I love Youth Street!

Hey everyone!

Wow, what an amazing month it has been! So, I have been getting more familiar with my responsibilities on the Youth ministries team. In a nutshell, I am in charge of preparing weekly school programs, leading a small discipleship group called Vetamorphis, leading a Bible study for the Youth Street crew every Saturday, working and researching grants available to help support Youth Street, entering new crew (what we call our youth) information (like emergency contact info, etc) into our database, and lots of other stuff that I can't think of right now. lol

It is quite interesting how they run public schools here in Australia. Public schools have a Christian chaplain that provides care, support, teaching, and fun for any students who are interested. We have partnered with some of these chaplains to come in to their schools and do about an hour long program each week. Currently we are consistently visiting 2 schools each week called William Ross and Town High. An average school program looks something like this:

Hangout time

icebreaker game

introduction to biblical topic of that week

discussion questions presented

Youth response

Prayer

I try to keep the teachings more like a discussion rather then me talking the entire time, just to keep the kids engaged and challenge them to think. Most of these kids are not Christians, but they are so hungry and curious to learn about God and what a relationship with Him looks like. God is really stirring there hearts in a visible way that is so exciting to watch. There was one young man who is new to the "God thing" (to put it in youthful terms lol) who's brother was very sick in the hospital with cancer I believe. This young man prayed for his brother every night and with some of our youth leaders and his brother is no longer sick or in the hospital!!! Not only did this young man (around 14-16 years old) get to experience God, but he got to share this story with his fellow peers and be a testimony of the awesomeness and goodness of God to young teens. This is just one example of the super exciting things that God is doing in the youth here in Australia.

I am preparing to take over leadership of the Youth Street sports team every Saturday as well. We do a new sports activity each week like soccer, baseball, rugby, or ultimate frisby. 2 weeks ago, we did "Ghetto Paintball" . Basically, we filled up over 200 water balloons with a homemade paint (water, flour, and food coloring) and played capture the flag where they had to tag each other by hitting them with a paintball. We took about 11 guys ages 12-16 out to a semi-dried up muddy plain to play. The 200 balloons were gone in about 10 minutes causing these creative youngsters to substitute mud for the paintballs. LOTS OF MUD, EVERYWHERE!!! lol Some of these guys were literally rolling in the mud covering themselves from head to toe. Then they decided that if they were covered in mud, the leaders should not miss out on such an honoring privilege, and chased us around throwing mud at us, smearing it in our hair, and all over our clothes. Wow, what an adventure. One of the guys on the muddy ride home said this was the best Youth Street ever, and he would never forget it.

It amazes me how much these kids love Youth Street. They put on there facebooks, Can't wait for Youth Street!!! the sunday after lol. We have been praying for more kids to come as well and God has been continually answering our prayers. We were at around 60-70 kids per week and this week we saw 87 kids come through. Our goal by the end of the year is to have 100 kids consistently each week. I have never seen God work so drastically in such young people and am so excited to see what he has in store for this next month.

Please pray that as we get more youth coming that behavioral discipline would continue as it is easier to let small things slide (that quickly turn into bigger things) with so many more crew. I would appreciate prayer for a Godly confidence as well as i am teaching and mentoring these kids. I have been feeling underqualified and not good enough for what God is calling me to but know that I am right where he wants me to be. I'd also appreciate prayers for more consistent monthly financial support. There is a youth camp coming up that I am staffing and need to see about $400 dollars come in for that. Thanks for all of your prayers and support!!!! I'd love to chat on email or skype if you would like and LOVE snail mail :). Love you all and miss you!!!

Lexi

The Internship has begun!

Hey Everyone!

So I have just finished the first 2 weeks of my staff leadership internship here in Australia. The past 2 weeks, my typical week day has started at about 8 am with

lectures ranging on topics from leadership skills and stress management to fire safety and

food handling. These lectures went until lunch time, then after lunch I would work in the Youthstreet office. I have many responsibilities in the Youthstreet office, for example, I enter data into the computer about how many youth attended Youthstreet the past

Saturday, as well as information about new crew (thats what we call the youth) into a general

database system so we have emergency contact information and

general phone numbers and things for each of the crew. I am also responsible for leading a small discipleship training group of 3 guys who attend Youthstreet. I plan a schedule for every wednesday that coincides with the curriculum we are going through. The purpose of it is to challenge these young men in their faith and encourage them to be active in their faith as well. I am also in charge of school programs that we do every Friday. We visit several schools and do a program that usually consists of games, social time, and a "God Message". It's like a small homegroup or biblestudy at the school. It really cool because we

are doing these programs in public schools. Public schools here have a Christian chaplain, which is such a good resource for us because we can partner with them to reach these youth in

a deeper way. I also lead a girls biblestudy on saturdays during Youthstreet. Its been encouraging because I don't feel qualified to lead a biblestudy and have just been having doubts about my ability to lead but God has been confirming my role as a biblestudy leader.

