Our 2 oldest daughters, Abigail and Breanne, plan to go on a mission trip to the Amazon Basin this summer with BIMI's SMART Team.
1. We would appreciate your prayers for them as they prepare for their SMART trip, on-field training in the Amazon (Brazil, Colombia and Peru) and Medellin Colombia in the Andes Mountains, from May 13th – June 8th.
2. The Lord has provided almost 40% of the $3990 base support that will be needed for each of our girls, but this only covers their expenses once they leave the Atlanta airport. They need to raise additional support to cover their connecting flights from Little Rock to Atlanta, immunizations, plus supplies being taken to the missionaries and the ministries that our girls will be working in during this trip.
3. Please continue to pray that that the Lord will provide the remaining support needed by their deadline on April 25th.
4. Please pray for the entire SMART team, for their missionary hosts, and for their leaders as they prepare for this trip, that they may a blessing & that many lives will be changed.
5. If you feel led to assist our girls financially, we would count it a blessing.
6. If you live in the Little Rock/Jacksonville area and would like to help with their supply list or extra suitcases that will be needed, this would also be a tremendous blessing to our girls.
Please contact us via email (info@shelbysinkenya.org) to help.... and we will contact you with the details about where and how to send your love gift. Have a blessed day!
February-March 2018 Prayer Letter
Printable Version (PDF)
Dear Prayer Supporters and Friends,
Happy New Year 2018 from the Shelby Family. This year has started off very busy, and there has been a lot that we have wanted to share with you. But we have been waiting for the development of these things to be fully understood before writing about them. We sent out an e-Prayer Letter in January; if you did not get it, please use this link to download it: http://bit.ly/November-January2018.
Politics: This year has started much like 2017 ended, with the Opposition party still not recognizing the results of the elections that were re-done in October. They have caused more protesting on the roads in areas where we have churches, but not in the Kisii region. At the end of January the Opposition party leader inaugurated himself as the “People’s President,” and has now called for fresh elections to take place in August this year. Please pray that the two parties can work through their disagreements peaceably and soon; so that peace would reign in the country, and also so that the work of the Lord can continue in all areas of the country.
Bible College: We have 15 new students this year, giving us a total of 47 students! God has given us 8 Pastors who are helping teach in the Bible College this year, and this is a blessing to see.
Funerals: Just since the beginning of the year we have had several funerals in some of our churches. James Ochieng was a deacon in our church in Kisii, and he passed away after being sick with tuberculosis for just a few weeks. There were nearly 1,000 people at his funeral and several hundred prayed during the invitation for God to save them. The mother of Pastor George Okoth (pastor of Bible Baptist Church of Rongo) passed away after a tragic car accident. Another lady in Rongo, that was in bad health for several months, also passed away. Just one week before she died, I was able to visit her with Pastor Okoth, and she gave her heart to the Lord. There is so little time to reach people, and we thank you for your prayers as we try to reach as many as possible before it is too late.
Orphans: We were able to purchase all of the children new uniforms to start the year, but we have not received pictures yet from all of the pastors. We will include those in the orphan letter that we send out to those that are supporting this ministry.
SMART Trip: Thank you to those of you who have sent money in order to help Abigail and Breanne prepare for their mission trip through BIMI this summer. Each of them have raised around 25% of the amount that is needed (total needed is $3,900) so far.
Building Projects: We have finished the fencing at our church and orphanage in Sidundo, and we have started the foundation work on our church in Rongo. We need to raise approximately $5,000 for building projects. The projects include the church building in Rongo, plus an extension to our church building in Kisii. The Kisii building extension will include baptistry rooms and a prophet’s chamber for visiting Kenyan Pastors and missionaries that this church supports in East Africa. We have a team scheduled to come at the end of the summer to finish these projects.
We are very thankful for your prayers for our family and ministries in Kenya!
For Souls in Kenya,
Luke and Tonya Shelby
Missionaries in Kenya
