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

Safely Back in Kenya & Urgent Prayer Requests

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Dear Prayer Supporters and Friends, January-March 2020

We arrived back in Kenya in January, and everything is going well here. We have been able to visit 5 of our churches so far, and it is a blessing to see that God is blessing each of them. One of them, Agape Baptist Church in the Jogoo area of Kisii, celebrated its 1st Anniversary. There were a few visitors, and 2 got saved! Pastor Andrew Maiko is doing a good job. Continue to pray for him and his family.

One of the first things that we needed to accomplish upon returning to the field was to find the best solution to Tonya’s coping with COPD here in Kenya. We have been able to determine the main things that affect her ability to breathe in enough oxygen and to regulate her heart rate when trying to compensate for the oxygen levels are the following: high elevation, dust, smoke, and dead air at the heat of the day. We have been living in Kisii for almost 20 years at the elevation of 6,500+ ft. The pressure at that level has shown to be a problem for her. So we have been researching towns with the lowest elevation in our region of Kenya; and Kisumu, a town on Lake Victoria, is located at 3,700 ft. above sea level and is also half way between our 2 main centers of ministry. The humidity is higher here, but that doesn’t seem to bother her. We have decided to get an apartment there which is in easy driving distance to any of our works. All of our ministries with churches, Bible College, and orphans will continue normally, because we start each process with national leadership in place to make sure that each church is indigenous in nature. This small move will also assist us in helping other missionaries, who are coming to Kenya in the near future, who will be working with us with the goal of starting works in towns around us. We are still researching the best way to get air conditioning in our apartment.

Other issues that need urgent prayer in the light of the recent coronavirus that has recently taken center stage in the media:

• Tonya’s COPD places her in the high risk group.

• Our travel to the States for Abigail and Robert’s Wedding on June 6.

• Our travel here in the country while we finish moving into the apartment.

• My Dad is still in the Hospital in Little Rock, now in CCU, and has been moved in and out of ICU to get those rooms ready for coronavirus patients.

• Matthew Rose Family’s arrival has been delayed.

• Kenya shutting down non-essential business in the midst of renewing our work permit.

• $1,000 Still needed for Air Conditioning.

• $5,000+ Still needed for Shipping

We are praying for you during this time of uncertainty, and we covet your prayers as well. May God bless you.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

Missionaries in Kenya

April-May 2019 Prayer Letter

For a Printable Version (PDF), Click HERE!

Dear Supporters and Friends, April - May 2019
We want to thank all of you who faithfully pray for your missionaries, because we know that God is in control and is our Faithful Guide in all that we do for Him. The Lord has guided us in many ways, and we are thankful that we followed Him to Kenya more than 20 years ago. In April, we celebrated 20 years on the field, and it is amazing to see what the Lord has done through those years. Thank you for your prayers. (2 Thess. 5:25)
We have started our furlough, and we will be in the States until January 2020. It has been good to catch up in person with our family, especially with Breanne and Abigail who have finished college and are now teaching in our home church’s Christian Academy. God has been good to them and taken care of them. Thank you for praying for them.
We are also thankful that Tonya was able to get an oxygen machine before we left Kenya to come on furlough. She is using it to sleep at night to help with her COPD. It has really helped her to have more energy during the day. She has been able to have a few appointments already and many of her levels are improving. Thank you for your prayers for her.
Please Pray for the family of Pastor Denis Moranga, he died last week due to complications with his pancreas and small intestines. He was very faithful in Faith Baptist Church in the village of Gesabakwa, and he was planning to start a new church also. Please pray for his wife and three young boys. The funeral will be this week, and his fellow pastors will be in charge of all of the services. Please pray for people in his village to be saved.
God allowed us to start our 28th church on the opposite side of Kisii Town. Agape Baptist Church was started on February 17th after 6-9 months of Soul-winning and preaching in the area. Over 100 people have come to know Christ in the process of starting the church. Please pray for Pastor Andrew Maiko and his family. He is continuing to see people saved and has already had his first baptism. More than 32 people have been saved in our ministries in the last month.
Please pray for Caleb, he will be graduating from high school this week, and he will be starting Bible College in the fall. Kay-Leigh will be able to go on her first mission’s trip to Costa Rica at the end of July, and she is so excited about this opportunity. She needs to raise $1,000 to go on the trip. We have some set aside for her trip, but she still needs to raise around $500 for this trip. If you would like to help, it would be a great blessing to her.
God bless you for reading this letter, and praying for our family and ministry. (2 Thess. 3:1)
For souls in Kenya,
Luke and Tonya Shelby
Your Missionaries in Kenya

