Dirk was born in Pretoria, grew up in Stellenbosch, and attended Stellenbosch University, where he completed a BA (Hons) in Psychology, BTh and MTh. (with Pastoral Care as subject). 

He was ordained as minister in the Uniting Reformed Church, Riebeek Kasteel (South Africa), where he served for 12 years. In 1999, he joined Petra Institute with his family, where he has served as Training Facilitator, Managing Director and currently as Manager: Strategic Partnerships. 

He helped with the development of our Walking with Wounded Children (a short course equipping participants to support emotionally wounded children and families) as well as other training programmes. 

He also assists with the planning and facilitation of strategic planning workshops, advocacy meetings, seminars and webinars and different forms of training courses in various African, Middle Eastern, East European and Asian countries. He is involved with informal research, and has published some academic articles.

Motivating Dirk is his passion to see people around the world benefit from his efforts to build strong families and healthy children.

Dirk is married to Taleta, who serves with him at Petra Institute. The couple has two married sons and a grandson.