Building Legacies, Transforming Lives: Our Vision for Kenya 🌍✨

 

Dear Prayer Supporters and Friends, February 2024

We are already blessed with the New Year and new plans for our ministries in Kenya. This letter looks forward to those plans in the years to come, broadening our focus in the work that He has called us to do in Kenya. We will be heading back to Kenya on February 13th as empty nesters and covet your prayers for our family and continuing ministry.

Here are some specific prayer requests as we begin on the next phase of our work in Kenya:

1. CHURCH PLANTING: Initiating the establishment of 3 new churches that have been in the planning stages during our time in the states.

2. EDUCATIONAL EXPANSION: Expanding our Bible College classes for young people and pastoral classes, welcoming around 20 more students into our programs.

3. INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: We desire to influence, train, and develop young people into the next generation of missionaries in Africa. Over our 25 years in Kenya, we have witnessed the population more than double, and there's a projection that most African countries will double again by 2050. Recognizing this, we feel a responsibility to play our part in preparing missionaries for the next generations of lost souls. The growing need for missionaries in the harvest fields of Africa encourages us to launch an Internship Program for Bible College Missions students. This program aims to integrate a student's internship with their home church alongside a 1-3 month internship in Kenya, to enhance their success on deputation and in their initial years on the field.

4. KENYA LEGACY FUND #501: The need to acquire land and build church buildings for our ministries in Kenya is becoming more pressing as our ministry is starting new churches at an accelerated pace. Approximately 12 projects require attention and focus over the next several years. Drawing inspiration from Joshua 22, where tribes on the eastern side of Jordan built an altar as a witness of unity between them and the other tribes so that the generations to come would know that they were one people, and due to the amount of money that is used during land purchase and building church buildings, we have been advised to establish the KENYA LEGACY FUND #501 at BMI for these endeavors. If your church wishes to contribute to these building projects, kindly use this account to help us avoid personal tax accounting issues.

Here are a few initial projects that we will address upon returning to the field, with most costs becoming clear as we assess the situation:

1. Bible College Dormitory Building (1st phase $5,000)

2. Temporary buildings or rent for the new churches.

3. Purchasing or leasing land for churches where needed.

For those interested in contributing more than $1,000 towards a project, please use the new account number (#501). Any questions about the projects can be directed to me via email, and I'll provide an updated list and address any inquiries. Thank you for your unwavering love for the Lord, our family, and for your dedication to serving Him.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby Missionaries in Kenya 

Celebrating Milestones and Spreading Joy: Our Missionary Adventures in Kenya 🌍✨

Dear Prayer Supporters and Friends,                                                  January 2024

Happy New Year to all of you! We pray that God will fill this year with His goodness in your lives.

We are so thankful for all the incredible experiences that God has blessed us to be part of in 2023, especially the moments spent with our family during the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holiday. Your support and prayers have been a source of strength for us.

Exciting updates include our son-in-law, Robert Cepec, daughter, Abigail, and our first grandson moving to the field of Guyana this week to start their ministry.  Your prayers for them mean the world to us, and we appreciate you for the adding them to your missionary families for support.  

In December, I had privilege of returning to Kenya, reconnecting with our pastors, students, and church members. We celebrated the graduation of 29 studunts during the 4 graduation ceremonies, and we are excited for what the Lord has in store for 2024.  Already, 26 new students are starting classes this month, with more expected to join by the end of January.  

Several men from our ministry are moving into new areas to begin new ministries, and recent graduates are now stepping into leadership roles.  Please join us in praying for Edward, now ministering in his home area, and Samuel, who moved to the Maasai villages to help the church and the Bible Studies that have been started recently.

Heartfelt thanks for the generous Christmas gifts that we have received. God has faithfully met every need mentioned in our letters and prayers. We are grateful for additional churches commiting to support us and our ministries in Kenya.  Your contributions remind us of Paul’s words, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”  God is abundantly good, surpassing our expectations!  Thank you so much for everything that you do for Him!