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

Prayer Request Update #2

Well…Evidently Luke & Caleb did get my arm back into place Sunday night (not a fun experience, but thankful they were brave enough to help try to relieve the pain!).

So, the doctor we saw on Monday gave me stronger pain meds & an anti-inflammatory for the smaller bones that are broken in my hand. The wrist was only dislocated & needs time to heal now that it is back in place.

I was given instructions to not use it at all for a week & use a good wrist brace to keep it in place. There is some tendon, ligament, and nerve damage; and he said those will just need time to heal. So it's like a VERY bad sprain. My pinky and ring finger are not moving at this point due to the damage.

Hoping prayer, rest, massage, & essential oils will get it back to working well again soon. So, We are taking it a day at a time right now. It is well wrapped in a sturdy brace for several weeks for sure, but I'm supposed to go back to the doctor on Friday to re-evaluate the situation.

Thank you for your continued prayers.

Prayer Request Update!

Update: I was able to get an x-ray taken of my wrist this evening after we left the church. Some members told us where we could go out here. It appears that my ulna is dislocated & I have a small hairline fracture in one of the smaller bones in my hand (the hamate bone?). The clinic out here cannot put it back in place. So we will go to the good hospital in Kisumu tomorrow to get it put back in place. We were told that this type of dislocation calls for an above the elbow cast for a minimum of 6 weeks! So your continued prayers are greatly appreciated!

Then we will head. Back out to the village to finish up the week of camp.

Prayer Needed!

Could really use your prayers! We made it out to Siaya & the guesthouse that we will be staying in for this next week of Youth Camp. But while getting checked in & getting our stuff carried upstairs, fell on the stairs & we are pretty sure my left wrist is broken. We are hours from a good hospital, & we know the devil is really fighting us right now. We had 19 get saved last week & are looking forward to what our GOD is going to do out here in the village this week! Please pray for the pain to ease & our splint job to work, so that we can stay here & be a blessing to the Youth & church here! Thank you in advance for your prayers.

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

August - September 2015 Prayer Letter

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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

April-May 2014 Prayer Letter

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Dear Prayer Supporters,

Thank you for your prayers for our family over the past two months, while Tonya and Abigail have been in the USA for their medical furlough.  They have finished everything, and they will be traveling home to Kenya May 24th-25th.

Abigail also graduated from Jacksonville Christian Academy (our home church's school), got her driving permit, did a lot of practicing, and was able to get some needed medical testing done.  In 2007, Abigail was diagnosed with a juvenile form of osteoporosis, and she had a bone density test done while in the USA. Her doctor was amazed at her results! She tested just into the normal range, which technically means that she no longer shows signs of osteoporosis!  She will return to Kenya for a year, work on some Bible College course work through external studies, and then go on to Bible College when we return for our regularly scheduled furlough in 2015. Possibly she and our second daughter, Breanne, will both be staying in the USA at that time for college.

