience, counsel and faith.

IO: Today’s youth are dealing with issues that no other generation has had to face; what do they need to survive?

AB: Affirmation. Accountability. Anointing.

IO: When did you first know you were called to preach?

AB: In 1989, I had the same dream three nights in a row of me preaching. An Evangelist, Freddy Clark, prophesied in that same year that God had called me to preach.

IO: Is it what you imagined?

AB: No; it is better—more challenging and more rewarding.  I have learned that preaching is not the performance of the hour, but the overflow of a life.