During our time in the USA, God has continued to work in Kenya with 1,843 souls accepting Christ and 207 baptized, according to reports from our pastors and their ministries.

Please lift up prayers for the planning and setup of the new Internship Program, aiming to guide USA Bible college students and those called to preach the Gospel in Africa.  Our desire and vision is to influence the next generation of laborers for the harvest fields in Africa.

Thank you sincerely for the love you have shown to our family during this furlough, and for your Christmas offerings.

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

Faithful Men Who are Teaching Others...

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Dear Supporters and Friends, September- November 2019

The Lord has blessed in several meetings in Louisiana, Texas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Arkansas over the past few months reporting in at least 10 churches a month mostly on weekends.

We want to thank you for being faithful supporters to our family and ministry, and we also want to thank the Lord for the faithful men that He has given us. Your faithfulness has produced faithfulness in the lives of others, like these men who are carrying on the work of the Lord in Kenya. Because of this the churches, Bible College, and orphan care in Kenya are doing well in our absence. As we remember the people that God has put in our lives during this season of Thanksgiving, we are thankful for the faithful pastors that are carrying on the work in the ministries of the 28 churches that the Lord has allowed us to start.

Please pray for my dad, Richard, who will be undergoing a brain tumor surgery on November 27th. They believe that it is benign, but it needs to be removed because of the pressure on the brain stem.

We will be returning to Kenya on January 10th, and there are some needs that we are praying for in our return to Kenya by the end of this furlough.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby

December 2018-January 2019 Prayer Letter

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Dear Supporters and Prayer Partners, December 2018 - January 2019

We pray that your New Year is off to a great start! We want to let you know that will be going on furlough from April 2019 to January 2020. We will only be scheduling meetings with those that have requested a meeting along with a few churches nearby them, which we have not had an opportunity to visit during our past furloughs. If you still have not contacted us, please do (mail@shelbysinkenya.org). We will be traveling west with the whole family for the month of June visiting churches along the way. Caleb will attend Camp BIMI this summer, and he and Kay-Leigh plan to go on a missions trip to Costa Rica in July. Then they will settle into school in August for the fall semester.

The main purpose of this furlough is for our son Caleb to graduate from high school and to get settled in Bible College. We will also have more testing for Tonya concerning the difficulties associated with her COPD diagnosis and the irregular heartbeat that have developed into serious conditions this term. We have already ordered an oxygen machine for her, and we are still waiting for it to arrive in Kenya. We thank you very much to those who have prayed for her and for those who have helped us raise the $3,000 needed by word of mouth to buy the portable oxygen concentrator. Over $5,000 has come in for this need, and the excess will pay off her medical bills which have accumulated over the past few months. Thank you so much, and God bless you.

South Nyanza Baptist College has begun for the new year with five new students. Four Students graduated from our 3 year Diploma course, and seven pastors graduated from our 5 year Degree Program course. We are continually blessed with the men that God has given us in the ministry here, and they are doing a great job in each of their churches.

One of these men, Andrew, my assistant pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii Town, will be starting a New church on the opposite side of Kisii Town. We have had several saved there over the last 6-9 months of soul-winning and Bible Studies in homes of those who have gotten saved. We just had an evangelistic meeting for three days at this location, and 48 souls came to know Christ as their personal Savior. We will be having a sending service for him and his family on February 10th, and Agape Baptist Church will have its first service on February 17th. Our church is excited about this step of sending one of our own out to plant a church. Please pray for him and his family.

Please continue to be in prayer for Miss Erica Bohman who praying about coming to work with us next year, and the Rose family who will be coming to work with us for a short time before starting a ministry a couple hours away. We are excited about the laborers that the Lord is sending our direction to help reach Kenya for Christ. If your church is looking to take on new missionaries for support this year, we highly recommend this young lady and family. Feel free to contact us if you would like to get in contact with them.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

A great Sunday in Sidundo!

We had a great day at church last Sunday at Calvary BC in Sidundo Village. The building was FULL & we had 3 first time visitors & 1 lady accepted Christ as her Savior!