Tonya has had some good results along with also finally finding out the cause of some of her health issues. She has been diagnosed with Negative Intrinsic Factor (a protein that is completely missing in her intestines, and which is responsible for attaching to “B” vitamins so that the body can use them) and also with Pernicious Anemia (an autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune system mistakenly damages its own tissues, and this anemia depletes iron, B-12, and Folate serum/B-9). Her iron levels were all good; her B-12 level was fairly stable since her last labs; but her folate was critically low. Both the B-12 and folate affect the health of the brain and affect how the brain relays messages to either the glands or nerves throughout the entire body. Because of her diagnosis and the severity of her anemia, her doctors have told us to be prepared for her to continue to return to the USA (or another medically capable country) every six months for life. Although this is not the answer we were hoping for, we are thankful that the Lord has allowed us to finally know what we are dealing with. But we would like to ask each of you to join with us in making this a serious matter of prayer; both for the physical needs that Tonya will continue deal with, and for the extra finances that these kinds of trips and testing are going to require indefinitely. The Lord already knows everything that lies ahead of us; we just ask that you pray with us concerning these things, as we already know that Kenya is where God wants our family to continue to serve Him.

We have begun the work on the church building at Calvary Baptist in Kisii. Things are going well, but since we are on the side of a hill, we decided to put a couple of rooms on the lower side of the building. In doing this, it has added about $7,000 to the original plans, so it will increase the total cost of the building to nearly $20,000. We have already erected the steel frame and roof, built a retaining wall, built the walls for the downstairs rooms, and laid the foundation for the entire building. It will continue to be done in stages since the church itself is raising money for their building throughout the year. In the beginning, we promised the church that we would help them with half of the total amount, so $3,500 has been added to our part to fulfill our half of the total amount. We have never seen a church in Kenya do what this small group of people has done. If God lays it on your heart to help them, even with their remaining part (total of $7000); it would be a great blessing to their faith, and it will go a long way in helping us reach the town of Kisii for Christ which is home for about 183,000 people and is the central market town for more than 3.5 million people in the South Nyanza region of Kenya. Thank you for your prayers and sacrifice for Kenya!

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

Abigail Graduates from High School

Building progress at Calvary Baptist Church - Kisii Town

August - November 2013 Prayer Letter

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Dear Prayer Partners and Supporters,

We thank you for your prayers for Tonya as she was in the USA getting more treatments and B-12 shots, in October, to use here.  She should have enough to get her through until May of next year, when she is scheduled for another round of tests.

We are finishing the year for the our Bible College, and on November 30th we will have a graduation for two students.  First, is George; he is not married, and he is 22 years old. Second, is Christopher; he is a grandfather getting close to 65 years old.  He only knows the year he was born, because it was before they started keeping track of birthdays.  George is helping me with visitation at our church in Rongo, since the previous assistant Pastor of the church passed away in August.

The Lord is continuing to bless in Kisii, and we are getting ready to start the work on the new church building.  The church has nearly raised the equivalent of $3,000, which is half of their commitment to this project.  We are getting the blueprints drawn up, and all the legal paperwork finished; so that we can start building in January. We have planned the last fund raising for the year on December 1st, along with a ground breaking service. We have invited our other pastors to take part in this, so that they can see the importance of this special day. We currently have $900 that has come in, and an additional $2,000 has already been promised. So we need to raise $3,100 by January, so that we will be able to begin the work.  We have chosen January to start the work, because it is the longest dry season with no rain. The dry time will only last for about 4-6 weeks, so we have to get as much done in that time as possible.  Please help us to raise the remaining amount.

In October, we held our first Mission's Conference for our church in Kisii.  It went very well, and they committed over $100 each month to be sent to missionaries that are Kenyan nationals who are working in the Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, and one that is going to Sudan. We also do a simple commitment card to write down what they expect to give as a tithe, and the total commitments that they gave were tripled from last year to almost $500 a month promised.  This has been really amazing to see, we have never seen this kind of giving by any church in Kenya (even in Nairobi) for the size membership that we have.  We have about 15 families in this church.  They have given lots of testimonies of how the Lord has blessed them through their giving through this past year, and these testimonies have been an encouragement to others.

