October Prayer Letter

Printable Version (PDF)

Dear Prayer Partners,

Thank you for your prayers for the country of Kenya during this year of elections; it seems that the politics will just never go away. The elections were nullified by the Supreme Court on September 1st, on a technicality, with no recount of any of the votes. They are rescheduled for October 26th, with the opposition saying that they may boycott the elections, because the ruling party is trying to change election laws before the elections. We have been writing other updates and will continue to do so; keep Kenya in your prayers, and know that we (personally) have not been in any danger, but there have been riots country wide over the past 6 weeks and will continue for the foreseeable future. Thank you for your prayers.

God is blessing the ministry, and nothing had to be postponed because of insecurity of our pastors and Bible College students getting to classes. The Bible College is doing well and will have a “College Days” at the end of November, where all of the students will be together for preaching and preparation for the new year. We will close the meeting with graduation for one student on December 2nd. We have 40 students total this year in 4 different locations and schedules. We are Seeing God bless in the new church plants in the villages of Kegogi, Sibuoche, and Og’eng’a with souls being saved. We had an Family/Leadership camp with 40 men and women from about 7 churches that were able to come. It was a good time of fellowship and refreshment. And the orphanage now has solar lights, and all of the orphans are doing well.

We have prayed that God will send us laborers to help us in the work, and God is doing just that. Matthew Rose and his family started deputation in January this year, and he is doing well. They are on full time deputation, and they need your support. They will be coming to work with us for a short time as they learn the language and culture before choosing a place to start their work. Also, a young lady named Erica Bohman, who is an MK from here in Kenya has the desire to come and work with us in children ministries here in Kenya. She just started having meetings about a month ago, and she needs your prayers and support for her to be able to come to the field to assist us. We are excited about what the Lord is doing and plans to do!

Our girls, Abigail and Breanne, are also looking for the direction that God has for their lives and will be taking a missions trip to the Amazon Jungle with CAMP BIMI ’s S.M.A.R.T. Trip on May 14 - June 8, 2018. They will also need to raise their support to make this trip possible. They will be writing letters and calling churches as if they are on deputation. If you would like to assist them in any way, we know they would appreciate it. Feel free to email us if you would like more details.

For Souls in Kenya

Luke and Tonya Shelby

Update 6 - Kenyan Presidential Elections 2017

Today has been a good day! It has been calm all day pretty much country wide (as far as we have heard). We had good services in Kisii Town & have had good reports from several of our other churches. So far, Bible BC of Rongo is the only one that was not able to meet on the church property, but they met in a members home for today's services.

The opposition leader did go into the large Nairobi slums today to speak to his supporters, but unfortunately he was NOT asking them to remain calm. He told them they have the right to demonstrate their grievances & urged them to do so.

So today may have just been the calm before the storm, but our prayer is that the opposition's followers will see that peace is the only way for Kenya to go forward.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby Family
Missionaries in Kenya

Update 5 - Kenyan Presidential Elections 2017

The Kenya Red Cross has said that 24 people have been killed during the protests & 93 have been treated for injuries. A majority of these were in Kibera (a slum area in Nairobi), in Siaya, & in Kisumu.

Our church in Rongo has been directly affected as well. The Pastor called us this evening to let us know that protestors had uprooted the church's sign & had thrown it into the middle of the road to make a road block. The Pastor told us that the streets were all on fire with burning tires & other debris.

We have been in contact with many of our churches, & so far everyone is safe although there has been some minor property damage.
We are thankful to say that Kisii Town (where we live) has remained calm, & today appeared as a normal day around town; so that was good to see.

Please be in prayer for services in all the towns & villages across Kenya tomorrow.

Thank you in advance for your continued prayers.

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby Family
Missionaries in Kenya

Kenyan Presidential Elections 2017 - 4

There still hasn't been an announcement for president, but the electoral commission made a statement that they believed they would have all forms by tomorrow (Friday) at noon and an announcement tomorrow late in the day or Saturday. (According to the law of Kenya, they can take up to 7 days to tally the votes! Hopefully we will not be waiting that long. 😊)

Thank you in advance for your continued prayers.

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby Family
Missionaries in Kenya

Kenyan Presidential Elections 2017 - 3

(This was in Kisumu, 2 hours from us.)


Please pray!

Things have been heating up throughout the day today here in Kenya, and we have begun getting some reports from some of our Pastors who have churches in areas known as being hotspots during elections. And they are already starting to see some violence in their areas.

Our family is safe at this time, but we have churches and church families who will be in some unsafe situations throughout the night tonight. Kisumu, Rongo, Siaya, Homa Bay, and Migori are currently experiencing trouble.

We covet your prayers for peace in Kenya, as it seems they are still not ready to declare a winner in the elections. Thank you in advance for your continued prayers.