Bible College got off to a great start today as well. Keep Calvary BC in the Village of Sidundo in your prayers!

There is so much potential outreach from this 1 church, pray that we take the steps that God wants us to go in next.

Setting up a house in Siaya!

We made it to Siaya today. We were a day later than planned due to my health, but we made it! We drove both vehicles fully loaded down (& up⬆️), in order to setup a 2nd house close to one of our village churches, Bible College branch, & our orphanage. We will begin spending part of each month here in Siaya & the other part in Kisii town (5 1/2 hours away). The house needs a LOT of cleaning! And that will begin tomorrow. It is cheaper for us to rent a house than pay for rooms at a guesthouse each time, so we are thankful for the house he Lord provided! There are mango trees galore, grave trees, banana trees, papaya trees, & avocado trees too! When we first saw the house we were like, well... it needs some work (a lot actually--there was no indoor plumbing--time!). But when we saw all the fruit trees, all we could think about was the blessing that food would be to the orphanage!!

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

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

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

January-March 2015 Prayer Letter

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Dear Praying Friends, January-March 2015

We want to thank you for your good response in scheduling meetings for our return to the States for our upcoming furlough. Please pray for us during this furlough as we will need to raise more family support, since our two oldest daughters will begin Bible College in the fall and ministry support for our Church Planting, Bible College, and Orphan ministries that are all continuing to grow as God opens more doors for us to minister.

We had a great day for the Dedication of our Church Building at Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii Town. We had 253 in attendance with 46 first time adult visitors, and Missionary Joel Weaver preached for us that day. We invited everyone who had helped bring materials, who had given monetary donations, and those who worked along side us to build this building over the past year. We have many open doors and opportunities for follow-up for soul-winning in the coming weeks. I know that God has a big plan for this church to reach Kisii Town (which has a population of over 200,000) and the surrounding villages in this part of Kenya. It is a blessing to see people saved at our church nearly every week through its different ministries. God has truly blessed us, and we have seen over 50 precious souls accept Christ in this building since we started using it in November 2014. We praise the Lord for His goodness!

Please pray for our Bible College as the classes will continue, while we are on furlough, under the leadership of five of our Kenyan Pastors. Tonya and I will be traveling back to Kenya in November 2015, for the next graduation for the 13 students who are finishing the 3-year course. Several of these graduates are from the church here in Kisii Town; we are excited about the many possibilities of this class, and the outreach that will be possible in starting more churches around Kisii Town through these faithful men and women.

Please pray for the following villages: Nyamiobo, Siruti, Nyangera and Muhkobola. Bible studies have been started through the ministries of some of our churches and College students in each of these villages. Pray that they will be faithful, and that God will raise up churches in these villages that have had no Gospel witness up to now.   
 
We have already been contacted by many of about scheduling meetings for May 2015-May 2016, and our calendar is filling up quickly. If you have not yet contacted us by email, please do so: mail@shelbysinkenya.org. Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministries!

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby
Missionaries in Kenya

September-December 2014 Prayer Letter

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Dear Prayer Partners,

Happy New Year, 2015! We want to thank you for your prayers and support over this past year. God has enabled us to get so many things done this year. We are excited to be in our new building in Kisii. We have been using the new building since the first week in November, and we have already seen around 30 saved in services and during Youth Camp. We were able to host over 100 youth and counselors on the church compound for an entire week, because the church building is now able to be used. We also had one of our members plan a church wedding in December, and we had over 500 people attend; the building was bursting at the seams! It was great to see it full and to see the enjoyment of our members as they watched their church get filled to capacity. It shows what we will be capable of in the coming years, as we continue to build this church in Kisii.

