September Update & New Things Coming
At the end of 2019, we both prayed and asked the Lord what the banner word over 2020 would be. As we prayed we felt that the year would be one of choosing joy and intentionality. Looking back it has definitely been a year where it would have been easy to give in to all the negativity around us never mind what happened in our lives personally or across our family. It has been a year where it has been very easy to not make intentional time for relationships and for God. So looking back these banner words have definitely felt like a challenge set before us that would potentially lead to great breakthrough but also as a promise from the Lord that no matter what would come in 2020 we would have access to joy and relationship should we choose to embrace it.
On a side note, we highly recommend praying and asking the Lord for banner words, or truths to hold onto before moving into any new season as well as asking Him for strategy on how to intentionally be on guard for the ways the enemy will try to rob you of these banners and promises in the new season. These “strategy sessions” with the Lord have become a life-line for us in our walks with the Lord.
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The last 3 months have been wild and so filled with hope, joy and breakthrough in the midst of the craziness going on in the world. I am more convinced than ever that we are tasked with and that it is possible to carry hope and choose joy despite our circumstances. In this past year, we have faced many challenges like we know all of you have and these challenges are real, tangible and tough. However, we fully believe that in God there is power not only to overcome and find a solution to the challenges we face but also to carry faith, hope and love in the midst of the challenges. We are still growing in what this looks like and I (Jaco) catch myself often needing to remind myself of the standard of love that I am called to, or the action that should be the result of my faith or the endurance that my hope should inspire. We definitely have not arrived yet in any sense of the word. However, we do hope that this update fills you with faith and hope to face the giants and challenges that lay before you.
1 Cor 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted[b] beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
What have we been up to the last 3 months?
In the last 3 months, we have been involved in numerous tasks and projects. Our main responsibilities have revolved around preparing for the incoming school (Foundations for Revival and Reformation). This has included getting to pray for and with every potential student as we interviewed them as candidates. As well as being involved with pre-recording teachings and working on the curriculum for the incoming school.
Secondly, as building managers we have been preparing our campus for the student intake in September when all incoming students will need to go through 2 weeks of quarantine (more about that later). This role also included finishing the renovations to our new home on campus. We were very fortunate to be able to use unwanted or unneeded campus materials to be able to turn a dorm room/storeroom into a family unit for our growing family. Jaco had some awesome guys helping him but ended up doing around 70% of the work himself due to lack of manpower. We are overjoyed with our new place and it definitely feels like an upgrade from our loft space. We look forward to discipling students and sharing meals and fellowship with friends and students around our table and couch. We truly feel God has called us to create a living room space on campus and we are praying into what that looks like in this new season we are heading into. We were able to move into our new place on July 31st, just before the first round of quarantining staff and students entered our building.
On top of this Ashley is moving along and making great progress with her online college degree. She is cranking it out and so excited to graduate with her Bachelor’s in Christian Leadership in December.
One of her biggest highlights in the past 3 months was getting to help facilitate the middle school summer camp here on campus. Read here for a few of the wild testimonies.
During the month of July Jaco helped to staff an online discipleship school called Commission the City online. It was a time of great fellowship led by incredible speakers and epic homework content. Jaco had the privilege of leading a small group once a week with participants from all across the mainland US. Commission online had over 300 participants from all around the world. The commission school will be running again in October and we are anticipating over 1000 participants and 200 staff members from numerous bases around the world working together in collaboration. If you would like to know more about Commission the City please click here.
In other news, Ashley and the baby are progressing well and have fully entered into the 2nd trimester. Ashley’s belly has really popped and we have actually felt the baby moving. We love that the baby is already quite the mover and shaker. Ashley and I were both overjoyed when we found out that we are having a boy, (be on the lookout for his name announcement soon).
(Click for here for gender reveal)
Also, we have been married for a whole year!!! God is good. What a joyful journey it has been and what a privilege it is to run after Jesus alongside your best friend! We spent the day reminiscing about our perfect wedding day and how we have been blessed beyond belief by friends, family and community starting on September 14th 2019 and all through the last year. Thank you to everyone that has had an input in our marriage thus far we love you and appreciate you!
We also wanted to share with you all what we feel God has been teaching us in this unique season:
Jaco:
These past few months I have definitely felt like the Lord has been wanting to teach me about enduring hope and active faith. God has been taking me through his word looking at the way that faith provokes action and faith requires action. As well as this, in this season I have been struck by the dire need that there is in the world right now for us to be carriers of hope and joy. I have been reading a book called The Insanity of Obedience by Nik Ripken ( I would definitely recommend this and his other book, The Insanity of God). In his book looking at Christianity in the midst of the persecuted church, he makes it clear that hope does not just exist for us to endure the trials but that hope actually grows in the midst of persecution and tribulation. My question has been how, how is this possible, time and time again I am reminded to go back to the Psalms and to the word pulling out the character and nature of God. Learning what He says about himself and what the word says about Him this is what generates and cultivates hope. The world needs hope right now! We have the reason and the source of hope inside of us, living hope that is just wanting and waiting to be shared. God has been showing me that when the trials come my reaction speaks of His character and that my response speaks of His nature. I am more convinced than ever that God is calling us to live with a faith that spills out in a response that is fuelled by hope that is sourced from keeping our eyes on the King and who He says He is.
Ashley:
Intentionality has been the theme and banner word over Ashley throughout 2020 and seen it be a crucial lesson the Lord has been teaching and growing her in throughout this season especially. With our schedules and responsibilities all pretty much gone during the heights of lockdown and our normal routines looking so vastly different throughout the summer, it was shocking and humbling for me (Ashley) to see how much I had been led by those routines. While in the busy seasons of full schedules I often said “oh if I only had more free time I would do this, this and this”, I found that when given too much free time, I lacked intentionality and had so much room to grow in my own disciplines and time management. It has been a humbling journey of asking the Lord to show me the areas of my life I need to become more disciplined in and being intentional to steward better and be faithful to intentionally seek out even greater depth.
What is God about to do? - (How you can be praying with us)
We finally have students again!!! Our school Revival & Reformation has started again! words cannot even begin to describe how much joy we have in the fact that we get to jump into full-on ministry again after surviving the craziness of all the COVID disruptions this year.
They all are in quarantine for the first 2 weeks of class due to Hawaii’s COVID guidelines so we are praying these will be 2 weeks of great depth, intimacy, and encounter with the Lord that will be an amazing foundation for the rest of the school.
We have 70 students in Rev&Ref who are all so hungry to know God’s word, know His world, and learn to communicate His word to the world
We also have about 100 DTS students and staff living in the building we are Building Managers of and we are so excited to pour into and disciple these wild ones as well when they are released from their 2-week quarantines!
We are desperately crying out for more staff for the January quarter as many of the current staff team are only available for the first 3 months of the 9-month course. Having more staff members for the worldview portion of the school would give us so many more opportunities to take that course to new depths.
Ashley is taking the final 4 courses of her online college degree this quarter and would greatly appreciate your prayers for a grace to juggle them, the school here at YWAM, and her final months of pregnancy all at once.
Pray that Baby Diederiks will continue to grow and develop healthily and that Ashley will have a wonderful 3rd trimester. Look to our social media (Instagram and Facebook) for baby's name announcement coming soon. (if you do not have social media and would like to know baby's name please reach out to us).
If you would like to know more about partnering with us in this time and what that could look like please contact us we would love to hear how we can partner with you.
Blessings and Love
The Diederiks
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