For example, I had been reading in Hosea during the week, and randomly decided to read

a small devotional from one of my books for Biblestudy. Guess what? The devotion for that day just so happened to be in Hosea!! Coincidence?

I think not. And then this past week, I was planning on showing a video by Louie Giglio called How Great is Our God. That night our speaker during

Youthstreet was talking about the greatness of

God and mentioned that exact video! It was exciting

because God was using others to confirm what I had planned for my Biblestudy girls. So thats what I have been doing the past two weeks.

http://www.ywamrto.org/profile/YouthStreetTownsville

I'd appreciate prayer for

-close friendships for myself

- more youth to come to Youthstreet

-Wisdom when giving advice and mentoring my biblestudy girls

-The medical ship heading to Papua New Guinea

-Change in the hearts of the Youth caught up in drugs, alcohol, and depression

Thank you all for your prayers and support!!!! If you would like to send me a letter please feel free!! I love receiving snail mail!! And, I'll send ya a postcard in return!!!

My address is:

Lexi Dyksterhouse

PO Box 6221

Townsville, QLD Australia 4810

God Bless!!

Hello

Hey everyone, Camping was great. It was such a refreshment to get away for a while and spend time with God in His creation. I found out last Friday that I am going to be working in the Youthsreet ministry area!! This is the youth ministry that I was praying and hoping to get involved with so I am so excited for this answer to prayer!! I start working on Tuesday! This week I have been continuing my work in Community Life. I helped clean out the storage shed the past 2 days and bugsprayed around the apartments of the staff members on base. Tomorrow is my last day working in Community life and then I will start Youthstreet on Tuesday!!!! We are taking the sports team to play ultimate frisbee this saturday then having a gameshow night for the kids.

I am still trying to find my place here in Australia but am being challenged to trust God that this is where He wants me. I am excited for the internship to officially start this Sunday and so excited to see what God has in store. I'd appreciate your prayers as I continue to adjust to this new lifestyle and as I begin working in the Youth ministry. Please pray for diligence in spending time with God daily and staying focused on Him. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. If you are interested in helping support me financially please send me an email at ldyksterhouse@cox.net. Thanks everyone!!

The Ship is Here!!!

Ahoy matees!!!
I have been in Australia for almost 2 weeks and am excited to share what God has been doing. I have been placed in the Community Life ministry area which is responsible for preparing places for new interns and students to stay, setting up events (like setting up tables and chairs, etc.), and other things of that sort. Last week I was responsible for a lot of the cleaning of the main warehouse. It was a bit of a struggle because I felt like what I was doing wasn't really important but I learned the importance of being content in all circumstances and keeping God the center of EVERYTHING you do, even cleaning toilets. :)
So this week, the medical ship that is going to be traveling to Papua New Guinea came to Townsville!!! The ship is based in Townsville, but has been traveling around the East coast of Australia to raise awareness and excitement in youth to help those in need in Papua New Guinea. Kids have gotten together at schools to gather glasses and toothbrushes (dentistry and eye care are key medical services provided on the ship). We are giving free tours of the ship this week to raise awareness in the community and give Townsville the opportunity to really make a difference. We are also doing a lot of school programs this week to get kids excited and involved in missions.
Today a missionary family from the states arrived with their 4 young children and nanny to begin working with YWAM and the youth of Australia. I got the privilege of helping set up and clean their house and turn it into a home. It was really exciting to get to be a part of welcoming this family. They left almost everything they owned (all but about 2 suitcases per person) to come to a foreign country and work with Australian youth. God provided so much furniture and donations for them, it was so encouraging to see.
That's all for now!!!! Thanks everyone for your prayers and support!!!!! I miss you all!!!!!

G'day Mates!!!!

Wow! I finally made it to Australia!!! Praise God! So the past few days I have spent settling in to my apartment with 4 other girls. I have finally been able to get my things somewhat organized rather than living out of a suitcase! It is great to be back around my old friends as well. I was talking to one of my friends about Youthstreet, the saturday youth program, and she told me that about 60 youth have made a commitment to follow Christ since January of this year!!!! Wow, I can't wait to jump back in to Youthstreet and love on these kids and show them the love of God! So today was my first day of working on the mission base. I am not sure which ministry area I will be placed in yet. At the moment I am working in the Community Life department which is responsible for keeping the mission base tidy and presentable. So today I cleaned, cleaned, cleaned!!!!! I will be working in Community Life all this week and possibly change ministry areas next week. Thank you all for your support and prayers!!!! I couldn't do this without all of you!!! Please pray for faithful financing from my supporters and for me as I am adjusting to being so far from family and friends!! I miss you all!!!!!

God's Timing is so Good!!