We were helped a great deal by Bro. Phillip Smith and his CLAIM Team with BIMI, who came for just two weeks. They helped us get the building enclosed, so we could have the first service in the Church on November 2 before they left. They were a great blessing to us and to the church members here. It is amazing to see all the work that they accomplished while they were here. People were stopping by everyday, because we are on the main road, amazed at the progress; and we were able to witness to them. It was a great testimony for the church. The Team helped us finish up a lot of the work that we had started in March this year, and it was wonderful to be able to get into the building before the end of this year. It is such a great blessing. Thank you for all the help that you have been, both through prayer and finances, to make this project a possibility. It has been such a blessing to our family and the church here.

We still have more work to do, and we will resume work in January. The Calvary Baptist Church members here have raised over $5,000 that has been used in this project, and they have committed to continue to raise funds to help do the finishing work. We have been able to help with nearly $12,000 from your offerings and our regular support. The finishing work that needs to be done will be close to $3,000. Please pray for the funds to finish the baptistry, sidewalk, doors, windows, vents, flooring, lights, gutters, plastering the walls, painting, and some other things I am sure I have left out of this list.

Besides the building project, it has continued to be busy in other areas of the ministry as well. We have finished the girls dorm building at the orphanage in Sidundo, and we are ready to bring in the girls who are ready to start living there starting on January 5, 2015. We are excited about this, and we have been eager to get this stared. We will be meeting with their guardians and their caretakers to work out the details over this holiday break. Thank you for your prayers and support for this project. God is blessing the children, and they are growing both physically and spiritually.

We have planted corn in Sidundo, that will be harvested in January. This harvest will help with the expenses of the running of the orphanage during the time that we are on furlough. Pray that it will be a bountiful harvest, that it will meet the needs, and that is will even go beyond to help others as well who are not able to stay at the orphanage at this time. God has given us nearly 20 dedicated men and women at this church and orphanage in Sidundo, Siaya, who are helping to take care of the children on a rotating basis. As they are being led by Pastor Joseph and other men, they are helping these children with valuable lessons in life from the Word of God on a daily basis. Lessons that will be more beneficial than all of the material things that we can give them.

This year we have also been able to help a few of the orphans in paying for their school tuition, books, and uniforms; but there are so many more who need help in this area. We need more support for the Orphan Ministry. We have been able to help a few young men with work and with starting their first semester of university. And we are looking forward to seeing what the Lord is going to do in the lives of these young people!

A lot of times the work seems overwhelming, and it does not seem like there is an end; but if we can influence even a few with the goodness of God, it will make a huge difference in their lives. And it will go a long way in the ministry of the church, as they give their lives to the Lord to Preach the Gospel. I know that we are in the beginning stages of this ministry, but our prayer for these young people is to change Kenya through the preaching of God's Word.

God has enabled us, through the South Nyanza Baptist College, to have another 12 men and women graduate in 2014, between our two branches in Sidundo and Kisii. Please pray for these graduates, as several of them have made it known that they are called to preach; and they are looking for areas where they can start new churches out of their home churches. The majority of the students that graduated were from Sidundo (about 5 hours from Kisii), so we went with the whole student body and teachers from Kisii to hold the graduation at the Sidundo branch at the end of November. It was a great day! And it was something that had never been done in that village by any church or college. Also for many of these families there had never been anyone in their family who had graduated from college until now. It was a great testimony to the Gospel and the work of the Calvary Baptist Church in Sidundo.

Please pray for the area around Sidundo. There are three other villages and markets that are being looked at for starting preaching points and Bible Studies by our graduates in the near future.

We are finalizing our plans to begin furlough the end of April. We have already started booking meetings toward the end of May; just after the high school graduation of our second daughter, Breanne. We have several that have already contacted us about setting up meetings and some of the dates are filling up. If you have not yet contacted us by email, please do so: mail@shelbysinkenya.org. Please pray with us that the Lord will open doors to get into some new churches during this furlough, since we need to raise our support level to help with the constantly changing economy and the growth of the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to us.

Thank you so much for your support, prayer, special offerings, and love that you have shown to our family in 2014. It is greatly appreciated, and we will always be thankful for your goodness and your faithfulness to our ministry here in Kenya.

