Fruitful Furlough Update and Prayer Needs - October to November 2023 🙏

 October - November 2023

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Dear Prayer Supporters and Friends,

We want to thank you for your prayers as we have been doing a lot of traveling, reporting to churches, and getting into new churches this furlough. Several more churches have voted to take us on for support, and we are praying that they will be able to start before the end of the year. Our daughter, Breanne, and her husband, Jeremy Martin, have arrived in the States for their first furlough after spending their first term in Mongolia. They need to raise more support for the ministries that they are getting started there. They are only here for a 7-month furlough, so please pray that they can visit churches and gain their needed support.

Many of the needs that we mentioned earlier have been met by the churches that we have been in the last couple of months. We thank the Lord for the generosity of the churches and individuals that is making all of this possible for our ministry in Kenya in the coming years.

Praise the Lord, these needs have been met: Oxygen Concentrator, Bibles for graduates, English Bibles, Songbooks, Shipping, Graduation expenses for December, Camping equipment for going into the villages, Ties, and Scarves for our Bible College Students.

Please pray for my two-week trip to Kenya in December, filled with visiting churches, holding 4 separate graduations, supplying training materials to start classes for 2024, and planning some of the new church plants that will take place next year.

Our ministry requires additional financial support to keep growing. We intend to establish a new area of training in our Bible College, focusing on young people who have recently graduated high school. Up until now, our main focus has been on working with families to establish churches in their home villages. As we move forward, we hope to expand our reach by training young people to spread the word of God to areas we have yet to reach. We pray that these young people will be instruments of God's work in new villages and towns.

One of our ministry goals has been to create an internship program that will provide training to the next generation of missionaries. During this furlough, we have had the opportunity to meet with young people in several churches and Bible Colleges who are interested in this type of internship. We are praying that this will help them serve the Lord and prepare themselves for a future in missionary work. If you're interested in learning more about this program, please let me know.

Please pray for these needs in Kenya:

• Return Airfare in February - $2,500

• Chairs for church in Narok 25@$4 each = $100

• Flooring resurface for BBC in Oltepesi - $100

• Solar power backup for our house - $800

• Swahili, Luo, and Maasai Bibles 100@$6 each = $600

Thank you very much for your love for the Lord and our family and your desire to serve the Lord.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya

All About Our Summer...

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Dear Supporters and Friends, June - July 2019

Thank your for your prayers for our family this summer. We were able to travel out west as a family and report to about 25 churches since May. Only a few of them were new churches, and we had 3 take us on for support in this short time. It was a blessing to see several of the churches who have supported us many of the twenty years that we have been in Kenya.

We thank the Lord for allowing us to see some of His wonderful creation as we traveled this summer, like the Grand Canyon, the Redwood Forest, Yosemite, Yellowstone, and both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. We covered over 15,000 miles from sea to shining sea this summer, and we thank each of you who prayed for our traveling safety during this time. Needless to say, everyone was ready for a break in our travels and for us to get stopped and settled in Arkansas in preparation for the school year to start.

Abigail and Breanne are getting all their supplies and classrooms ready for their second year teaching in the preschool at our home church in Jacksonville, AR. Pray for them and for the Lord to continue to lead them in the next steps of their lives in the coming years.

Caleb is enrolled at Bethel Baptist College, and he has a job lined up for him to start at the beginning of August. The Lord has blessed, and we were able to find him a car. He is excited, but a little apprehensive about life on his own. He will be moving into the dorms next week. Please pray for him and let him know you are praying for him. His college address is: Bethel Baptist College, 8809 Mills Valley Road, Jacksonville, Arkansas 72076.

All of the money for Kay-Leigh’s Mission Trip came in, and she will be in Costa Rica from July 23-30. Please pray for her and our teens as they serve during this Mission Trip. Caleb will be able to go on a Mission Trip in January, but the college is still fine tuning the details of that trip.

