Ministry Updates: New Church Projects, Feeding Program, and Prayer Requests

 March 2025

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Greetings from the hot shores of Lake Victoria, Kenya!

We are thankful for your continued prayers and support as we navigate some challenges and experience God’s direction. Recently, Tonya underwent some blood tests here, and the doctor says that she has "long Covid." The symptoms resemble her COPD but are causing more fatigue than usual and has weakened her heart. We are thankful that God has given us some clarity in her health, and we’re in the process of moving to a more suitable single-level house to help with her recovery and daily needs. Please continue to keep her in your prayers as we seek God's guidance and strength during this time.

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Calvary Baptist - Uwasi

We are pleased to report that electricity has now been installed at the church, thanks to the generous offerings we’ve received. We’ve also received additional funds for the orphanage, and the supplies will be arriving this week to help the children start living on the compound. It’s a great blessing to see this progress.

The church building project continues to move forward as well. The church members are actively making bricks to finish the building. Despite facing many challenges in the community, this faithful group of believers has remained committed to seeing the work of the Lord continue. They are also making important decisions regarding the organization of the church, one of which is choosing one of their own to lead the congregation. I will be working closely with him, mentoring him to become the future pastor of the church. Please pray for James Nyandimo as he steps into this important role.

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Building Program

We are thrilled to share that we have received $5,700 toward the construction of two new church buildings in Ilikerin and Kipkirui. In Ilikerin, we are still waiting for the rains to stop and for access to the plot to be cleared before we can begin building. We are moving forward with Kipkirui and are collaborating with other pastors and churches in the area to start the construction.

Last week, I visited a neighboring village where we witnessed two souls saved, including Dorca, a blind woman who prayed with her face lifted to Heaven, asking Jesus to save her. It was a powerful moment, and I could only imagine her joy and the clarity she must have felt, envisioning the face of Jesus as she received Him into her heart. What a glorious day it will be when we see His face!

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Feeding Program

Thanks to a church in North Carolina, we were able to start a feeding program in Kisii through Calvary
Baptist Church in January. This program is serving needy church members, as well as their families and neighbors. We have been able to provide food packets to 9 families, with each packet costing about $40.

Please pray for this ministry as it continues to impact the community and reach souls for Christ. Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii is currently the pilot church for this program, and we hope to expand it to other churches once we have a routine and guidelines in place.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers, encouragement, and financial support. God is using you to accomplish amazing things here in Kenya, and we are so blessed to serve alongside you in this ministry. Please continue to pray for our health, the building projects, the ministries, and the many souls being reached through these efforts.

May God richly bless you,
Luke & Tonya Shelby
Your Missionaries in Kenya

Exciting Updates from Kenya! 🌍🙏

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Hello from Kenya. It has been an eventful three months, covering over 5000 miles and visiting pastors, students, and church members across 8 out of the 11 counties where we have churches and Bible studies. We thank the Lord for traveling safety, especially during a couple of harrowing times, traveling with our team between Maasai villages, we ended up pulling a small car through mud and rivers; we spent the night in our vehicles with 15 men, women, and children, while listening to hyenas and other wild animals through the night because the small car we were pulling had two front flat tires and two flat spare tires. God is good! Also when coming down the mountain from that Maasai area a few evenings later, we heard a noise from one of our wheels and found that it was only being held on by one lug-nut! God is so good!  More of these stories have been posted on our Facebook page. Be sure to connect with us there. We are incredibly grateful for God's protection!

During our recent travels, we have had the privilege to witness 41 souls saved in our new outreaches, including a powerful testimony from James Mochache. We had witnessed to him through the years because one by one, his son, nephews, brother and others have come to Christ over the last 10+ years; but until recently, he was a Bishop in an African cultural religion, when he was diagnosed with a malignant tumor already advanced to stage 4 and was hospitalized for 3 weeks. I visited him on Friday before going down into the Maasai villages and on the Wednesday afterwards. On that Wednesday, April 24th, James prayed to ask Christ into his heart!  After he prayed, he pulled me close and told me to tell his children that he said that they should follow the truth found in God’s Word that is preached by us, and that we must do everything that we can to get them into church. He passed away late the next night.  Praise the Lord for God working in his heart!  His salvation touched many lives, leading to 8 more receiving Christ during his hospitalization and funeral.  Please pray for the rest of his family.

Church Planting (NAROK - OLTEPESI - ILIKERIN) 

We were able to visit these church plants in the Maasai areas south of Narok almost to the Tanzanian border.  There was very good reception to the market preaching that we did and in the visits that we made in the members homes. We traveled with Bible  College students from our church in Narok, and then we added some members from our church in Oltepesi as we went to spend the weekend in the village of Ilikerin. Using flashcards and sharing the Gospel message from creation to the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in their Maasai language, we witnessed over 300 adults attentively listening, we then had 3 preachers preach salvation messages, and many responded in the invitation. We are thrilled to report that 16 men and women got saved and trusted Christ as their Savior that weekend; with more individuals interested in hearing more, and who will be followed up on by the leaders of the church and Bible studies out there. The county government there has designated a plot of land for us that will be divided out officially in June. Please pray that in the next few months this Bible study can be offically started as a church in Ilikerin village.