Serving Him in Kenya,



Luke and Tonya Shelby
Your Missionaries to Kenya

June-August 2014 Prayer Letter

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Dear Supporters and Praying Friends, June - August 2014

It has been a busy few months since we wrote, and a lot has taken place. In July, while traveling home from our church in Sidundo (where we baptized 13), I had a serious problem with our vehicle. The engine threw a rod, which blew out a large hole in the block, so I had to get towed back to Kisii Town (should have been about 3 hours from where I broke down), and it took about 12 hours! We did get it running again by patching the engine, and it has not had any problem. We thank all of you who pray for us faithfully, because we never know when something will happen that we will need urgent prayers. We know that God hears your prayers. Thank you again for your prayers.

Also in August, Tonya held our 7th Annual Ladies' Conference at our church in Kisii Town. There were 45 ladies from 15 different churches in our area that were able to attend! Their theme this year was, "Draw Me Closer, Lord;" and all the lessons were about prayer. They had one lady get saved during the week! They spent many hours in prayer, studying the Bible, and memorizing Scripture during the 4 day Conference. By Friday, those ladies had said over 3,000 verses! Tonya has also started teaching the ladies in our Bible College, helping them with issues that will help them to be better Christian Women. She will be teaching things like: how to dress, how to present themselves, and how to do other things that are so common and often taken for granted in the United States; but these things are very needed and useful to these first generation Christian ladies.

Please pray for the following projects:
1. The ongoing building project at Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii town.
2. Orphanage project building in Sidundo is scheduled to be finished soon.
3. Church building in Rongo that will begin before the end of the year.

Again, we want to say thank you for your faithful prayers and support for our family and ministries in Kenya. The lives and ministries of your missionaries are all in the hands of the "…The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man…" Thank you for praying for us and holding us up before the Lord!

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby
Your Missionaries in Kenya

January-February 2014 Prayer Letter

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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,

January - February 2013 Prayer Letter

Printable Version (PDF)

Dear Supporters and Friends,

Thank you again for your prayers and special offerings for Tonya as she went to the States for some blood tests on her iron and B-12 levels. She is doing better with less headaches and more energy. She is taking B-12 injections twice a week, and it is helping. They do cause some nausea, but she is coping with it. The doctor wants her to return every six months to be tested; to see if the B-12 shots are improving her blood development, and to see if the shots need to be reduced or increased. It is hard to get the injections here; and when we have gotten them, they are very expensive, and they have lost their potency due to sitting on the shelf in this tropical heat. So she will be getting a new batch of injections on each of her trips State side, as well. Please pray for her next trip, which will only be for two weeks this time, at the end of May.

We opened the year with 11 new students in January, and we are expecting a few more to start in February. They were late due to sickness and schedule conflicts. Please continue to pray for all of our ministries to continue to grow, and for the local churches to help support their local ministries.

Orphan Ministry Update:
We were able to visit all 52 children, whom we are helping through our feeding program at two locations Sidundo and Kuresoi, with a Christmas package of food and toys. They were really surprised! And it was such a blessing to see all those smiling faces, who have gone through so much in their short lives. Also please pray for the upcoming elections to be peaceful on March 4, because during the 2007 elections is when a lot of these children lost their parents.

During the last week of January, we were able to invite 13 boys to start staying at our first orphanage and to start taking care of their full needs. We do not have permanent parents at this time, but we are praying for a couple who will see the desire to help in this ministry. We have about 10 men and women, from Calvary Baptist Church in Sidundo Village, who are sharing the jobs of cooking, cleaning, and sleeping with the boys. We have done medical checkups on all the boys; over half had to be treated for malaria, and most of them had skin problems that have to be cared for.