We will be helping in our home church’s Bible college, Bethel Baptist College, during a transition of new leadership. Tonya will be helping in the office and in the kitchen. I will be teaching a class and helping in different areas while we are still in the USA until January, at which time we will be returning to Kenya. We will be scheduling meetings at our supporting churches on the weekends between now and January. If you have any young people looking for a small college, please call our home church, Bible Baptist Church, at 501-982-8826 for more information. The Registration deadline for the Fall Semester is August 7th.

May the Lord bless, and thank you for your prayers for our family and ministries in Kenya.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby

April - May 2018 Prayer Letter from the Shelby Family in Kenya

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Dear Friends and Prayer Supporters, April / May 2018

God is Amazing!! We are standing in awe at the mighty things that He has done recently. There is so much to write about how He has been good to us. Thank you for your prayers and support for our family and ministry, because it is through you and all of God’s blessings that we can share His goodness with others.

1. Abigail and Breanne are now in the Amazon Basin with the SMART TRIP with BIMI for several weeks. They needed to raise $3,900 each (base support only) to go on the trip, and God blessed them with $5,500 and $6,000 (which took care of ALL the other added expenses above what the base support covered)! God provided for ALL of their expenses to get ready for their trip and so much more. It was an awesome experience for us as parents to see our daughters praying and depending on God to meet their every need. Thank you so much for being a blessing to them. God bless you!

2. On April 15th, we started our newest church in the town of Isebania with a week of soulwinning, street preaching, and passing out tracts and flyers. There were 114 people that got saved, and there were 24 in attendance for the first service. They were given a place to meet free of charge, and we are able to put up our own structure. Right now we are using a tent until a structure can be built. Pastor Paul Isedia was over 70 years old when he finished Bible College. A few years earlier he had been very sick and knew that he was going to die. He bought the wooden planks to build his coffin and had everything arranged with his family on how the funeral would be handled. He had done everything except dig the grave outside his home, as is the custom here. Then he started getting well. A preacher came to his home and led him to the Lord! Since then, he has been on fire for the Lord. God will use him to do a great work there and reminds us that it is never to late for God to use us in His service!

3. During the month of April, we have been doing a soulwinning class in our church in Kisii. To several who have been in Bible College, it has been a good refresher course; but to others it has really helped them to get a burden for their friends and family. At the same time, we started home Bible Fellowships at a few of the members homes. And it has been a great tool to evangelize their neighborhoods. During the month of April alone, 35 people came to know Christ as their Saviour on soulwinning and at these home Bible Fellowships. God is so very good!

4. The funds have also come in the for the building projects that were delayed because of the political turmoil last year, and we are ready to build! The skeleton frames and the roofing will be finished this week. We are building a church building for the church in Rongo, which is the first church that we started back in 2001. It has gone through a lot of difficulties; but over the last 3-4 years it has been doing very well under the leadership of Pastor George Okoth. We will also be adding on to the church building at Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii Town.

Thank you again for your faithful prayers for our ministry and family.

For Souls in Kenya,


Luke & Tonya Shelby

Abigail and Breanne's Summer Mission's Trip

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!

Back to Kenya

The series of blog post that you will see over the coming weeks will show a current date, but due to the FULL schedule that we have had since arriving back in Kenya; we have not had time to post regular blog updates. We do apologize for that! We will post the date at the top of each of these new posts showing when the event(s) took place.

June 1, 2016



Preparing to fly back to Kenya this morning, we all are having some mixed emotions. This was our longest time to stay in the USA on a furlough, so we all made new friends and renewed and friendships. And as you know, saying goodbye is never easy. Yet this time is very different for our family…we had to say goodbye to 2 of our own children! Abigail and Breanne both started Bible college during our year on furlough and are staying behind to finish the studies that the Lord has given them to do at this time in their lives. But this is definitely a new phase in all of our lives, and we are thankful that His grace is sufficient!

We would appreciate your prayers for our family during this time of transition.

July 2016 Prayer Letter

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July 2016

Prayer Supporters and Friends,

We are excited to be back in Kenya with the people that God has called us to minister to with the Gospel of Christ. We have been very busy, and we will try to give you the highlights so that you can continue to pray for our ministries here. We left Abigail and Breanne behind in the USA, so that they can complete Bible College. They have had a busy summer, working at daycares and being able to attend Camp BIMI in Chattanooga for a week, as well as stay with Tonya’s parents. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue their studies in August.