We received an offering of $3,100 from Sackville Independent Baptist Church in Canada. This offering is for some of the finishing work for the Orphanage in Sidundo.  We have purchased beds, we are finishing the toilet block, and we are getting electricity onto the property.  Please pray that we can get as much work done as possible through the month of December, so that we can move around 20 girls into their dorm room by January!

Thank you for your prayers and support for our family and ministries.

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby
Missionaries in Kenya

April-June 2013 Prayer Letter

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Dear Supporters, Praying Friends and Family,

Greetings from Kisii, Kenya. It has been a very busy few months, with a lot of traveling and tight scheduling. Thank you for your prayers! I have had a few bouts with Malaria since the beginning of the year, but we have been able to catch it early enough so it only lasts about a day or two. It has been nothing like it was last year. Tonya has been doing better as well, and she just finished her follow-up trip to the States this month. She was able to get her blood work done and pick up the supplies she needs for her B-12 shots and other supplements. Her tests came back with good results. Her B-12 levels were 4 points into the normal range for the first time in several years! Her doctor is still concerned with her ferritin level (stored iron in the body); it is still within the normal range, but has dropped to 1/2 of what it was six months ago. Her doctor wants her to definitely return to the States again in six months, and he says we should be prepared for her to have either an iron infusion or blood transfusion at that time if her ferritin level continues to drop at this rate. We are, of course, trying to add iron with diet as much as possible; and we are praying that the Lord will continue to strengthen her and her blood in the coming months.

Men's Conference:
We held our first Men's Conference in March, where we taught on fatherhood, leadership, relationships, and serving The Lord as laymen. This is the first time that we have done this without the emphasis being towards pastors only. We had over 30 men from 8 different churches present for the sessions for the three day conference. Many of these men accepted the challenge that was presented to them, and they chose to sign a resolution along with their wives before the church; they decided before their church family to take up the responsibility that God has given them to be godly leaders in their homes. We praise the Lord for the changes He is bringing about in each of these families!

South Nyanza Baptist College:
Both of our Bible College branches are doing well, and we opened this year with 16 new students and some new pastors that have joined with us for fellowship and training. Our four teachers, who are national pastors, are assisting me and taking on more leadership roles in the college; and it is a blessing to see these men continue to mature in the Lord. This will open more opportunities to add an additional Pastoral class that we have not been able to finalize because of past schedule conflicts. Please pray for: classes, new students, and the challenges of opening new branches.

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

Men's Conference 2013


South Nyanza Baptist College - Kisii Branch 2013

January - February 2013 Prayer Letter

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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

October 2012 Prayer Letter

Dear Supporters and Friends, October 2012

We want to thank you for your prayers and support for our family, and our ministries that God is continuing to bless. Over the last few months it has been very busy, and it has been difficult to get a letter out. Electricity and internet have also been a problem in trying to get a letter out. I know that it has worried some about the lateness of our letter; so we have tried to give you a few of the highlights, and we will fill in on other details later. I know that this is a long letter, but please pray for God’s continued guidance in these areas of our ministry as well as for our family.

Orphan Ministry Update:
We are now feeding over 40 children on a daily basis in two of our village churches (Kuresoi and Sidundo); and at the Orphan Home Project in Sidundo, the buildings now have windows, doors, and locks on one dorm building and the kitchen/dining room.  In May, we also discovered that there was already a well dug on the property more than 20 or 30 years ago.  So we re-dug it; and the water supply is enough for the college classes and even for the orphans, once we are ready to start housing them on the property.  Our plan is to start with 10 boys and to work through the things that will be needed to take care of them.  We will be meeting shortly with the guardians of these boys, whom we think would be the most needy, to prepare for the boys beginning in January.  Please pray that the necessary funds will come in on a monthly basis to care for this ministry.