Special Request: We are always seeking ways to save money and to be good stewards of the financial resources that the Lord has given us, and this has brought us to this special request. Please let us know, either by regular mail (Luke and Tonya Shelby, P.O. Box 9215, Chattanooga, TN 37412) or by e-mail (mail@shelbysinkenya.org), what your preferred method is to receive our Prayer Letter. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that you prefer to receive our letters by regular mail; and if we already have your e-mail address, then you will continue to receive it both ways. If you prefer to receive all of our updates by e-mail only, then we must hear from you; please include your preferred e-mail contact information, so that you are able to receive our letters in a timely manner. We want to thank you in advance for your help in this matter.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

South Nyanza Baptist College

II Timothy 2:2 exhorts us to “...teach men who shall be able to teach others also.” God has given us the desire to train men and women to be pastors, pastor’s wives, and various church leaders in their local churches. South Nyanza Baptist College was started in 2001, and on December 6, 2008, we held our 3rd Graduation.

South Nyanza Baptist College began in 2001 with two students. The purpose of the college is to prepare national pastors and church leaders in the areas of Bible study, sermon preparation, soul winning, and church planting. We have a goal of helping these men to be indigenous church planters. We also see the need to train men and women as teachers, youth ministers, music directors, and Christian lay leaders.
The college is the vehicle for the Shelby Family to train pastors and leaders to assist in evangelizing the lost and church planting. It has been financed and operated by missionary finances since the beginning, and the process has been started to gradually guide the college to be indigenous. There are now three teachers that are graduates (and former students themselves); and they are helping in teaching, organizing, and overseeing (at least a little bit) the student body and the schedule during the weeks of classes. We have a desire to encourage the churches that have benefitted from the college; and those that are sending students, to support the college. This will enable the nationals to take more of a central role in providing training for their own people. This will also ensure that the classes will continue to be under sound leadership even when the Shelby Family is on furlough.
South Nyanza Baptist College has scheduled its classes to fit with the majority of the farmers in our region. The pastors and students come to the college for classes one week per month to give them time to work their land during the remaining part of the month. Students meet 9 months out of the year, according to the schooling schedule in Kenya, for the three year program to receive a diploma of Graduate of Theology. The three year course includes 36 subjects on Bible Study and Christian growth, as well as instruction on general areas of service in the church. We opened “Swahili” classes for students in May of 2008.
Those who have graduated and other pastors meet in the three remaining months of the year for seminars in our Pastoral Program. These subjects include more in-depth studies in pastoral training, church planting and church growth.
Other programs for working with older teens as an introductory course to the Bible College, and programs for working with the Pastors’ wives are being organized and planned for use in the near future.
SNBC began with English classes only in 2001. Through the years, SNBC has met at several different locations; but is currently meeting at the Calvary Baptist Church property in Kisii Town. SNBC currently has 20 students enrolled in the English 3 Year Program.
SNBC began its Swahili classes in May 2008. The majority of the people here know English, but we wanted to make the classes understood by everyone. We are still in the process of translating some of the College curriculum into Swahili. SNBC currently has 10 students enrolled in the Swahili 6 Year Program.

Prayer Letter September – October 2010

Dear Supporters and Friends,                                                     September–October 2010
We want to thank you for your prayers for our family as we have been traveling. We have spent the last six weeks in New Mexico, Texas, and a few meetings in Missouri and Arkansas. God has kept us safe while traveling over 17,000 miles, and we have reported to a good number of our supporting churches. We have also been in 16 new churches and 6 of them have promised to take us on for support. Autumn is wonderful time of the year to be in the States, but with it comes cooler weather. Over the next month, I will be traveling to meetings alone, and the family will be staying with Tonya's parents in East Tennessee in order to help them get caught up in homeschooling. The kids have done great on the road, but it is really hard to keep a good schedule!
The work in Kenya is doing well, and the churches have continued with all of the special meetings that are planned from year to year like: VBS and Ladies' Camp. We have been able to talk to them from time to time in order to encourage them in the Lord. And nearly every time, they express how they want each of you to know how much they love you and thank you for being a part of sending the gospel to them, in order for them and their families to be saved.
There are two ministries in Kenya that we would like to highlight the future goals for you in order to raise funds for these goals to be reality.