SIX YEARS OF DISCIPLESHIP

We took this picture together after six years of discipleship in the Maasai area. Samuel started Bible college in 2018, pastored the church in Narok, and led Gideon to the Lord in 2020. The two of them led Fred to the Lord, and Fred is currently a 2nd year student in our Bible college. In January, Samuel and his family moved to the Maasai village of Oltepesi to work in the church that we started to help them continue grow and be grounded in the Word of God; and Gideon is now the pastor at the church in Narok. We met James in 2022 but only in passing, as he was at another church. Last year Samuel met David and James and began to teach them and that is when they started the Bible study in Ilikerin. The others in this story are Samuel’s pastor in Kuresoi and other teachers in the Bible college that have helped to make this possible. It is fun to have a little part in this story!

ORPHANAGE PRAYER REQUEST

We are excited to announce that Calvary Baptist Church of Sidundo and the orphanage have found a new home, thanks to your generous donations toward this urgent project. As of writing this letter, we have received $8,800, with more inquiries coming in. With these funds, we have acquired both the land and the building for just over $4,500. The new property features a 50x15 building divided into three classrooms, along with a well and an outhouse, all conveniently located on the main village road. While some rooms require renovation to accommodate the orphans, we have already dismantled the old church building, the partially completed new church building frame, and one of the orphan buildings. Our immediate focus is constructing the new church building while simultaneously working on the orphanage accommodations. Thank you for your unwavering support in making this possible.

MORE GOOD NEWS!

We received more exciting news this week: the Bible Study in Nyamiobo village has been generously donated land, and they have officially established their church, Nyamiobo Independent Baptist Church. It is inspiring to witness this group growing in their faith and actively spreading the message of Christ in their community. Thank you for your ongoing prayers for the Lord's work in Kenya. We will be visiting them next week, along with another church and Bible college branch in the vicinity.

We remain delighted about the ongoing work of God in various aspects of our ministries here in Kenya, and we are looking forward to what He has planned for the future! Your prayers are deeply appreciated.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya

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

October Prayer Letter

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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

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

October-November 2016 Prayer Letter

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Dear Praying Friends and Faithful Supporters, October-November 2016

What an amazing God we serve!  We just want to Celebrate God’s Faithfulness! It is an exciting experience to serve the Lord on the mission field.  I would choose nothing else for mine and my family’s lives to have meaning as a Christian who wants to serve God.  There are so many doors and opportunities that God has opened for those who are willing to serve HIM.

This year there have been several milestones that we have seen and that are coming up in our ministries here in Kenya.  In September, we had the 5th Anniversary of Calvary Baptist Church and orphanage in Sidundo, Siaya.  We had 121 in attendance and 7 first time visitors. In October, we celebrated the 15th Anniversary of the first church that we started in Kenya, Bible Baptist Church in Rongo.  There were 65 in attendance, with 10 first time visitors, and 10 saved during visitation on Saturday and the service on Sunday. In December, South Nyanza Baptist College will be finishing its 15th year of training men and women to serve Him. We will have 7 graduating this year.  Next year we will be celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii town.  And it is so hard to believe that we will be celebrating 20 years as missionaries in Kenya in June of 2017!  In all of this, we can definitely say that God has blessed greatly, and HE HAS BEEN FAITHFUL.  It is a reminder to continually celebrate the faithfulness of God!

Not only has God been faithful in the things of the past that we look back on, but HE IS FAITHFUL now as we are continuing to see people saved, young men and women trained and called into the ministry.  There are 5 men right now that are getting ready to start churches in different villages.  We held our Annual Church Leaders’ Conference with 108 Men and women from 12+ churches for an entire week.  Pastor McConkey and two members from his church in Jacksonville, North Carolina came and preached for us during this great week.  God is Faithful!

In October, We held a Missions Conference at Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii Town and we included the pastors in our area and all of the college students that are wanting to be used of God.  We tried to open their eyes to Missions in all of Africa.  All of them committed to do something for missions in their churches.  Our church in Kisii promised to more than double the amount that was committed last year.  They promised to give nearly $1,500 to missions over this next year.  I have no doubt that God will use their faith to do so much for the glory of God.  God is FAITHFUL!

We were able to start a Bible study in the village of Kegogi shortly after returning to Kenya in June. And we have seen 50+ people saved since we started visiting the area 3 months ago.  We have had a high attendance of over 60 meeting under a tree out in the front yard of one of the member’s homes.  We meet for this Bible Study every Sunday afternoon, and there are about 15 Adults, 10 youth, and about 40 children that have been attending from the village.  We are hoping to begin the Sunday morning services in this village in the next month or so.  College students and the members of Calvary Baptist in Kisii have been helping with soul winning and holding the services in the village that is about 45 minutes away from Kisii town.  I was able to sit down and lead a family of 5 to the Lord in their home a couple of weeks ago.  There is so much potential here in this village. Please pray that God will raise up some of these new Christian men and women to be faithful to the Lord and to be pillars in this new church plant.  God will continue to be FAITHFUL!

We also had a funeral for a faithful pastor who graduated in 2015.  Pastor Habil was almost 70 years old, and he had several different health complications come up while we were in the USA for our furlough.  A missionary witnessed to him in the 60‘s, and he was saved as a young man. He had been a pastor for many years, but he came to us to get Bible training because he did not feel fully equipped.  He was mainly an “A” student, and all of the other Bible College students looked up to and respected him very much.  At his funeral, I preached on the “Cross of Christ” and over 50 raised their hands and accepted Christ as their personal Savior.  God continues to be Faithful!

Serving Him in Kenya,
Luke and Tonya Shelby