Current orphan support: At this time, less than $100 per month is coming in specifically for the orphan ministry.   We are currently using close to $350 on a monthly basis for just our feeding program.  We have received a few large offerings throughout the year that has enabled us to continue working on the project buildings in Sidundo a little each month, as we continue to help the children in our feeding program.  Our plan, for housing ten boys, will need more funding by January.   Please try to help on a monthly basis, as we try to move forward in the goal helping these precious children in our village churches.  We are praying that the Lord will enable us to visit each of these 40 children individually in the coming weeks, in order to give them a Christmas package filled with food and many other needed items.

Bible College, Graduation, & New Students for 2013:
We are finishing up the 2012 year of classes, and we will be having 5 graduates, who finish the three-year course, this year.  Graduation will be on December 1st.  There are already 10 new students signed up to begin classes in January 2013, and we have several more appointments to interview others as well. Classes have continued to go well throughout the year in Sidundo and in Kisii.  We thank God for the faithful pastors who are helping to teach and train others.  There are several churches also who have not had students in our college this year; and before classes start in January, I will be meeting with them to encourage them in training up men and ladies to serve the Lord.

Calvary Baptist Sidundo:
Continue to pray for Calvary Baptist Church in Sidundo as they still do not have a pastor.  We are working with about 5 men who are called to preach, and they are doing very well in different areas. They are alternating the teaching in Sunday school, Bible Study, and the Preaching services.  Visitation is going well as the twelve students divide themselves 3 by 3; and the average attendance is running between 80-90, and several are being saved nearly every week.

A Busy August:
August was a full month for us. We had a week of VBS at Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii Town. And our Fifth Annual Ladies’ Conference was the last full week of the month. We had 38 ladies this year, and they came to Kisii from 8 of our churches for a week of refreshment and encouragement.  Our ladies from Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii did a lot of the teaching for this meeting, and it was a blessing to see their growth and willingness to teach others. It was a wonderful week! Please pray for Tonya as she continues to minister to the ladies in all of our churches, and pray for the Lord to continue to give us faithful ladies that are willing to serve Him in their own local churches and communities.

Tonya’s Medical Furlough & Update:
We want to thank every church and individual family that has been praying for Tonya’s health throughout this year. And we want to say thank you to each and every one of you who have helped with the expenses of her medical furlough. Tonya is currently in the USA receiving medical care due to some drastic drops in her blood levels. The doctors have been keeping a close eye on her blood for the past year; and after her last labs, they determined that she must return to the USA for further testing and treatment. After returning to the USA, the doctors have ruled out the need for a full transfusion, but have diagnosed her with an extreme B-12 and Folate deficiency. We have learned that these deficiencies are actually more dangerous than the Iron deficiency that we have been watching over the past few years. She is improving slowly, and she is scheduled to return to Kenya on November 26th. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers.

Luke’s Malaria/ Typhoid Update:
I know that we wrote about this, and many have seen the news on Facebook; and we thank you for your prayers.  For those who have not heard anything, I had a bout with malaria starting in June, then again in July where after several courses of treatment; I started feeling better.  It took two weeks to get some relief, I lost a lot of weight, and for several days I did not even know what was going on.  That was the worst part of it.  Then I was sick again in August, I took another round of treatment for about a week.  Then again in September with a bit different symptoms of being a bit sluggish during the day and severe chills every evening for about two hours and uncontrollable shaking again for about a week.  I was then advised by some of our Kenyan friends to get checked for Typhoid as well as malaria.  After being checked by a doctor, we were told that I had both malaria and typhoid; so I took the medicine for both, and I am feeling quite a bit better. The symptoms have not come back yet this month (October). We thank you so much for your prayers during this time. We praise the Lord for His healing and protection.
 
For Souls in Kenya,
 
Luke & Tonya Shelby

October 2012 Prayer Letter

Dear Supporters and Friends, October 2012

We want to thank you for your prayers and support for our family, and our ministries that God is continuing to bless. Over the last few months it has been very busy, and it has been difficult to get a letter out. Electricity and internet have also been a problem in trying to get a letter out. I know that it has worried some about the lateness of our letter; so we have tried to give you a few of the highlights, and we will fill in on other details later. I know that this is a long letter, but please pray for God’s continued guidance in these areas of our ministry as well as for our family.

