God’s Work in Kenya: Tumaini Baptist Church Opening, Outreach Success, and Family Blessings

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Dear Prayer Partners and Friends,               May-July 2025

Greetings from Kenya! We hope this letter finds you well. We would like to begin by offering our sincere apologies for the delay in sending out this update. Many of you were expecting our letter in May, and we deeply regret the oversight. During this time, Tonya traveled to the U.S. to be with Abigail for the birth of our second grandchild, while I spent time in the Maasai area with limited internet access, which caused some delay in sending this out. We appreciate your patience and are excited to finally share what God has been doing in our lives and ministry!

Family Update – A New Blessing
We are overjoyed to announce the birth of our second grandbaby, Nathan Cepec, born on May 25th, just a few days after Tonya was able to travel to the U.S. to be with Abigail and her family. Nathan was born four weeks early and required oxygen for the first 12 hours. But we are thrilled to report that he is doing wonderfully now! Abigail is recovering well, and they are just waiting on Nathan’s passport before returning to Guyana. We are thankful for the Lord’s timing and guidance during this special time for our family.

Church Updates:
We are Excited  to report that a NEW CHURCH, Tumaini (Hope) Independent Baptist Church in Kipkirui, officially opened on May 4th, with over 80 in attendance. This event was made possible through the combined efforts of 6 local churches in the area. In the weeks leading up to the opening, we were able to finalize the land and property details with the local community and the government. We built the church building, and on the opening day, we dedicated both the land and the building. It has been such a blessing to see the men and church members we have trained step up to take ownership of this new work. We are excited about the future of Tumaini Baptist Church, and as we continue to work together as a team, we trust God to enable us to accomplish great things for His glory.

In Siaya, we are making progress on the building project. The county government approved our request to move the remaining structures from the previous site, and we have transported some of the materials to the new location. Our next step is to complete the church building. Once finished, we will set up rooms in the existing structure to house children in the orphanage. We also had a successful Youth Rally at the end of June with 40 in attendance!

In Ilkerin, we have completed the church building for Nkirukoto (Faith) Baptist Church. The process took longer than expected as we waited for the land to be officially processed, but the paperwork is now in place. The church members have been working hard to clear the land and get things ready for future projects. We have built a 20 x 40 ft. church and will begin the fencing soon. We are also excited to announce that we plan to open a branch of our Bible college in Ilkerin in January, with a focus on addressing literacy needs and using a simpler approach to teach the Word of God. There are so many open doors in this area, and we are eager to reach the Maasai people and beyond. We are planning a  Thanksgiving Service on August 24th to honor the community and its leaders for donating the land to Nkirukoto (Faith) Baptist Church. This will be an opportunity for us to thank God for His provision and for the local leaders who have partnered with us in the ministry. Please pray that this event will lead to greater community engagement and a deeper impact in the Maasai region.

In Narok, we have the opportunity to purchase the land where Berea Independent Baptist Church is located. The land has been leased for the past few years, but the owner has now offered to sell it to us for just $3,800. The church has already built on this land, so no further construction is needed, but we must cover the process fees with the government. We need to raise $4,500 to complete this purchase, which will secure the land for the church's future.

In Raganga, at Raganga Independent Baptist Church, we held a powerful crusade that included showing the Jesus Film and a week of door-to-door visitation. Five local churches came together to support the event, and 14 of our Bible college students participated in a full week of soul-winning. By God’s grace, 55 people made decisions to trust in Christ for their salvation throughout the week. Additionally, we hosted a Youth Rally, further encouraging the next generation in their walk with the Lord.

Thank You for Your Continued Support!
We are incredibly grateful for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support. Your partnership with us in spreading the Gospel is what makes all of this possible. We could not be here or accomplish all that God is doing without your faithful prayers and support. As we continue with the work here, we ask for your continued prayers, especially for the new churches and ministries we are starting, as well as for Tonya’s health and continued recovery. Thank you for being such an important part of God’s work in Kenya!

May God richly bless you as you continue to serve Him.

In Christ’s Service,

Luke & Tonya Shelby
Your Missionaries in Kenya

Prayer Requests:

• Tonya’s health
• Bible College
• Laborers for the harvest
• Leadership transition at Calvary Baptist Church in Uwasi
• Purchasing the land for Berea Independent Baptist Church ($4,500)
• Fencing at Nkirukoto (Faith) Baptist Church in Ilkerin and Tumaini (Hope) Baptist Church in Kipkirui ($1,000)

Please use the KENYA LEGACY FUND 

account #501 for these projects. 

Thank you!

Urgent Prayer Needs & Exciting Updates from Kenya 🙏✨

 

Thank you for your prayers as we returned to the field. Despite mechanical delays on our flights from Little Rock, Atlanta, and New York, totaling 4 days of travel, we are grateful to be home. Please pray for Tonya's acclimation to the elevation here in Kisumu, Kenya. She has been improving a lot over the last two weeks.

Here are some specific prayer requests and updates from our ministries for 2024.

Church Planting: 

1. The Lord has opened the door for Ezekiel, a 2023 graduate, to start a Bible Study in Buyangu under a tree. I will be visiting there this weekend.
2. We have begun meeting with a group for a Bible Study in the village of Mibasi on Saturdays and some Sundays. Over 20 individuals have been saved in the last month in this village!
3. I will be visiting the new Bible Study started last year in Ilikerin Maasai village this month, staying for about a week. It's about 10 hours from home, and I'll be visiting 2 other churches along the way. Land has been donated to build a church building in Ilikerin.
4. We are discussing with the 2 other Bible Studies in Sigoti and Nyamiobo villages about when those churches will be started.

SOUTH NYANZA BAPTIST COLLEGE

We have started up our Pastoral Classes in 3 locations with 12 students who have graduated and are pastoring or looking for a place to start a church. This is a 2-year course that will ready them for any challenges they would face in the ministry.

Internship Program: We will not be able to start our internship program this year due to the prep work that needs to take place. We had two young people seriously interested in coming this year, but unfortunately, it was not possible. We are taking applications for next year. We ask those who are available to start preparing 6 months in advance. This program is geared for Bible college students who have been called to the mission field.

KENYA LEGACY FUND #501: We have received the money for the 1st phase of our College Dorm building and have started the site planning for this project. Thank you so much. Please use the account #501 for these projects. Thank you.

!!!ORPHANAGE URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!!!

During our furlough, the 5-acre property given by the village community has been taken control of by the County Government for rice processing. The church and orphanage will need to move, so we have been dismantling buildings and storing materials at church members' homes while we look for a new place. We are considering a plot that had a nursery school that is now closed. We would need at least $3,000 to buy the land and start using it. PLEASE PRAY!!

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya

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

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

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