On arriving in Kenya, we had a supporting pastor and former missionary to Kenya and Tanzania, Pastor Tim Whitfield, with us on our first weekend; and a young man, David Smith, who is just out of college, on a survey trip with us for the next two weeks. We had a good time with them while we were getting settled.

We visited one of our rural churches about 2 1/2 hours away from Kisii with David Smith; so that he could see a village ministry, and we held an evangelistic meeting there. 10 adults were saved, and it was a great time! David preached in English, which was translated to Swahili, and then on to the Dholuo language (the tribal language in the village). So there were languages going in all different directions. It was fun! Getting there was not so fun though. It was raining when we got close to the village, and the roads are not good when it rains. We were sliding around and almost slid down into the ditch. So we used the bumper jack to push the truck back up to the center of the road. At this point, we noticed that a leaf spring had broken and slid over putting a hole in the gas tank (with a pen size stream coming out of it). As we continued our journey, David and some of our college students were pushing the vehicle back to the center of the road as I drove to keep us from sliding down into the ditch. When we finally got there covered in mud, and we were able to slow down the leak by putting a screw in the hole until we could get back to Kisii and fix it. I think it was a good missionary experience for David. Please pray for him as he prepares to do deputation and to get to the field as soon as possible.

There have been several blessings over the last few months and we thank our new supporters for taking us on. We were able to increase our support considerably during our furlough, and we know it will help us do so much more in our ministries here in Kenya. Thank you! Also thank you to everyone who prayed for or gave toward the purchase of a dependable vehicle for our family. We were able to buy a newer vehicle (Toyota Prado) since our return. We have had approximately $5,000 come in to help with the cost of $23,500, and we would appreciate your continued prayers for the rest of the needed funds to come in. Please consider a gift from your church to help with this need.

God bless you and thank you for your prayers.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby

April 2016 Prayer Letter

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April 2016

Prayer Supporters and Friends,

We thank you for praying for our ministries while we are here in the States on furlough. On Easter Sunday Five Adults walked the aisle and invited the Lord Jesus to LIVE in their hearts. Those are souls that are added to your account. AMEN!!

We covet your prayers for all of the changes that Abigail and Breanne will be facing in less than two months. They are doing well as they are almost finished with their first year in college. The Lord is teaching them so many things in the local ministries of our home church like bus routes, nursery, choir, and junior churches as well as some American figures of speech that are still a mystery to them most of the time.

Please continue to pray for Tonya and her health. There are a few areas that have been understood since January, since she started seeing a natural doctor and getting chiropractic care along with her blood doctor. They are coming up with the same informal conclusion that she has Lupus, and they are working together and helping in several areas. Most of her levels have started improving since the change in her treatments, but there is still a ways to go.

Furlough is winding down, and we have purchased our tickets and will be leaving on May 31. I will be traveling in North Carolina and Virginia for the next three weeks. We will be in Arkansas through the month of May, as we get everything arranged for our girls before we return to the field. We will also be packing a crate and sending it before we go.

We have been able to raise $11,700 for building projects, and $2,500 for the vehicle that we had mentioned our last letter, but we are still needing to raise additional support. We are currently at 80% of our needed personal and ministry support. We have had several churches drop our support over our last term on the field due to finances and other things, and others have decreased the support they are sending. We must have additional support in order to continue to reach more people with the Gospel of salvation. These are the reasons why we need additional support.

1. Abigail (19) and Breanne (18) in Bible college
2. 5 churches that will start in the next year.
3. Opening 2 more Orphanages.
4. The need to add 10+ children every year in our Orphanages.
5. Starting 2 more branches of our Bible College over the next few years.

Please pray for these ministries to not be hindered, and that God will show Himself mighty through you and these opportunities that are wide open to reach souls for Christ.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby

January 2016 Prayer Letter

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Prayer Supporters and Friends, January 2016

Happy New Year 2016. It is a blessing to be a part of the work of the Lord in this present time. There are so many opportunities that have never been available before, as well as resources and co-laborers in the the Lord’s work to see souls saved and churches grounded in the truth. The Lord has given us a full schedule with over 40 churches to be in this year before we return to the field in May 2016. Please pray for traveling safety.

