November - December 2010 Prayer Letter

Dear Supporters and Friends, November—December 2010

Things are winding down a bit during the holidays. And it is a good time for us to spend with family. We were in Arkansas for Thanksgiving with Luke’s Family and will be spending Christmas in Tennessee with Tonya’s side of the family. The kids love this time of the year. And Kay-Leigh is praying and looking for her first snowfall before we go back to Kenya.

We do still have a bit of traveling to do and all of the regular service times are booked up until January. And we will be leaving on January 10th. Please pray for our departure. By the time we leave we will have reported and presented the ministry to nearly 90 churches and traveling over 40,000 miles since starting furlough in May of this year. Through all of this time, God has blessed and met every need along the way and has added prayer warriors that will lift up our family and ministry in prayer. Several have been saved in services, (Kay-Leigh got saved in September) and others surrendered their life to full-time service. Praise the Lord.

I would also like to tell you about Mrs. Katie Walker, who contacted us about a year ago, and wanted to come to Kenya to help us in our work. Over the last two months, our schedule has allowed us to meet her and get to know some of her family in south Mississippi. She is a very dedicated Christian lady and is willing to serve in any area of need. She has already started teaching herself Swahili and understands more than most without being in Kenya. She is packing her belongings and will be sending her things with our crate in January and will be flying to Kenya on January 30th. Please pray for her safety in traveling as well. If your church would be able to help her in any way with set-up expenses when she arrives. Please contact Calvary Independent Baptist Church and Pastor Jeff Greeson at 405-563-3197. I believe that she will be a great help to our ministry.

Needs as we return to Kenya
Shipping a crate $1,000
Photocopier $850
ABEKA School needs $3,000
Setting up Dorms $5,500
Orphan Ministry $13,000
Monthly Work Support $1,000

Thank you for the new friendships, renewed fellowship, and financial care for our family while we have been here in the States. Pray for those in Kenya who are not as blessed as we are during this Christmas Season. God bless you.

For Souls in Kenya

Luke and Tonya Shelby
Missionaries in Kenya

November - December 2010

Dear Supporters and Friends, November—December 2010

Things are winding down a bit during the holidays. And it is a good time for us to spend with family. We were in Arkansas for Thanksgiving with Luke’s Family and will be spending Christmas in Tennessee with Tonya’s side of the family. The kids love this time of the year. And Kay-Leigh is praying and looking for her first snowfall before we go back to Kenya.

We do still have a bit of traveling to do and all of the regular service times are booked up until January. And we will be leaving on January 10th. Please pray for our departure. By the time we leave we will have reported and presented the ministry to nearly 90 churches and traveling over 40,000 miles since starting furlough in May of this year. Through all of this time, God has blessed and met every need along the way and has added prayer warriors that will lift up our family and ministry in prayer. Several have been saved in services, (Kay-Leigh got saved in September) and others surrendered their life to full-time service. Praise the Lord.

I would also like to tell you about Mrs. Katie Walker, who contacted us about a year ago, and wanted to come to Kenya to help us in our work. Over the last two months, our schedule has allowed us to meet her and get to know some of her family in south Mississippi. She is a very dedicated Christian lady and is willing to serve in any area of need. She has already started teaching herself Swahili and understands more than most without being in Kenya. She is packing her belongings and will be sending her things with our crate in January and will be flying to Kenya on January 30th. Please pray for her safety in traveling as well. If your church would be able to help her in any way with set-up expenses when she arrives. Please contact Calvary Independent Baptist Church and Pastor Jeff Greeson at 405-563-3197. I believe that she will be a great help to our ministry.

Needs as we return to Kenya
Shipping a crate $1,000
Photocopier $850
ABEKA School needs $3,000
Setting up Dorms $5,500
Orphan Ministry $13,000
Monthly Work Support $1,000

Thank you for the new friendships, renewed fellowship, and financial care for our family while we have been here in the States. Pray for those in Kenya who are not as blessed as we are during this Christmas Season. God bless you.

For Souls in Kenya

Luke and Tonya Shelby
Missionaries in Kenya

Prayer Letter September – October 2010

Dear Supporters and Friends,                                                     September–October 2010
We want to thank you for your prayers for our family as we have been traveling. We have spent the last six weeks in New Mexico, Texas, and a few meetings in Missouri and Arkansas. God has kept us safe while traveling over 17,000 miles, and we have reported to a good number of our supporting churches. We have also been in 16 new churches and 6 of them have promised to take us on for support. Autumn is wonderful time of the year to be in the States, but with it comes cooler weather. Over the next month, I will be traveling to meetings alone, and the family will be staying with Tonya's parents in East Tennessee in order to help them get caught up in homeschooling. The kids have done great on the road, but it is really hard to keep a good schedule!
The work in Kenya is doing well, and the churches have continued with all of the special meetings that are planned from year to year like: VBS and Ladies' Camp. We have been able to talk to them from time to time in order to encourage them in the Lord. And nearly every time, they express how they want each of you to know how much they love you and thank you for being a part of sending the gospel to them, in order for them and their families to be saved.
There are two ministries in Kenya that we would like to highlight the future goals for you in order to raise funds for these goals to be reality.

