Orphan Ministry Update

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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

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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