Thank you for your prayers for Abigail and Breanne as they have finished their first semester in Bible College. They are doing well, and we had a good time with them over the Christmas break. They were on a mission’s trip to the Dominican Republic for 10 days at the beginning of January. We feel that they have adjusted well with school, work, and church ministries here in the USA.

As we are preparing to finish our furlough, we are needing to raise the finances to purchase these things as soon as we get to the field:
1. Refrigerator $1,500
2. Photocopier $1,500
3. Vehicle $25,000

We also have the need for these church projects when we return to Kenya:
1. Calvary Baptist Church- Kisii (20'x35' extension) $5,000

1. Bible Baptist Church- Rongo (25'x50' church building) $5,000

2. Glory Bible Baptist Church- Kuresoi (25'x50' Church Building with rooms for 20 orphans in the back) $8,000

4. College/school building in Kisii (20'x50 three story building) $22,000

Using bricks to represent the above building projects, it brings the basic expenses to $1 per brick. So we are needing to raise money to buy 40,000 bricks! How many would you like to buy? We are depending on you to give towards these projects in order to help us accomplish these goals when we return to Kenya.

We are looking forward to the growth of the ministry in the next few years, as we have had over 25 graduates of our Bible College over the last two years; and we are excited about the places where God is using them and calling them to serve Him in the villages around us.

Thank you for being partners with us in the ministry,

For Souls in Kenya,
Luke and Tonya Shelby

November - December 2015 Prayer Letter

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Dear Supporters and Friends, Nov./Dec. 2015 Merry Christmas from the Shelby Family. This time of the year has become special for all of us; especially this year, because of having the opportunity to see all of our family while we are on furlough. We pray that you would also have a Merry Christmas with your family during this holiday season. We thank the Lord for His goodness to us on the road and in meetings where we have seen His hand at work in the lives of individuals. He helped us raise the money that was needed for Abigail and Breanne to make a missions trip to Dominican Republic in January. Please continue to pray for them as they keep up with school, work, and church schedules. We have also received special offerings for our orphan program ($1,500), vehicle fund ($2,100), and building fund ($1,000). There are several other churches that have promised to be a part of these special needs before we go back to the field. God has also blessed in getting meetings in nearly 40 new churches that want to be part of our ministry and several of them have already taken us on for support. Please pray that God will bless as we present the ministry in these new churches and pray that God will save souls and call laborers into His Work. Tonya and I were able to visit Kenya in November for 2 weeks for our Bible College graduation. We went soul winning with them and had 16 precious souls saved in one day! THE HARVEST IS SO RIPE!!! Thirteen men and women graduated from the 3-year course. We had over 500 in attendance, and It was a great day! Thank you for your prayers and support for our family. Luke and Tonya Shelby

June-July 2015 Prayer Letter

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Dear Prayer Supporters, June-July 2015

Thank you for your prayers for our family as we have started our furlough. We spent a month in our home church in Arkansas and with my parents, and then we traveled to East Tennessee to be with Tonya's parents the month of June, while also having meetings in their area. The Lord allowed us to travel up the east coast and through parts of Canada to visit our supporting churches and some new ones in July. Along the way we were able to see Washington D.C., New York City, and many other places. We have had a wonderful summer, and are so thankful that we were able to spend so much quality time as a family before the girls begin college. We also thank the Lord for His protection on the road, as we have already travelled over 8,000 miles since May.

We will be back in Arkansas by August 1st, to get Abigail and Breanne settled in at Bethel Baptist College, which is a ministry of our home church in Arkansas. Caleb and Kay-Leigh will be attending the Christian Academy there for this school year while we are in the USA.

Any mail can be sent to Abigail Shelby and Breanne Shelby to:
C/O Bethel Baptist College
8809 Mills Valley Road
Jacksonville, Arkansas 72076

We are excited about what the Lord has helped us to accomplish in preaching the Gospel and establishing churches in Kenya. Thousands have been saved, 26 churches have been started, and several men and women have been trained through our 3-year Bible College.