Orphan Ministry Update:
We are now feeding over 40 children on a daily basis in two of our village churches (Kuresoi and Sidundo); and at the Orphan Home Project in Sidundo, the buildings now have windows, doors, and locks on one dorm building and the kitchen/dining room.  In May, we also discovered that there was already a well dug on the property more than 20 or 30 years ago.  So we re-dug it; and the water supply is enough for the college classes and even for the orphans, once we are ready to start housing them on the property.  Our plan is to start with 10 boys and to work through the things that will be needed to take care of them.  We will be meeting shortly with the guardians of these boys, whom we think would be the most needy, to prepare for the boys beginning in January.  Please pray that the necessary funds will come in on a monthly basis to care for this ministry.

Current orphan support: At this time, less than $100 per month is coming in specifically for the orphan ministry.   We are currently using close to $350 on a monthly basis for just our feeding program.  We have received a few large offerings throughout the year that has enabled us to continue working on the project buildings in Sidundo a little each month, as we continue to help the children in our feeding program.  Our plan, for housing ten boys, will need more funding by January.   Please try to help on a monthly basis, as we try to move forward in the goal helping these precious children in our village churches.  We are praying that the Lord will enable us to visit each of these 40 children individually in the coming weeks, in order to give them a Christmas package filled with food and many other needed items.

Bible College, Graduation, & New Students for 2013:
We are finishing up the 2012 year of classes, and we will be having 5 graduates, who finish the three-year course, this year.  Graduation will be on December 1st.  There are already 10 new students signed up to begin classes in January 2013, and we have several more appointments to interview others as well. Classes have continued to go well throughout the year in Sidundo and in Kisii.  We thank God for the faithful pastors who are helping to teach and train others.  There are several churches also who have not had students in our college this year; and before classes start in January, I will be meeting with them to encourage them in training up men and ladies to serve the Lord.

Calvary Baptist Sidundo:
Continue to pray for Calvary Baptist Church in Sidundo as they still do not have a pastor.  We are working with about 5 men who are called to preach, and they are doing very well in different areas. They are alternating the teaching in Sunday school, Bible Study, and the Preaching services.  Visitation is going well as the twelve students divide themselves 3 by 3; and the average attendance is running between 80-90, and several are being saved nearly every week.

A Busy August:
August was a full month for us. We had a week of VBS at Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii Town. And our Fifth Annual Ladies’ Conference was the last full week of the month. We had 38 ladies this year, and they came to Kisii from 8 of our churches for a week of refreshment and encouragement.  Our ladies from Calvary Baptist Church in Kisii did a lot of the teaching for this meeting, and it was a blessing to see their growth and willingness to teach others. It was a wonderful week! Please pray for Tonya as she continues to minister to the ladies in all of our churches, and pray for the Lord to continue to give us faithful ladies that are willing to serve Him in their own local churches and communities.

Tonya’s Medical Furlough & Update:
We want to thank every church and individual family that has been praying for Tonya’s health throughout this year. And we want to say thank you to each and every one of you who have helped with the expenses of her medical furlough. Tonya is currently in the USA receiving medical care due to some drastic drops in her blood levels. The doctors have been keeping a close eye on her blood for the past year; and after her last labs, they determined that she must return to the USA for further testing and treatment. After returning to the USA, the doctors have ruled out the need for a full transfusion, but have diagnosed her with an extreme B-12 and Folate deficiency. We have learned that these deficiencies are actually more dangerous than the Iron deficiency that we have been watching over the past few years. She is improving slowly, and she is scheduled to return to Kenya on November 26th. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers.