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby Family
Missionaries in Kenya

Kenyan Presidential Elections 2017 - 2

We are 1/2 way through the day of Voting, & everything seems to be going more smoothly than it ever has before (at least since we have lived in Kenya-over 18 years).

There have been a few issues here & there, but very few so far.

The actual voting process has been good, so now just to wait for the announcement of the winners of the elections. This announcement is what has caused the chaos in the past, so we continue to ask for your prayers. Thank you in advance for your continued prayers.

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby Family
Missionaries in Kenya

Kenyan Presidential Elections 2017 - 1

Please join us in praying for Kenya, as the country braces itself for the presidential election tomorrow.  Elections here have a history of being times of protest and unrest.  We would appreciate your prayers for each Kenyan, each missionary family serving in Kenya, and each of our churches & ministries during the coming days. Thank you in advance for your prayers. Serving Him in Kenya, Luke & Tonya Shelby Family Missionaries in Kenya

Orphan Ministry Update

Printable Version (PDF)

Orphan Ministry Update
Over the last year we have needed to re-evaluate our orphan ministry and upgrade some things according to the current needs of the children. We have finished most of the work on the fencing and are doing maintenance and repair on some of the buildings. We also needed to get new mattresses, blankets, and mosquito nets for all of the children. We have used $4,000 in Sidundo over the last year, and there are still several other things that we would like to do.
There are currently 17 children, and we are planning to invite other children in the community who we know need help. (Originally, we only accepted those who were in our church already). There were some issues in the community while we were gone on furlough, and we are working on resolving them. Some of the older orphans have finished school and are working now. We still have contact with several of them through their families, and we have helped a few of them get jobs. We are thankful that God is continuing to bless them. Please continue to pray for them.
We have tried in the past to help with school fees for the children once they get into high school, because education is not free at that level in Kenya. We were only able to help a couple of them at a time due to the lack of orphan ministry support. Most of the guardians are unable to support the orphans during high school; this causes the boys to look for work early, and the girls to get married early. This year we have five students who need help with school fees; depending on the grade level, it will cost between $250-$300 per year, per child. Uniforms, shoes, and books are an additional $100 per child. According to orphan ministry support that we have coming in monthly, and from special offerings, it will not be possible for us to do this. At this point, we can only help the children with some of their fees on as extra funds are available. The general cost for taking care of the children to cover their needs for food and lodging is $30 per month, per child. We have just recently reached an average of $500 per month coming in for the orphan ministry. Adding the school fees to the food and lodging, would make total cost for their needs to be $60 monthly per child. Right now in two locations (Sidundo and Kuresoi) we are helping 30 children.
If you would be willing to adopt a child for their school fees or uniforms, please contact us by email; and we will give you more information about the children and their needs. Thank you for your prayers for this ministry and your love and care for these children.
God bless you. Luke and Tonya Shelby

March-May 2017 Prayer Letter

Printable Version (PDF)
 
Dear Supporters and Friends,
                                            
Thank you for your prayers and gifts for our girls while they have been in College. Abigail will be graduating on May 12th with a Bachelors Degree from Providence Baptist College in Elgin, Illinois. She will return for post-graduate work next year. Breanne still has two more years and will graduate in 2019. Time has gone by so fast for these young ladies, and God has opened so many doors and has given them much needed experience in life and in different ministries since they began college. They will be coming to Kenya for about 5 weeks during the summer. We praise the Lord for all that He has done in their lives. 

Week of Evangelism in Kegogi:
In March, we held an evangelistic meeting in the village of Kegogi where we started Calvary Baptist Church in January. We had around 30 Pastors, college students, and members of our church in Kisii that helped throughout the week with visitation during the day and street preaching in the open market areas. It was great experience for the college students with several saying that they had the chance to win their first person to Christ. They were so excited! Paskaria, one of the most faithful older ladies in our church, started taking college classes this year. She can barely read and cannot write very well, but she has memorized all the verses and illustrations to lead others to Christ. She was one who led their first soul to Christ, a lady named Eukabeti. It is so exciting to see how God can use anyone who is willing to serve Him. We had over 90 people saved in the course of the week and had 85 in attendance the following Sunday. On Easter Sunday a visitor got saved and left her beaded necklace at the altar; she was trusting in this necklace to keep her safe from evil spirits that are associated with the witchcraft that is practiced in the Kisii area. This is an amazing step that she made in fully accepting God's protection in her salvation. 

10th Anniversary in Kisii
We held our 10th Anniversary at Calvary Baptist in Kisii on April 16th with Missionary Robert Mickey preaching for us. We had at least 250 in attendance, and we had over 30 visitors with 5 getting saved. The ladies brought more visitors than the men throughout the campaign which started in March, so the men served the ladies their food after the service in celebration of winning the contest. There were over 70 visitors in the 7-week Visitor Campaign.