Orphan Ministry (click here to see our brochure)

We have already mentioned our new Orphan Ministry in earlier prayer letters and on our website, but we have inserted a brochure with this letter to help with the breakdown of getting this project started. The total need of financial support for the first couple of years (in order to be able to help any orphan that is brought to us for help) would be in the range of $20,000. This amount would include facilities that could take care of almost 100 children in various locations, and assist in the monthly care for them in a Christian family environment. You can help through VBS, Christmas, School offerings, special church offerings, monthly support, and prayer for God to supply the need. 

South Nyanza Baptist College

We are also trying to raise funds for setting up dormitories (beds, mattresses, and sheets) and office supplies, as well as monthly support, to accommodate the growth of the college for the upcoming year. God has blessed the churches that we have been able to start with men and women that are hungry for the word and burdened for the world around them to be saved. My goal is to see over 100 students in the college over the next couple of years. But we need your help to make this possible. Please read the attached letter, see the progress that has been made, and pray about helping with one of the needs mentioned. Please consider the college for monthly support as a separate mission project of your church.  Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministries. 
Luke and Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya
Mission: The mission of South Nyanza Baptist College is to train pastors and leaders of Local Independent Baptist churches to have a better understanding of the Bible, and to equip them to serve the Lord in the ministries of their local church. We also endeavor to produce men who will have a vision for the thousands of villages that need a Gospel witness, and to develop laborers within local churches to plant churches in other villages around them.

History: The college started in May of 2001 with two students meeting in a church in Kisii. A few months later, we opened a branch that met simultaneously with other pastors in the village of Sadieda. In 2003, all of the pastors were combined at Bible Baptist Church in the town of Rongo; and classes were held under a tent for three years, training men from around the region. Then in 2007, it moved to Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii, where it has continued to grow in the major city in our region.
Currently: South Nyanza Baptist College has a total of 52 students that are attending the Three-Year Program and the Pastoral Seminar Program. There are more than 20 on a waiting list to start classes in January 2011, and we have 12 students of the Three-Year Program that are scheduled to graduate by the end of 2011.
Future Plans: By 2011, we need to be able to rent a portion of a complex. This will help us to set up classrooms, dormitories, and a kitchen to accommodate the students while classes are in session. The rental property below is also up for sale but at a really high price. We are praying that getting in the door by renting a small section to accommodate our needs right now, will help in the future if we need to buy, in order to expand.

The complex is located on the main highway between Kisii and Kisumu. It is about 20 minutes from Kisii town. This is a satellite photo from google maps. The bigger part of the building is two story on the right and on the left. And we are looking at renting the section on the right.
This section is big enough to set up dormitories, classrooms, and it can be used for our Church Conference, Pastor's School and Ladies' Camp that are held annually; We also have a church that we planted in this area in 2004, they would also be able to use this on Sundays.
It will enable us to accommodate any size of church or college group that would come to visit us from the States for a short term mission trip.

Needs:
Monthly support $500 (Rent, utilities, upkeep, staff, supplies)
Bunk beds ($100 ea.) x 50= $5000
Mattresses ($20 ea.) x 100= $2000
Office set up costs.

South Nyanza Baptist College
Three-Year Program

The Three year course is set up to give basic Bible knowledge to Christians in their local church.
Currently, the three-year program is operated one week every month for nine months out of the year to correspond with the usual school year in Kenya, with breaks in April, August, and December.
Each subject has a total of 18 hours of class time, and a homework time of 2-5 hours per subject.
Each subject is available in the language of Swahili in a simplified format.
A Three month period of classes covers 4 subjects, which equals to 12 subjects in a year and 36 subjects in the three year course.
Students are only accepted at the beginning of each year which runs from January – December.
Students must have a clear testimony of salvation, baptism in a Baptist Church, one year of attendance in a Baptist Church, and the recommendation of his pastor to be enrolled.
Students are required to give an account of daily Bible reading, prayer requests, tithes and offerings, weekly visitation, attendance, and serving in their churches in a Christian Service Notebook in order to continue to be enrolled in the college. One half of their total grade for each class is given from their Christian service in their local church.
Students pay their own transport each month to attend classes. We give them return fare home at the end of the week.
We provide room and board for the entire week (Monday – Friday) that they are in classes.
We provide them with printed and bound notebooks (depending on finances), or they take their own notes.
A final exam is given at the end of each subject and grades are determined as followed: Quizzes = 20%, Assignments = 20%, Final Exam = 10%, Christian Service 50%.
A diploma is awarded to them upon the completion of the 36 subjects at a graduation ceremony.