Hey everyone!!!
So I found out this weekend that my visa was approved and have booked a flight to Australia for June 8th!! I can't believe I am finally going, I have been waiting such a long time to go back! Even so, I am so thankful that God didn't say yes to my request "I wanna go back now!!" because He has blessed me so much in my extra time home. He has blessed me with monthly supporters and one time supporters that have been soo generous and encouraging. I have also had the opportunity to speak about my ministry at Scottsdale Bible Church several times, and make awesome Christian friends. I am so thankful for God's timing and that He is sovereign over every circumstance and will make everything work out for good even if I don't see it at the time.
Please pray for me in these last 2 weeks before I leave. Pray for opportunities to spend quality time with friends and family as i will be gone at least a year before a visit home. Also pray for my parents and myself for when it is time to say "See you Later" on June 8th. Please pray that God would prepare my heart spiritually and emotionally for my big move and lastly that He would continue to provide financial supporters. Currently I need about $200 more dollars per month. Thanks for all of your prayers and support!!!!
God Bless

Latest News

Hey everyone, Sorry I haven't written for so long. I am still in Arizona waiting on my visa to get approved. All the paperwork is in except for the FBI background check which could take up to 13 weeks to get processed and its only been about 5 or 6 weeks so far. So I missed the starting date of the April internship but am having faith that the Lord will provide my visa in His timing. God has really been teaching me patience through all of this waiting. He has taught me to live in the moment and make the most of the "now" instead of living for the future. He has also provided several monthly supporters in the extra time I have been home which is a HUGE blessing. So I don't know when I will be going back to Australia yet, hopefully within the next few months. It all depends on how soon my visa gets approved, so for now I am enjoying my time at home with my family, at church with new friends, and at work 30-40 hours per week. Thanks for reading!!
ps. I am in need of more monthly supporters. Right now I have about half of my needed monthly support (my total needed support is $800 per month). If you are interested in supporting me monthly or giving a one time gift please email me at ldyksterhouse@cox.net Until next time!!!
Lexi

Visa

Hey everyone,

So as many of you know, I am planning on heading back to Australia for full time missionary work with YWAM. Well, I am having some difficulties with obtaining a visa and not sure if I will be able to get it on time for the internship starting april 11. Will you please pray that God would provide my visa A.S.A.P if He wants me to go back in april and for patience for myself if He wants me to wait till July to return to the mission field. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support!! Love you all!!

Wrap up of PNG

Hey all,

So this is my last wrap up blog about PNG. I just wanted to summarize all that we did and learned. We visited about 5 different villages over the 5 1/2 weeks. We did home visits where we prayed for different people and families in their homes. We visited a hospital to pray for people and visited an elementary school to do health care checks on the kids. We did many programs which involved dramas, songs, and preaching. We each preached at least 2 times on our trip. I taught on identity in Christ as that is a passionate subject for me. We also did several kids programs which involved HUGE games of duck duck goose, goofy songs, and short teachings. We trekked throu

gh the jungle for hours, got stuck in mud almost to our knees, made sago (it's the stable food of PNG, it's basically tree bark), went fishing, spent many hours in prayer and worship, baptized about 31 individuals 27 of whom were new converts, and befriended many of God's beautiful children young and old. It was an extremely challenging experience in ways of stepping out of my comfort zone, giving up common luxuries at home that are so often taken for granted, speaking in front of people, keeping peace within our group, sweating constantly, and missing my family, however the fruit of the ministry we did was so evident through the new converts, baptisms, and just our relationships with so many dear and close friends halfway across the world. God really emphasized the importance of discipleship to me on this trip and how missions is not simply converting people but the discipleship is just as important. God also showed me how we are all equal in his eyes and I have something in common with my brothers and sisters in PNG, we both worship the same God. I am so thankful that I had this opportunity to travel to PNG and want to thank you all for your prayers and support. Keep reading my blog cuz my missionary work is just starting.

I am planning on heading out back to Australia in April to do the Staff Leadership Internship at Reef to Outback YWAM. Thanks!!

Hey Everyone!!

So this is one of my favorite stories from Papua New Guinea. My team was planning on heading out to a nearby village for 2 weeks and while we were walking to the beach our dingy (boat) driver stopped us and told us that we weren't going because the village wasn't ready for us. We were confused because our main contact was already over in the village. So we turned around and went back to our host house discouraged as this was the second time we had planned to leave for a village but something stopped us. We went back to our house, set up our mosquito nets again and brainstormed as to what we could do that day. We decided that we would go to the hospital down the road and pray for people. There were 3 pregnant women we prayed for, one had walked a very long distance to give birth at that hospital, one was having complications because the baby was turned the wrong way, and one was 5 weeks over due. We prayed for each woman individually and then went back to our host home. The next morning we found out that ALL 3 babies were born that evening!! They were all healthy and we even got to go visit 2 of them. I had been praying for a miracle before coming to PNG and God blessed me by letting me witness and be a part of this amazing story.  One of my favorite things about this story is how God took our discouragement of not getting to go to a village and turned it into good.