Prayer Letter April 2010

Dear Supporters and Friends,                                                    April 2010

We thank you for the opportunity to serve our Lord on your behalf in the country of Kenya. As we are preparing for furlough, we are preparing to contact everyone personally during the next six months. We will be getting on the plane in Nairobi, Kenya on May 5th and arriving in the USA on the 6th. Please pray that there will not be any disruptions in air travel; like what was experienced last week with volcanic ash.

This will be a short furlough, because some of the works that have been started this last term need close attention. Our schedule has filled up fast, and there are only a few weeks of open dates. Please pray for us as we will be traveling and raising work support for some projects that the Lord has opened up to our ministry.

It was a big desire of mine, working on the bus routes in Arkansas, to help the children of Kenya who are less fortunate. For a long time, I have been praying and asking God to help this door open to us in order to minister to orphans here; where there is very little assistance from the government to help them. We are trying to teach our churches to try to help where they can; but it is just so little, and the need is so great. We are praying that we could help these orphans with food, clothing, medicine, and schooling as well as spiritual and emotional development. We want to assist them on a monthly basis with basic needs at first. And then when the funds are available, we will help provide a place for them to stay; where they can grow up in a Christian environment. It is sad to say that orphans live as outcasts even when they are living with their as outcasts even when they are living with extended family (grandparents, aunts, or uncles).

Some projected costs for this ministry are:

? Monthly Care Package -($15 per child per month.)

? Daily orphanage care ($30 per child per month.)

? Building costs to build a house on the property of a church already in existence.

Please help us care for these orphans and others, through the work of the churches that have already been established. We will begin this ministry when we return to Kenya in January 2011.

April has been very busy, and we have visited some of our churches. We also had a leadership conference where 56 pastors and leaders from 9 churches came to Kisii. It was a good time for us to fellowship with them and to say good-bye for a while. We also celebrated the 3rd Anniversary for Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii. There were 206 in attendance and several visitors.

Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministries.

Luke and Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya

 
 

Riot Police Right Outside Our Gate!

(The wall around our house and our gate!)

Tuesday morning, shortly after 8 AM, we heard a mob of people shouting and making lots of noise. When we looked outside, we were VERY surprised to see riot police just a few feet from our gate! The Piki Piki (motorcycle) Taxi Association (one of the main modes of public transportation in our town) was protesting the fact that the police have cracked down on them and have started arresting them. The police have good reason, since the majority of the drivers have never even applied for a driver's license and their motorcycles are not usually licensed or insured either! Anyway, a lot of the drivers got together and put their motorcycles across the roads all over town so that NO traffic could go through. Our house is on the main bypass into town; so where do they decide to put their largest barricade? Right outside our gate!! All of the noise that we heard was actually all of the drivers trying to get away before the police stopped their vehicle and got out. The people you can see in the background had all picked up stones and long sticks, preparing themselves for battle. The police arrested every single person who was holding anything in their hands. There was not enough room in their vehicle, so they had them marching down the road with armed policemen. The whole episode only lasted about 45 minutes, but it was a very tense time for all of us. Our children had been riding their bikes in our driveway (where the gate is!), when we first heard anything. We got everyone inside and locked the doors! I took the pictures from our bedroom window. We praise the Lord for His MIGHTY hand of protection for our family! It during times like these, that we truly know that we have God's faithful people praying for us. Thank you for YOUR prayers! When God lays someone on your heart, please do not hesitate to pray for them; this experience is just one example of how God answers all of our prayers and yours too!

Leadership Conference 2010

We want to say thank you to everyone who has been praying for our Leadership Conference this year. The Conference was held from April 8 – 11, at Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii Town, Kenya. We had 56 leaders (Pastors, Pastors' wives, and other church leaders) come from 9 of our churches in the Nyanza Province Region. We had good preaching each morning and evening. Each night after the evening meal, we had a different session: Question and Answer session, a special Singing session, and a Bible Challenge Quiz session (each church was in competition to win a large print family Bible to use and display in their church). During the day sessions, we had lessons on Children's Ministries, Ladies' Ministries, Godly Church Music, Church Ordinances (Baptism & Lord's Supper), and Soul-winning. We even had a Christian Wedding Ceremony for some of the Pastors and their wives. That may sound strange to you, but we are finding that it is becoming quite welcome among the Kenyan people. All of these men and women have had traditional ceremonies, but they desire to have a Christian ceremony as well. The Kenyan government is also starting to recognize the Christian Ceremony over the Traditional one. We really had a good time with all of our people. They were able to share with one another their blessings and their trails, and they were able to encourage one another over the 4 day conference. We rejoice in the Lord for the many blessings He has allowed us to see take place in the lives of our people in the last 5 years (our current term on the field). And we are greatly anticipating what the Lord is going to do next! Please continue to pray for the churches in our Nyanza Province Region.