Hi there! My name is Ashley Diederiks, my husband Jaco and I are missionaries currently serving in Potchefstroom, South Africa with Fire & Fragrance South Africa (a ministry of Youth With A Mission “YWAM” which is one of the biggest missions organizations in the world). We have a toddler (Hans) who was born January 16, 2021, and a baby girl (Amelia) born November 14, 2022.
Thank you for considering partnering with our family as we say yes to Jesus here in South Africa! As our ministry is our full-time career and YWAM is a volunteer-based organization, we receive no salary. This means we are fully dependent on God to bring partners alongside us to invest in our ministry and make it possible for us to keep answering the call. We have partners that give anywhere from $5-$200 a month or one-time donations and truly every little bit counts and is such a huge blessing and an investment in what God is doing here in South Africa.
Here is a little more information about how we got here and what we currently are doing in South Africa:
When I did my DTS (Discipleship Training School) in 2017, I went on my first outreach to Uganda where the Lord ignited my heart for missions and also for Africa. I then came back to join staff with YWAM and led a team to the Philippines where we saw God move in mighty ways and even got to help plant a church in the upstairs room of a strip club in the middle of the Red Light District (one of my favorite Jesus stories by far!)
I met Jaco through YWAM and we lived in Kona, Hawaii working with Fire & Fragrance at the YWAM Kona base from 2018-2021 helping pioneer a school called Foundations for Revival and Reformation. While we were at YWAM Kona, we were trained, equipped, and raised up to take it and plant it here in South Africa. The school is focused on raising up Kingdom leaders who know God's word, have a Biblical worldview, and then are equipped to release His kingdom into whatever sphere of society they are called into.
We ran the first ever Revival & Reformation school here with Fire & Fragrance South Africa (FFSA for short) in January 2022 and have been blown away as we’ve seen God use it to raise up some incredible kingdom-minded leaders.
In addition to pioneering this school, we have gotten to partner with many incredible ministries here with FFSA including high school ministries, literacy programs, serving on the worship team and in the prayer room, street evangelism, college campus ministries, serving the local churches of South Africa, Bible translation and distribution initiatives, and so much more.
One of our favorite initiatives we’re getting to work towards is seeing literacy levels and education rates across Africa shift. Jaco has gotten to go to several regions in Africa (with a major focus in South Sudan and Ethiopia) to train up teachers in regions where the majority of teachers only formal training is that they completed elementary school themselves. He’s getting to work with teams training many of these teachers in a Biblical worldview for education, classroom management, and curriculum development. It’s been amazing to see the hunger for these trainings growing and that God is opening the door for Education reform across Africa.
God is truly on the move here in Africa and we’re so thankful to be planted in such a kingdom focused and fun community here in South Africa. We believe the words spoken over this nation that South Africa will be a “gateway for the kingdom to be released into the rest of Africa”. We especially have loved getting to be a part of equipping and training up young South Africans as missionaries and ambassadors of the kingdom that are eager to take responsibility for their own nation and continent and see revival and reformation released throughout Africa!
We truly believe the time is now to train up local and indigenous leaders on how to bring revival into their cultures that will lead to lasting kingdom reformation and transformation in every sphere of their societies. I believe the world is hungry and ready to be equipped, empowered, activated, and released to spread the truth, love, and power of the kingdom.
We are so expectant to see all that God still has ahead for our family in South Africa! Thank you for partnering with us and investing in what we are doing to train up leaders who can release the kingdom across South Africa and the rest of the continent of Africa as well! May Jesus be glorified in every nation, tribe, and tongue!
Blessings,
Ashley, Jaco, Hans, & Amelia Diederiks