Orphan Ministry (click here to see our brochure)

We have already mentioned our new Orphan Ministry in earlier prayer letters and on our website, but we have inserted a brochure with this letter to help with the breakdown of getting this project started. The total need of financial support for the first couple of years (in order to be able to help any orphan that is brought to us for help) would be in the range of $20,000. This amount would include facilities that could take care of almost 100 children in various locations, and assist in the monthly care for them in a Christian family environment. You can help through VBS, Christmas, School offerings, special church offerings, monthly support, and prayer for God to supply the need. 

South Nyanza Baptist College

We are also trying to raise funds for setting up dormitories (beds, mattresses, and sheets) and office supplies, as well as monthly support, to accommodate the growth of the college for the upcoming year. God has blessed the churches that we have been able to start with men and women that are hungry for the word and burdened for the world around them to be saved. My goal is to see over 100 students in the college over the next couple of years. But we need your help to make this possible. Please read the attached letter, see the progress that has been made, and pray about helping with one of the needs mentioned. Please consider the college for monthly support as a separate mission project of your church.  Thank you for your prayers for our family and ministries. 
Luke and Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya
Mission: The mission of South Nyanza Baptist College is to train pastors and leaders of Local Independent Baptist churches to have a better understanding of the Bible, and to equip them to serve the Lord in the ministries of their local church. We also endeavor to produce men who will have a vision for the thousands of villages that need a Gospel witness, and to develop laborers within local churches to plant churches in other villages around them.

History: The college started in May of 2001 with two students meeting in a church in Kisii. A few months later, we opened a branch that met simultaneously with other pastors in the village of Sadieda. In 2003, all of the pastors were combined at Bible Baptist Church in the town of Rongo; and classes were held under a tent for three years, training men from around the region. Then in 2007, it moved to Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii, where it has continued to grow in the major city in our region.
Currently: South Nyanza Baptist College has a total of 52 students that are attending the Three-Year Program and the Pastoral Seminar Program. There are more than 20 on a waiting list to start classes in January 2011, and we have 12 students of the Three-Year Program that are scheduled to graduate by the end of 2011.
Future Plans: By 2011, we need to be able to rent a portion of a complex. This will help us to set up classrooms, dormitories, and a kitchen to accommodate the students while classes are in session. The rental property below is also up for sale but at a really high price. We are praying that getting in the door by renting a small section to accommodate our needs right now, will help in the future if we need to buy, in order to expand.

The complex is located on the main highway between Kisii and Kisumu. It is about 20 minutes from Kisii town. This is a satellite photo from google maps. The bigger part of the building is two story on the right and on the left. And we are looking at renting the section on the right.
This section is big enough to set up dormitories, classrooms, and it can be used for our Church Conference, Pastor's School and Ladies' Camp that are held annually; We also have a church that we planted in this area in 2004, they would also be able to use this on Sundays.
It will enable us to accommodate any size of church or college group that would come to visit us from the States for a short term mission trip.

Needs:
Monthly support $500 (Rent, utilities, upkeep, staff, supplies)
Bunk beds ($100 ea.) x 50= $5000
Mattresses ($20 ea.) x 100= $2000
Office set up costs.

South Nyanza Baptist College
Three-Year Program

The Three year course is set up to give basic Bible knowledge to Christians in their local church.
Currently, the three-year program is operated one week every month for nine months out of the year to correspond with the usual school year in Kenya, with breaks in April, August, and December.
Each subject has a total of 18 hours of class time, and a homework time of 2-5 hours per subject.
Each subject is available in the language of Swahili in a simplified format.
A Three month period of classes covers 4 subjects, which equals to 12 subjects in a year and 36 subjects in the three year course.
Students are only accepted at the beginning of each year which runs from January – December.
Students must have a clear testimony of salvation, baptism in a Baptist Church, one year of attendance in a Baptist Church, and the recommendation of his pastor to be enrolled.
Students are required to give an account of daily Bible reading, prayer requests, tithes and offerings, weekly visitation, attendance, and serving in their churches in a Christian Service Notebook in order to continue to be enrolled in the college. One half of their total grade for each class is given from their Christian service in their local church.
Students pay their own transport each month to attend classes. We give them return fare home at the end of the week.
We provide room and board for the entire week (Monday – Friday) that they are in classes.
We provide them with printed and bound notebooks (depending on finances), or they take their own notes.
A final exam is given at the end of each subject and grades are determined as followed: Quizzes = 20%, Assignments = 20%, Final Exam = 10%, Christian Service 50%.
A diploma is awarded to them upon the completion of the 36 subjects at a graduation ceremony.

