October 2022 - February 2023 - Graduation, New Churches, New Bible Study, Furlough, & More...

Happy New Year from the Shelby Family! 

It has been a busy few months here, and there is a lot to write about.  I will not be able to go through too many details at this time, but we will in the next few months.

Hope Baptist Church

At the end of October, we helped a new missionary, David Smith, along with one of our Bible College graduates start their first church here in Kisumu.   Pray for Hope Baptist Church and the Smith Family, as we have now placed the weekly ministry responsibilities of this church completely in their hands.

South Nyanza Baptist College

God blessed, and we had 18 graduates to close out 2022.  Five of them graduated from our Pastoral degree program, and they are ministering in their local churches in different parts of our region of Kenya.  We also have several new students that have joined us for the new year of 2023.  Our current active student body is 72 enrolled students, who are studying in one of 9 local church branches of our Bible College in the Nyanza region of Kenya.

Youth Camp

We were able to have the first youth camp in 3 years, since everything closed down due to corona.  It was a very good attendance 50+ youth and counselors.  We even had youth from two new areas of Kisumu and Kericho, where new churches are getting started.  We had 13 saved and it was a great blessing to be able to make connections with many that we had not been able to see for the past few years.

Immanuel Independant Baptist Church

Another NEW church started in one of the villages around Kisii, Karogo, on January 8th, out of another church in Raganga, where we have a branch of our Bible College for surrounding churches.  

Also another NEW Bible Study recently started in the village of Sigoti, with one of our 2022 graduates. We are excited about what the Lord is doing in the opening new areas for the preaching of the Word of God through these men whom He  has allowed us to have had a part in training them for the ministry. God is so good!

Hip Surgery

Last summer while we were in Arkansas for a few weeks to meet our first grandson, I had some doctor appointments, and we were told that I needed a full hip replacement. We were told that I could possibly wait until our regularly scheduled furlough (see details below), but the pain has continued to get worse. So, we began seeking medical advice on this side, and the surgeons here agree that I need surgery soon, and they are sending me to South Africa for surgery. We will be flying to Cape Town on February 17th, my surgery will be February 21st, and if recovery goes as planned we will return to Kenya on March 6th. Once back in Kenya, I will be able to continue physiotherapy and finish any doctor’s appointments here. We are planning for 6-8 weeks for recovery time; and once I get a medical release, we will be ready for our furlough. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for all the extra travel and for a quick recovery.

Furlough

We want to let you know that we are planning to return to the USA in May 2023 for our regularly scheduled furlough. Our furlough will be approximately 9 months long, and we plan to return to Kenya in February 2024. Our schedule has already started filling up, so if your church would like to schedule a meeting, please send us an email as soon as possible to: mail@shelbysinkenya.org.  Please pray for our family during this time, as we will be getting our youngest daughter settled in Bible College and traveling thousands of miles while we are in the USA.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby Family