How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news

Hey everyone! 

Its getting close to the end of my School of Biblical Studies, we are now in the New Testament and I have two more months here then will be going to be back to good ol' Maine at the end of June =) I am excited to go back home, 9 months is a long time to be away from your family and friends especially being in such an intense school. 

These past 7 months have been the most difficult, stretching, and transforming time in my life. I have learned SO much it is unbelievable. The one thing I keep asking myself is why have I never read the bible this way before? God is powerfully transforming my heart through His word.  Being in the New Testament is more than I ever expected. Just going through Jesus' life here on earth is so so amazing. To see where he was and who he was with. The miracles He did! I can't believe I have never studied the word this way. When I say this school has been difficult that is an understatement. The first break we had when I came home for Christmas I was ready to give it all up. It was more than I thought I could handle. I was physically and emotionally drained the entire first semester. I thought WHY am I here? I was not being myself. I was even packing all my stuff, in my mind I was completely done. It was the day I was going to be flying home for break that God totally and completely changed my heart for this school. All I heard Him say was "You are past your breaking point, so just stay." It was true, I was so past my breaking point and God totally made my heart do a 360.So that was that and I stayed. Let me just tell you that I am so unbelievably thankful that I stayed. The Lord has been pursuing me like never before while I've been here. It is truly indescribable. 

Last week we studied about Jesus' death and resurrection. All this time I've never really took the time and thought about what exactly Jesus went through. I think the biggest thing that really got me was when he was deserted by His disciples, left all alone after they had told Him they would never desert Him. THAT killed me. I can't imagine how he felt that very moment. He died for US. He died for ME. That concept was so foreign to me until now, though I knew in my mind He died for me. I don't think it ever really registered in heart until I read about it and studied it for myself. He made a way for us to LIVE! Now every time I read about his death and resurrection tears just start flowing down my face. With all that said, I believe doing this school is going to be one the best decisions I've EVER made in my life. It has set a foundation for the rest of my life and though it was SO stretching and so difficult, I would not give it up for anything. 

"Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases

yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities

upon him was the punishment that make us whole and by his bruises we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned to our own way, 

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." 

[Isaiah 53:5-6]

My Next Journey...

Hey everybody! I’m writing to you from beautiful Kona Hawaii during my time in the School of Biblical Studies (SBS). I have this awesome opportunity to spend nine months studying the entire bible inductively. No outside resources are allowed. I've never been the "studious" type and coming here and learning all this has been very hard for me, but I have learned so much already, it is amazing! We are graded individually on every book. I am here for God and my relationship with Him most importantly, to know Him and to make Him known. The thing I love about this school is learning to apply the word of God to my life establishing a solid foundation for whatever I do in life. There is no other way to gain such a thorough understanding of the whole Bible in such a short time. Anyways God has been revealing a lot to me recently about our relationship and He is totally transforming me into a whole new person.

God has put on my heart a mission to Cambodia. In 2008 God revealed a calling upon my heart to reach out to victims of sex trafficking during my outreach time in India and Nepal. During that time God promised I would have another opportunity to go to Cambodia. So here I am in Kona, Hawaii getting the opportunity at the end of the School of Biblical Studies to go to Cambodia to apply everything I have learned and what God has taught me in the process of these 9 months. The country of Cambodia is still recovering from the genocide that happened just over 30 years ago. I would have the opportunity to teach at the ywam base in Siem Reap. They run a free school that teaches English, business, computers, job skills training, and Christian values. Education provides a way to escape the poverty that lingers since the genocide. I would be able to use the knowledge that I learned in SBS to present the gospel to future business men, doctors, lawyers etc. during small group sessions. Through practical education along with biblical teaching I would be used by God to transform their future.

http://www.uofncambodia.org/siemreap/englishcenter.html

My roommate Sarah went to Cambodia in 2008 for her DTS outreach and she really developed a heart for the people of that country and made relationships with the people at the ywam base there. Now I have the opportunity to go with her and apply all that we have learned through doing SBS. The ministries we will likely be involved with are teaching at the education center, working with victims of sex trafficking in Siem Reap, serving the homeless children of Battambang and relieving the regular staff of the base.

Please keep my health in your prayers during this mission as I will be just finishing up this intense program and jumping right into a mission trip. If you feel led to support me financially through this journey it would be such a blessing. Please know that no gift is too small. I will continue to keep you updated as our plans develop through these next few months.

Be blessed!

Kalyne Clark

The Sovereignty of God

Hey friends! Sorry I haven't written a new blog for a while, I've been pretty busy with school and studying but now that I have some time I want to share with you what I've learned this week from Daniel.

This week we were taught about the sovereignty of God. As I was studying the book God was really speaking to me about His control in my life, and that I wasn't giving Him ALL control like I should be. I seem to think I can control my own life, I can take care of it which is just craziness. I have trouble giving all control to God because I don't have any idea what is going to happen, and I'm the person that needs to know when, where, and how, but that is where faith comes in. The beautiful and amazing thing is we don't HAVE to have the control, God actually WANTS it. Regarding my future I just have a very hard time giving ALL control to the Lord and believe that He is going to give me all the desires of my heart regarding the calling that I believe he has spoken to me and meeting someone to walk out that calling with. I know that the Lord has called me to start my own ministry, or organization but I honestly have no idea where I’m even supposed to start. This book really got me thinking about my future and realizing that if God is going to use me the way He says, I am going to have to give him all control over my life, not just half, some, or most. 