Pastoral Program

The Pastoral program is set up to equip pastors for the work of the ministry in seminary form.
Students are required to have completed the three year course at this college or another approved Baptist college before moving to the area.
Currently, the classes are offered three times a year during the break months of the three-year program: April, August, and December.
Each subject has a total of 12 hours of class time and 5-10 hours of homework.
More Subjects will be available in the future.
A monthly work report notebook is used to give an account of weekly tithes and offerings, visitation, salvations, baptisms, attendance records, and other ministries of their church.
Students pay their own transport each month to attend classes. We give them return fare home at the end of the week.
We provide room and board for the entire week (Monday – Friday) that they are in classes.
We provide them with printed and bound notebooks (depending on finances), or they take their own notes.
Completion of the class is determined by a final essay, attendance to the class, assignments, and completion of their notes.
Recognition is given to those who continue to be trained on a yearly basis, and ministry opportunities are available to those who are faithful like: Teaching in the College, Prison Ministries, Camps, and Evangelistic teams to start new churches.
Ordination of some of the pastors, which we have been working with, is scheduled to correspond with their church's organization in the near future.  

Bro. Tom Maronga’s Funeral

Bro. Tom Maronga's Funeral Service


Thank you for praying for Bro. Tom's family. Rose and her children are doing well. And we are sorry for the delay in getting this update to you. The funeral was on June 30, 2009; and there were approximately 600 people in attendance. There was a bit of excited emotions among the family members concerning different traditions; but the Lord enabled us (as the church where Tom was a member and other Christians who had fellowshipped with Tom in Bible College to advise in the situation) and we were given the final word that helped to solve the problem that arose. Praise to the Lord who always gives us the victory.

Tom was a member of two different Independent Baptist Churches in the five years that we knew him. He was baptized by Ben dyer prior to starting the Bible Baptist Church of Bomwanda. He was a faithful member and served as the treasurer. He was an insurance salesman for 15 years, and he used some of the teachings that he received in Bible study and from Bible College to relate to the field of insurance when teaching new recruits about character and about selling the product in concordance with soul winning. He was able to apply many Bible truths to the youth of Kenya in different associations of Athletics as well as being the youth leader of Calvary Baptist Church during the last 6 months he was alive.

He was a great asset to the church at Calvary Baptist Church in which he was a member for only a year. He was involved with teaching youth and adults, and he was much respected among the members. After another year, and with some milestones reached in his life, I had considered him to be the future national pastor of the church, during the time of us going on furlough in 2010. He graduated from our Bible College in November 2008, which is a three year program that deals with Basic Bible knowledge and learning how to preach. And he had started the Pastoral classes that follow the three year program.

Also during the court case that we experienced over the last two years with the church in Rongo, Tom helped me with details and procedures because he had taken two years of Kenyan Law. The other pastor and those that were advising him made Tom their enemy because of his stand on the truth of the Word of God. But that did not bother Tom; his only desire was to help the work of the Lord to continue in Rongo.

Tom was the kind of guy who, if he had a spare minute, he would come by the house or call me to meet him somewhere just to talk and fellowship with me and our family. Many did not believe that he was dead because of his personality, his friendship, and his testimony for the Lord. We will certainly miss him here, and we thank the Lord for allowing us to have the opportunity to know and work with Tom. And we know that we will see him again someday in heaven! Praise the Lord!

Please keep the Maronga Family in your prayers.





The Word of God was Preached, and Gospel was clearly given.             Mrs. Rose Maronga                 Lowering of the Casket