Some special needs that we will be trying to raise offerings for this year while we are on furlough are:
Personal Support: $600 monthly for Abigail and Breanne as they start College.
Ministry Support: $1,000 monthly for ministries in Kenya. Church Planting, College, and Orphan Ministries.
Vehicle Fund: $25,000

We will also have church, college, and orphan building projects that we will present once we get the details finalized. We would like to present these needs in your church when we come if possible. We are requesting that each church would pray about what you can do and try to have a special offering for one or more of these projects in the next year while we are here on furlough.

Thank you so much for your love and care for our family. God bless you.

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby

Sports can be a moulder of character. (By Breanne)

Sports can be a molder of character if one lets it do its work. One of the most important qualities that can be derived from sports is teamwork. I learned the lesson of teamwork a few years ago, as we played soccer almost everyday. The team captains chose their own team members, another player, Faith, and I were not the best teammates; of course, they always put us on the same team! One reason we never we never worked well on the same team, was because we both liked to be in the front getting goals, not guarding our own goal. But the main reason was because we were both hot-headed. Strife began to slip into our team, every time we played together we lost worse than the time before. I realized that I was not having good sportsmanship, and I am sure Faith realized it too. Though we never spoke about having good sportsmanship, we both began to try working together. Teamwork is not something learned overnight, and it was quite a few games before we both got in the "groove" and began to win again. Faith and I now work well together, but better still, I learned an important lesson; whoever you play with, treat them with respect, and adjust your abilities to match those of your teammate. Learning the simple lessons that sports offer, will improve your character.

Two Types of Cars (By Breanne)

Every car tends to have its own personality, this personality is what makes a Mitsubishi Pajero and an Izuzu Filly absolute opposites. First, our Filly, or more specifically, Momma's Filly, is a van that is always clean, neat, and white; it is quite spacious too. Of course one would not expect a man's vehicle to be neat, and it is NOT! Our Pajero (Daddy's car) has candy wrappers in the floor, old soda bottles, grimy tools, and who knows what else! The seats probably have not been vacuumed in years and it smells of mildew. Second, my dad's Pajero seemingly falls apart each time it is driven. One cannot even imagine how many times the mechanic comes to fix it in just one month; unlike our van, which holds together well on rough roads, even though it does not have four-wheel drive. Lastly, if our Izuzu Filly were a person she would be a white-gowned young lady with dark lashes. On the other hand, our Pajero is like an old man, run-down with years, he would have a gray beard and would eventually die of pneumonia. A smooth ride in our van is much more relaxing than bouncing around in the back of our Pajero that rattles with tools.

An Embarrassing Moment (By Breanne)

It was actually a very humiliating experience, though it probably was not the most embarrassing in my life. The "it" I am talking about is a instance that took place in Sidundo, Siaya. As you probably already know we were in Siaya to help construct an orphanage; you might guess the children were attracted to us. The crowd of young people multiplied and multiplied until we knew something absolutely had to be done. You understand with so many people someone is liable to get hurt, but everyone was busy, too busy. So our Mom drew us (which is Abigail and I) off to the side and indicated that we should try to do something about our little "situation." In the end, we rounded up some of the children (the others followed out of curiosity), and directed them to a nearby field. And there we played "Ring-Around-the-Rosie" (along with some other simple games), but our circle was not even close to being round, some of us went wilder than others and before you know it we were all flung to the ground. We must have been a sight! You might not consider this all that embarrassing, but I am not to the worst part yet. We endured an audience, I am absolutely sure the whole construction team was watching us, and to make matters even worse, they were taking our pictures. Though this might not be the most humiliating in the world, I was sure self-conscience for a while afterward.

Written by: Breanne Shelby

God Created Some Intelligent Animals (By Breanne)

God created some incredibly intelligent animals, they may be sharks or dauphins; to God all of the animals are special. For example, the elephant, with its feet, can sense and interpret sound waves, as they travel through the ground. On the other hand, the shark, with its acute sense of smell, can detect the scent of blood from many miles away. The brain of the dolphin is very large; at a quick motion from the trainer's hand the dolphin is able to perform flips, twirls, and dives, in the water and high in the air. Chimpanzees can be trained to act like a person; they can eat at the table, wear clothes, and undertake other human-like gestures. Each one of God's creatures display His unique method of designing the intellects of these creatures in order for them to survive.