Then we talked about God's faithfulness in our lives, and it just hit me hard how God has been SO faithful to me. He has blessed me with an amazing family and has brought incredible people into my life. He turned my life around when I graduated High School and before I knew it I was going to Colorado to go to a Justice based Dicsipleship Training School for 6 months with Youth with a Mission. There God revealed His heart for me, and the calling that He has on my life, to raise awareness and fight sex slavery. On my outreach to India and Nepal God made a way for our team to rescue 3 trafficked women that we met at cabin hotels during our outreach there and that day God broke my heart for the things that break His, and one of the biggest things God hates is social injustice. God has recently put counseling on my heart, specifically counseling women/children that have been trafficked, and my answer is yes, my heart longs to bring restoration to these women through God. In order to do that, I need to know and understand the bible, so that brings me to here and now. God is preparing me by having me take this 9 month school, so that I can tell these women/children about Jesus and how they were sold for nothing, and that they will be redeemed without money through only Him. -Isaiah 52:3
God is working in my heart here so much its beyond words, and I can't wait to have the opportunity to go out to the nations and bring what I have learned here in the SBS.

I encourage you all to check out this link, and see why sex slavery is so strongly on my heart...
http://vimeo.com/11013582 

Thank you for all your prayer and support! I hope you all are doing great in good ol' Maine! If I could, I would send you some sunshine! Love and miss you all.

Love,

Kalyne

 

God Story

Okay so I'm so excited because something new has come up =D My roommate and I were taking a walk this morning and starting talking about going on outreach. I had decided beforehand that I did not feel like God was leading to go on outreach even before the school started, but today I feel like God has totally changed my heart about it only I wouldn't be going with a group from SBS. My roommate and I had this amazing RANDOM idea that we could make our own outreach in a way. She has a huge heart for Cambodia because she went there for her DTS outreach and actually ended up staying there when her team left. She built amazing relationships there and good connections with the base. 

God just reminded TODAY during my DTS 2 years ago I had such a huge desire to go on outreach to Thailand and Cambodia but I knew that the Lord was calling to me to go to India and Nepal. I was actually really upset, and felt like I was on the wrong DTS outreach when we got to India but when it came down to it I am so happy that I did go to India and Nepal because God showed me so much about myself and Him there and how much those people need Him. I feel like this year this is my opportunity to go to Cambodia and Thailand like I wanted to 2 years ago. Both my roommate and I feel very strongly about this decision and really feel like God is saying go! How amazing is that? Im going to be sending out support letters to start raising money and telling all of you the details of the ministry we will be doing there. More information will be coming soon when we get in contact with the base leaders in Cambodia! Such an exciting random day for both my roommate and I!! 

Be blessed, 

-Kalyne

SBS Life

Hey all! 
I'm sorry I haven't been keeping people updated on my life while I've been in Hawaii. The truth is, school of biblical studies is a very tedious school and I barely have time to write a blog BUT God has definitely brought to my attention that it needs to be done so my loved ones can know and see what is going in my life as an SBS student =) So, I will say first off that I love SBS. I am learning so much about the bible, its insane! Everyday I continually experience Gods love deeper and deeper for me, and Im falling in love with Him all over again! 


The main idea of this school as students is to study the entire bible inductively. No commentaries or sources that we can look at. All our information we need to get internally, and from the information from lectures that we have every week that our staff teaches us. I've never been the "studious" type, and coming here and learning all this has been very hard for me, but I have benefitted from it already it is amazing! We are graded individually on every book and yes sometimes I do not get the best grade but I am not here for the grades. I am here for God, and my relationship with Him most importantly, to know Him and to make Him known. I have learned so much already and were only half way through the school! The thing I love about this school is learning the word of God for ourselves establishes this solid foundation for whatever we do in life. There is no other way to gain such a thorough understanding of the whole Bible in such a short time span, only 9 months! Its crazy! Anyways God has been revealing a lot to me recently just about our relationship and how He is totally transforming me into a whole new person =D 


One day I was in the prayer room that we here on the ywam base which is amazing to have by the way, it is so peaceful in there. Anyways, I was going through something and I couldn't figure it out, I just felt stuck. I was thinking how can I feel like this when Im in the word ALL the time, this shouldn't be happening. It was at that point where God spoke to me that I am trying too hard. Here I am studying the bible charting which is basically breaking down the text and interpreting what we believe the author is trying to get across to the people he is writing the message to. We chart each book, every chapter most of the time. It is very draining and a lot of us have gotten burnt out. So anyways, God spoke to me telling me that I was trying to hard, and that I need to include Him in my study while I'm charting. Charting has become like homework to me kind of and I realized that it is SUPER important that if I feel like God is speaking to me I need to put my pen down and let him speak because if I don't, He may not speak the word that he wants me to hear at that moment again because I didn't listen. So as I've gone through half of this school, I've learned that Gods desire is just for us to listen to Him and to love Him even through the hard trials in our lives. 


Anyways, I just wanted to catch all of you back home on what I'm doing in Kona and what Im learning about God's love. I hope you enjoyed this and I'll be blogging more so follow along if you would like to! 
Miss all of you, and I thank you so much for all your prayers! 


Be blessed, 
Kalyne =)