Luke’s Malaria/ Typhoid Update:
I know that we wrote about this, and many have seen the news on Facebook; and we thank you for your prayers.  For those who have not heard anything, I had a bout with malaria starting in June, then again in July where after several courses of treatment; I started feeling better.  It took two weeks to get some relief, I lost a lot of weight, and for several days I did not even know what was going on.  That was the worst part of it.  Then I was sick again in August, I took another round of treatment for about a week.  Then again in September with a bit different symptoms of being a bit sluggish during the day and severe chills every evening for about two hours and uncontrollable shaking again for about a week.  I was then advised by some of our Kenyan friends to get checked for Typhoid as well as malaria.  After being checked by a doctor, we were told that I had both malaria and typhoid; so I took the medicine for both, and I am feeling quite a bit better. The symptoms have not come back yet this month (October). We thank you so much for your prayers during this time. We praise the Lord for His healing and protection.
 
For Souls in Kenya,
 
Luke & Tonya Shelby

Medical Furlough for Tonya

Dear Praying Friends & Family,

Please keep our family in your prayers, especially Tonya.

We are writing to let you know about Tonya's need for a medical Furlough.  We had talked about her health trouble early this year, February or March, I believe.  The prices of tickets were very high at the time that we wanted to plan a trip (June-July), due to the Olympic games in London.  We were then told about trying a gluten free diet to see if that would help.  So her doctor agreed that it would not hurt to try that if the cost was too much to travel in July.  But he said that if we did not see a change for the better she would need to return to the USA for treatment (that treatment being either a full transfusion or multiple iron and vitamin infusions over the course of 8 weeks).  She gets her blood checked almost monthly.  And she has been on the gluten free diet since March.  Her blood work was holding steady or only dropping a tenth of a point here and there.  So we thought that she was doing alright.  But the past few weeks she has noticed a definite change in how she feels, and she has started passing out frequently.  And then we got her last blood work results back the first of last week.  Her iron levels have dropped a full 3 points, her red blood cells are also pretty low this time (which shows that her body is now using up the stored iron in the red cells).  After talking with her doctor, he says that it is very important to get treatment as soon as possible.  The infusions are not possible here, and the transfusion really isn't either due Tonya's somewhat rare blood type.  So we have a ticket reserved for her for the dates of 25th September - 27th November.  She will be flying directly into Little Rock, AR, which is where her doctor (a hematologist) is.  The kids and I will try holding down the home front while she is away.

We normally do not send email requests like this; but the plane ticket alone is $1,700 (that is round-trip from Kisumu, Kenya to Little Rock, AR), and that does not take into consideration the cost of living in the USA for at least 8 weeks.  If anyone feels led to help with this medical trip, then we thank you in advance.  Please feel free to send messages of encouragement to Tonya at mail@shelbysinkenya.org.  And if the Lord leads to help financially, please mark your check clearly with a note for "Tonya Shelby's Medical Furlough" & send to: BIMI, P.O. Box 9215, Chattanooga, TN 37412;  or you can send it to our Home Church: Bible Baptist Church, 3301 North First Street, Jacksonville, AR  72976. 

Thank you for your prayers during this time.

Serving Him in Kenya,

Luke and Tonya Shelby
Missionaries in Kenya

April-June 2012 Prayer Letter

Dear Supporters and Friends, April - June 2012

We have finished moving into a newer house in Kisii on the other side of town. After praying for about a year and looking slowly in other parts of town, the Lord opened a door for us to move to a quieter part of town. The owners are one of the first families that we met when we first came to Kisii, almost 12 years ago. They are also doing a lot of fixing up and accommodating things that we need in the house as we are still moving in. Electric, water, phone, security and other essentials are definitely more stable; and that definitely makes life easier in Africa when they are.