Pastoral Program

The Pastoral program is set up to equip pastors for the work of the ministry in seminary form.
Students are required to have completed the three year course at this college or another approved Baptist college before moving to the area.
Currently, the classes are offered three times a year during the break months of the three-year program: April, August, and December.
Each subject has a total of 12 hours of class time and 5-10 hours of homework.
More Subjects will be available in the future.
A monthly work report notebook is used to give an account of weekly tithes and offerings, visitation, salvations, baptisms, attendance records, and other ministries of their church.
Students pay their own transport each month to attend classes. We give them return fare home at the end of the week.
We provide room and board for the entire week (Monday – Friday) that they are in classes.
We provide them with printed and bound notebooks (depending on finances), or they take their own notes.
Completion of the class is determined by a final essay, attendance to the class, assignments, and completion of their notes.
Recognition is given to those who continue to be trained on a yearly basis, and ministry opportunities are available to those who are faithful like: Teaching in the College, Prison Ministries, Camps, and Evangelistic teams to start new churches.
Ordination of some of the pastors, which we have been working with, is scheduled to correspond with their church's organization in the near future.  

July – August 2010 Prayer Letter

Dear Supporters and Friends,                             July—August 2010

Greetings from the Shelby family from Cincinnati, Ohio. We have a couple of meetings here in the area, and we are enjoying traveling as a family during this furlough. We have been in nearly 40 churches, in nine states, and have traveled 10,000 miles since beginning furlough in May. It has been really good to spend quality time with supporting pastors and churches and to report to them about the great things that the Lord has done in Kenya. Continue to pray for traveling mercies for us and for strength in order to be a blessing to every church that we are in.

The kids have had a good time ministering in churches as they sing, help with VBS, and other activities. They have also been able to see the sights as we travel like: the Blue Angels, a couple days at the beach, Montgomery Zoo, Six Flags, fishing, canoeing, seeing different museums and numerous parks, a battleship, Arkansas State Capitol, and several other activities. We also thank God for several families whom we have been able to spend time with in different areas, and for new relationships with Godly families, as well as seeing old friends once again.

It has really been a blessing to explain to our children; to have them understand that all of these churches that we have visited (and the friends that we have met) are responsible for us being able to live in Kenya and to reach the Kenyans with the Gospel; and to help them realize that it is not something that is only dependant on Mom and Dad, but on God through your prayers and support for our family. It is such a blessing for us to see the light of understanding come on in their hearts when they realize that God loves us, and He is taking care of us in all that we do, through each of you.

We have had two supporting churches raise our support, and we have had a few promises of monthly support for our family and ministries. Also the Orphan Ministry has received some offerings that are being put aside for use when we return to the field in January. Other substantial amounts have been promised for the orphans, and we are expecting God to do great things in this project as we, "...visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction."

We have already been helping four orphans, but as soon as we arrive in Kenya we will confirm the other orphans that we will be helping; and we will send character sketches of those children for those of you who are helping individually. If you would be interested in this project please visit our website (www.shelbysinkenya.org) and view the content there, send us an e-mail (info@shelbysinkenya.org), or call (501-258-5573) for more information.

This kind of project has been special to my heart since I was a child and read books about George Mueller and others who depended on God in prayer. They made a difference in the lives of so many young people who would have never had a chance to know about God's love. Also we can thank God for what He has given to us in our own Christian heritage by helping others to experience the love of Christ spiritually, physically, and emotionally.

Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministries.

Luke and Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya

May – June 2010 Prayer Letter

Dear Supporters and Friends,                                                                                 May–June 2010

We want to thank you for your prayers for our family. We arrived safely, and we have been able to spend some time with our families. We have most of our schedule booked, and we are looking forward to seeing many of you while we are travelling.

We have made new prayer cards, our DVD presentation and copies, and display, so we are now prepared for our furlough travels. We will be getting new packets sent to all of our supporting churches, that we will not be visiting during this furlough, so please be looking for that package in the next few weeks.

God has blessed us with a 2000 GMC van from a good missionary, friend that we have known for several years. God blessed him with the van, and he passed it on to us. It is good and comfortable for everyone to travel; and we thank God for providing this for us, so we can travel as a family for most of the time that we are here.

The works in Kenya are doing well, and we have been able to be in better contact with them than in the past because of better technology there now in some areas. God has been blessing, the attendance is doing well, and people are continuing to be reached with the Gospel. At this point in our ministry God has blessed with 18 churches being started, since we began working in the Kisii area. And over 6,000 have come to know Christ, through all of the ministries, over the last 11 years of living and working in Kenya. We thank you for your prayers and support that has made all of this possible. God bless you!