Building Projects 2017
Bible Baptist Church 50' by 25' building in Rongo $5,000 needed
Extension on the Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii $3,000 needed
NOTE: There is an update on the Orphanage in Sidundo on the next page.

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby
Your missionaries to Kenya

January-February 2017 Prayer Letter

Printable Version (PDF)

Dear Supporters and Friends, January - February 2017

JAMBO!!! From the Shelby Family in Kisii, Kenya. 2017 has kicked off with lots of things happening; it’s been VERY busy. We thank the Lord for the opportunity to serve Him another year, and also thank you for helping to make that possible. Thank you for your prayers, offerings, support, and your letters and words of encouragement to our family. Thank you for your prayers and gifts to our two college girls, Abigail and Breanne. Abigail will be graduating in May with a bachelor from Providence Baptist College in Elgin, IL, and Breanne is on track to graduate in 2018. We will be heading to the USA during May for Abigail’s graduation and to take care of Tonya's medical appointments. Then both of our girls will be returning to Kenya to for about a month this summer to visit with friends and work in the ministries here.

Church planting:
We are excited to be a part of the great ministry of church planting here; as we train the Kenyans to spread the Gospel to the regions beyond them. The fellowship of pastors here is working on a way of visiting and evangelizing in all of these areas as a group to encourage these new pastors. We have started the New Year off with three new church plants already!
1. Kegogi village started January 22
2. Og'eng'a Village started February 5 (by 2016 graduate Tom Onguku)
3. Sibuoche village started February 19 (by 2016 graduate Nikolas Mwenyane)

We also have at least four more Bible Studies that will become churches this year!
1. Ondome village - Peter Ochieng
2. Isebania town - Paul Isedia
3. Nyangera village - Joshua Omondi
4. Nyamiobo village - Enoch Nyakundi

We were also able to help another missionary, Robert Mickey, for a couple of days; as he was getting a church planted in the town of Kiligoris. I was able to personally lead 14 people to the Lord on those two days.

South Nyanza Bible College has opened up more branches with local church pastors training their church members in our Bible College curriculum. We have three other branches of our college in addition to the ones coming to Kisii town from other churches. We have also begun a Pastoral Degree program this year for pastors and graduates. We have a total of 45 students to begin the year in classes, and we expect that number to grow.

Thank you again for your prayers and support for our family and ministry, for Tonya's health, and for our girls in the States. God bless you!

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby
Your missionaries to Kenya

NEW Church Started in the Village of Kegogi!

We serve an amazing God!

Yesterday was the very first service of a NEW church plant in the Village of Kegogi. We have been holding a Bible study in this village every Sunday afternoon for the past 6 months & we have been averaging around 20 each week.

Well, after visiting & passing out tracks & flyers all day Saturday, we saw the Lord bless our first service! We had 47 in attendance & 1 man accepted Christ as his Savior. Several others raised their hands admitting that they knew they needed salvation, but they didn't come forward.

Please pray for this brand NEW church in Kegogi & for these precious souls that still need to be saved. We will be visiting as many of them as possible this coming Saturday!

Setting up a house in Siaya - part 2

Some pics of our upcountry home! Everyone has pitched in to help get it cleaned (it was VERY filthy!) & furniture put together & in place. We still have some things to work on (kitchen cabinets, pump for the well, etc.), but it's coming together nicely. Power has been off a LOT, & city water has only been on for a few hours 1 day this week, so getting things clean has been a challenging to say the least.

We want to thank everyone for your prayers as we have gotten settled in.

A great Sunday in Sidundo!

We had a great day at church last Sunday at Calvary BC in Sidundo Village. The building was FULL & we had 3 first time visitors & 1 lady accepted Christ as her Savior!

Bible College got off to a great start today as well. Keep Calvary BC in the Village of Sidundo in your prayers!

There is so much potential outreach from this 1 church, pray that we take the steps that God wants us to go in next.

Setting up a house in Siaya!

We made it to Siaya today. We were a day later than planned due to my health, but we made it! We drove both vehicles fully loaded down (& up⬆️), in order to setup a 2nd house close to one of our village churches, Bible College branch, & our orphanage. We will begin spending part of each month here in Siaya & the other part in Kisii town (5 1/2 hours away). The house needs a LOT of cleaning! And that will begin tomorrow. It is cheaper for us to rent a house than pay for rooms at a guesthouse each time, so we are thankful for the house he Lord provided! There are mango trees galore, grave trees, banana trees, papaya trees, & avocado trees too! When we first saw the house we were like, well... it needs some work (a lot actually--there was no indoor plumbing--time!). But when we saw all the fruit trees, all we could think about was the blessing that food would be to the orphanage!!