Written by: Breanne Shelby

Why does everything have to happen in one week? First, Daddy has had malaria since the beginning of this week. Next, Mama had a virus that has kept her in bed since Saturday; and we have Swahili classes! But that is not the worst of it; daddy was also teaching institute, and we were have school on top of all of that. We are all tired and could use your prayers. Thankfully, Mama is better and Daddy is improving; and school is finished for the week.

Written by: Breanne

My Favorite Place (By Breanne)

A hill in the outskirts of Kisii presents a wonderful view of the surrounding countryside. The name of this hill is Mount Manga. From there you would first see each house surrounded by its own field; these houses are close together and each detail is distinctly recognized. But as you gaze farther and farther out, you do not see each house with its field, but the fields all begin to blend together into a large patchwork quilt. If the haze is not too dense; from this vantage point, it is possible to see Lake Victoria! Now if you would look slightly to your left, there are two smaller hills (that are contained within the valley) can be seen. First one, then the other behind it; between these hills lie the downtown section of Kisii. This breathtaking view is my favorite place in all of Kisii!

Kisii (By Breanne)

In the highlands of Kenya lays a busy town nestled between two hills. On the slope of one hill stands a two-story, colonial, stone house like sentinel guarding the marketplace below. At a second story window peers a bystander, watching the action occurring along the heavily used paved road. This highway is always teeming with traffic, not only automobile traffic, but also pedestrians and motorbikes. The traffic here is not any kind of traffic you will be familiar with in America, this traffic is native to Kenya and Kenya only (well maybe in other African countries too!). This traffic is push and shove, accidents are common, and the people just walk across the road as if it were empty! If an accident does occur, the road has no shoulders to pull off onto. The shoulder (a narrow, steep dirt path), when there happens to be one, is used as a sidewalk and a place to sell wares. Watching from above could keep a bystander occupied for absolutely hours!!

Riding in a Matatu (By Breanne)

Matatus are the main transportation vehicles in kenya, a matatu is really a compact 14 passenger van. If you want to go for a ride, first they tell you to climb over the seats until you get to a back window seat. Here in Kenya, in order to take less trips they cram people in until no more can fit (up to 35 and sometimes more if there are children!). Finally, there is no more room, but the pressure on all sides of you makes breathing almost impossible. You look around trying to find a way out, and you notice that everyone else is holding something in their lap. Some are carrying children, others have fresh produce, and some are holding chickens! The smells begin to overwhelm you, and you realize that you are by a window; you manage to get it open with some difficulty. As the window slides open, you notice that you are driving through the main Kisii Market with its cows, goats, rotten vegetables, stagnate mud puddles, and fried fish out in the hot sun. The smells seem to hit you all at once, you are tempted to shut the window, but you decide against it. You begin to feel nauseated as your driver swerves recklessly in and out of traffic. The noise inside the matatu spikes as children scream, terrified. Though it may seem to be too much for you to take our form of transport ion; the people here do it all the time!!

Thanksgiving (By Breanne)

Thanksgiving is one of the most savory of the holidays. Thanksgiving reminds me of our family's time together. Thanksgiving at our house, is completely packed with good things to eat, such as Momma's delicate herb-crusted, oven-roasted chicken; for some reason when Momma bakes this dish it reminds me of the pilgrim's meal, simple yet delicious. Cranberry sauce, which reminds me of fall; with its sharp tangy-sweet flavor, is more of a modern addition to the classic dinner. Without rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans, this meal would be unfinished; a main dish without the condiments would be like a house without furniture. Last, but definitely not least, pumpkin pie; the spicy aroma of cinnamon always saturates our house on this thankful holiday. It's not only the smell that helps incorporate a thankful attitude; but having my family around me, assists me in realizing all the blessings that have been showered down on my life.

Written by: Breanne Shelby