Please pray that God would help us get into some churches for new support. We have lost support from 10 churches due to the economy situation and church closures; and so right now we only have 65% of our work support, and we need to raise the remaining 35% which amounts to $1,500 a month support. This support is set apart for work funds only to use in the following ways each month:

? South Nyanza Baptist College     $500

? Church Planting and building         $500

? Bible Study materials         $200

? Orphan care                 $300

                     $1,500

We have already had several meetings, and we have a calendar available on our website (www.shelbysinkenya.org), so that anyone who wants to keep up with our meetings and progress while we are on furlough is able to do so.

Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministries.

Luke and Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya

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.

Furlough 2010

We want to let all of our friends, family, supporters, and prayer partners know that we will be returning to the USA in May 2010 for our regularly scheduled furlough. Our furlough will be approximately 7 months long, since we will be returning to Kenya in January 2011. Please pray for our family during this time, as we will throughout the entire time we are in the USA.

If we have already scheduled a meeting in your church, then we will contact you shortly after arriving in the USA, in order to make any final arrangements. We are looking forward to seeing each and every one of you!

If we have NOT scheduled a meeting with you or your church yet; please feel free to contact us by e-mail: mail@shelbysinkenya.org . Once you request a meeting, we will be able to tell when we are scheduled to be in your general area. We will try our best to work you into our schedule; but please keep in mind that we are only in the USA for 7 months, and we may have to schedule a visit to your church during our next furlough.

Please feel free to keep up to date with our family and ministries by watching or following the following links:

    Website: http://www.shelbysinkenya.org/

    Blog page: http://shelbysinkenya.org/WordPress/

    Youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/TheShelbysinKenya

    Twitter: http://twitter.com/Shelbysinkenya

    Facebook: Tonya Kay Shelby

Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministries,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya

January – March 2010 Prayer Letter

Dear Supporters and Friends,

God has been very good to us, and He has opened many doors for our ministry this year. We thank you for your prayers and support for our family, which has made all of these ministries possible. We have been able to update our ministry website to help inform you of God's work in our area. Please take a look and pray for the people, churches, and other ministries that you see pictures of, and thank God for opening these doors. (www.shelbysinkenya.org). Some of these ministries we would like to share with you now.

God enabled us to have over 60 teenagers, from seven of our churches take part in Youth Camp in December. We taught on living a holy life and being separated from the things of the world. At the end of the week, more that 40 of them stood and signed a "Vow of Purity" to keep until they get married. This is a big step for most of them, because of the lack of parental guidance. Teen pregnancy leads to many abortions every year, and to many of the diseases that we face in Kenya.

God put us in contact with a Christian named, George, from Nairobi. He moved to his home area where there were not any Baptist Churches within a 2 hour drive from his house. We met him and others from his area, and they started a Preaching Point in February 2009. They rented a room, which had once been used as a movie house; and they were averaging between 50-60 by the end of the year. Many have been saved because of the result of George's faith to have a Baptist Church in his village. We visited with them and held a meeting in December to prepare the people to start the church. Then last week on March 7, 2010, Calvary Baptist Church of Sidundo Village, had its first service as a church with 162 in attendance. We also had the first baptism of 42 precious souls, who had been saved through the course of the year, and who have continued to be grounded in the teaching of the Word of God. Because of George's influence in the community, they have now given a 5-acre plot to the church to build their church building. Praise the Lord. This is the 13th church that God has given us the opportunity to be a part of starting. To God be the glory!

We have scheduled our furlough, to begin in May of this year, and we will return to Kenya in January 2011. We are only able to take a short furlough due to many of our ministries that need close attention at this time. We have been able to schedule meetings with many churches already, but there are a few remaining churches that we have not been able to get a hold of from here. We will be raising more work support to help us meet the demands of our ministries that God has opened to us. If your church does not already support us, and would like us to stop by or send our Ministry DVD, please contact us through our email, website, or facebook page (mentioned on the website).

Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministries.

Luke and Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya

 
 

Abigail’s Blog #2

Dear Friends and Family,

    The place where I live is very special to me. Kenya, East Africa--my home--is special to me because of its rolling hills, variety of birds, and bumpy dirt roads that lull me to sleep. Kenya is both green, lush jungle and dry savanna. Most of Kenya's wildlife is protected by Game Reserves, which also stretch into her southern neighbor, Tanzania. On Kenya's coast lies the Indian Ocean, this gives Mombasa a seaport with which to trade goods. All of these facts encourage me to stay in Kenya a long, long time.

                        Sincerely yours,

                        Abigail Shelby