We are looking for volunteers! Are YOU interested?

We are excited about having a group coming to work with us in building a church building for Bible Baptist Church in Rongo, and we were looking for volunteers to help!  Are YOU interested in using your skills or tools to serve the Lord? This trip is being organized by a BIMI CLAIM Team headed up by Bro. Philip Smith, who has also helped us with other projects in the past.  The dates for their next trip to Kenya are October 10-24.    The frame for the building and the roof is already in place, and we will be building the walls, pouring the floor, building the baptistry, and other things to get it ready to have the first service in the building while the Team is still here. Other opportunities will be soul-winning, preaching, teaching in schools, visiting in homes, and other ministries.   Depending on the number of volunteers, we may also be able to build an extension onto the back of Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii town, and we will also attend there for one of the Sunday services. Please let us know this week if you would be interested, and please contact Bro. Philip Smith (email: claim4god@gmail.com / phone 289-928-9327) BEFORE September 18th.  The cost for the trip will be approximately $1,900, but it could be cheaper based on ticket prices.   The deadline for September 18th to purchase the tickets for the trip, so that everyone can get connected to arrive at the same time.  We live 6 hours drive from Nairobi airport, and there is a need to know a number of people coming for us to book rooms and organize transportation also. If you are not able to come, please pray for safety on the trip and that God will bless all of the arrangements and accomplishments for His honor and glory.
Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke & 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 - 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

August - September 2015 Prayer Letter

Printable Version (PDF)

Dear Supporters and Friends, August - September 2015

Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministry in Kenya while we are on furlough. Thank you for praying for our traveling mercies. I am writing this letter on my flight to California where I will be in 11 churches over the next 3 weeks. At the end of the month we will be in a Mission’s Conference back in Arkansas before returning to visit Kenya for 2 1/2 weeks starting November 3rd. Please pray for us during that time.

Please continue to pray for Tonya’s health, since there have been a few meetings which she was not strong enough to be able to travel to due to the continuing issues with her blood deficiencies of iron, folate, and B-12. This has also caused problems for her in catching several viruses and having a relapse with malaria this past week, which is all due to her low or compromised immune system. Please pray with us that her doctors will have wisdom in helping her find the best treatment options possible while we are on furlough this year.

Please pray for Pastor George Okoth, who is overseeing our church in Rongo. He was attacked and beaten by thugs who broke into his house, which is on the church’s compound. They beat him pretty badly, and he had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. Please pray for his full recovery and safety.

Three of our orphans (Japheth, Sherin, and Vivian) lost their grandmother (their closest guardian) this past month. As far as we know, she was not saved, but she was witnessed to and heard the Gospel several times. Please pray for the precious souls in Kenya who are dying without Christ! We will need to do more to help these three children, but we are not are exactly sure what will be decided by their distant relatives. Please keep them in your prayers.

We have been able to get in touch with most of our supporting churches, and we have scheduled meetings with a majority of you already. Unfortunately, we will not be able to visit all of you, so we are in the process of contacting each of you. If we are unable to visit you during this furlough, we will be sending you our 2015 DVD Presentation and updated Prayer Cards in the mail. We want to thank you so much for your ministry in our lives and in the lives of these People in Kenya. God bless each of you!

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

January-February 2014 Prayer Letter

Printable Version (PDF)

Dear Prayer Supporters,

Happy New Year from the Shelby Family. We have had a very busy ending to 2013 and the starting of 2014. God has blessed in many ways, and we are excited about His work for this New Year.

Abigail is finishing her last semester of 12th grade, and she will going back to the USA to graduate with our home church’s school graduation in May. She will be traveling with Tonya, as Tonya will be taking care of her six month doctor’s appointments for her blood levels.

In December, we held our annual youth camp in Kisii Town at our main church. We had over 100 youth and counselors that attended with the theme of “The Army of the Lord.” There were many first timers this time, and there were 22 precious young people who got saved. It was very crowded, but it was very successful!

We had a Watch-night Service at the church here in Kisii Town, to bring in the New Year. The service started at 7p.m. and was over at 7 a.m. We had a New Year's sunrise service and baptized 7 to get 2014 off to a wonderful start! This church has also reached their $3,000 mark for beginning the construction of a new 350-400 seat auditorium. We are expecting to start building in the next two weeks (mid-February). Also this year, Calvary Baptist Church (Kisii) voted to support three national missionaries to surrounding countries in East Africa: Tanzania, Burundi, and the Congo. This support is in addition to the other Kenyan projects that they already support! It is a great joy to see the way the Lord is blessing this church.

In our last letter, we made mention that one of our Graduates (Bro. George) was helping us in rebuilding the church in Rongo, after the pastor passed away in August. He is doing a very good job, and since September we have seen nearly 50 souls saved on visitation and in services. In January, we were able to baptize 6. Please pray that God will continue to bless the work in Rongo.

Since the New Year began, we have opened classes for South Nyanza Baptist College with 12 new students in Kisii, and a few more sitting in on classes in our extension branch in Sidundo. It is exciting to see these new faces mixing with the old, and to see their eagerness to learn the Word of God.

We have also started a Bible Study in the village of Gingo, where I am able to go for two days each a month. We had almost 20 adults for the two days! We have known people in this village for the last few years, but there has been a great language barrier. So as I am learning the Luo language and using lessons that have been translated into their language. I am being assisted by other Luo preachers who have the opportunity to go with me.

There are two other churches in the process of getting started in Gesabakwa and Nyamiobo, both Kisii villages about 45 minutes from Kisii town. And in Sidundo, we are starting to visit in surrounding village centers and markets to see where the Lord will open the doors for new churches to be started there as well. In Sidundo, we also had 9 adults saved, and 11 baptized the first weekend of February.

Thank you for your prayers and support for our ministry,