Recently we had mentioned about Tonya, her problem with her iron levels, and the possibility of her going back to the States for a blood infusion or transfusion. Three families from some of our supporting churches mentioned a family member who had the same symptoms, and they were told to begin a totally Gluten free diet. They saw results very quickly, so Tonya has tried that. She is feeling much better, although there has not been any significant change in her blood work. We have been told that it could take some time to see these changes. The big challenge is getting the ingredients to mix her own flours, making pasta, and many other things that are not ready made for the gluten free diet here. Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

An Orphan Feeding Program has begun in two locations, as the Lord has provided funds to do this. In Kuresoi it is a full time program; and in Sidundo it is still just part time, during the week that I am having Bible College classes there each month. In Kuresoi, it assists the children, as they usually have to walk all the way home from school to eat lunch, now they are being fed at the Pastor’s house on school days. And now there is better contact with each of them to know their day-to-day needs. In Sidundo, other difficulties have arisen concerning leadership of the church, and knowing the way forward for the children who will need to be cared for more in the orphanage. We are getting to know the children, and we are also seeing some of final details being resolved to get closer to accommodating the children in our first Orphan Home. Please continue to pray for Calvary Baptist Church in Sidundo. We are training the 13 College students, who are now leading the church in different areas of ministry including the preparations for the orphanage. Pastor Charles is no longer in the church due to discipline problems. God is blessing though and raising up new leadership in the church. Souls are being saved, and we just baptized 12 last Sunday.

We have also finished the building extension project in Kisii, and we have been using it for almost two months. There are small things that need to be finished, but it is a blessing not to be cramped with space. The Lord is continuing to bless in the local leadership of this church in handling the day-to-day issues with me being away part of the time.

Thank you for your prayers and support for our ministries.

For Souls in Kenya,

Luke & Tonya Shelby

Hello! 

We want to apologize for not staying in contact with everyone through the past few months.  We have a very busy schedule; and then between power outages and computer software updates that had made our website program inaccessible, it has kept us from making updates as needed!  We are very sorry.

We do ask that you continue to be patient with us.  We are trying to make some changes to our websites, but not all of kinks have been easy to work out!  Since I am a self-taught website designer, I often have to do things the long way until I figure out the shortcuts!  But we are working on the problems, and hopefully we will get things all sorted out soon.

Our family is all doing good.  We had a good time during the holiday season, and we pray that you enjoyed the time with your family and friends as well.  We are ALWAYS amazed when we look back over the past year and see what the Lord has done in our lives and ministry.  God has been good to all of us, but then that is NOT a surprise!!  We are looking forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for us this year.  We pray that you, your family, your church, and your ministry all have a wonderful year!

Thank you for your patience,
Tonya

I was saved under my dad’s preaching at the age of 15.  And I surrendered my life to the Lord to do or go anywhere He called me.  Luke and I met at Bible College, and we were married in 1995.  It is still amazing to me to see how God has worked in my life to prepare me for the challenges that He knew we would face here.  But He has always been by my side through every blessing and every trial.  He is truly faithful!!

I feel privileged to be able to serve the Lord here in Kenya with my husband and family.  We have seen the Lord do some “Great and mighty things” (Jeremiah 33:3) in our life, and I thank Him for the opportunity to serve Him here as a family.

Ladies’ Ministry

We have a very active Ladies’ Ministry which includes: weekly and monthly Bible study meetings, Retreats, teachers’ training classes, and lots of fun and fellowship! Please take time to check out what is happening in the lives of our Ladies.
I am delighted that the Lord has allowed me to have a small part as a leader for our Ladies’ Ministries. God has allowed me to play a vital role in the spiritual growth and encouragement of the Kenyan Ladies in our region.
The ladies in our ministry come from a variety of backgrounds and life experiences. I am praying that those who have not placed their faith in Christ will come to know Him, that those who know Him will grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus, and that all of them will support and encourage one another in the Lord.
When God calls us to ministry, He gives us the power to accomplish the work that He gives us to do. It is not by our intelligence or our skills that we serve, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.
If you have a desire to help our ladies in any way, please contact me. I am here to answer any questions that you or your church might have concerning our Ladies’ Ministry here in Kenya.
May the Lord continue to bless this ministry and all of these precious women. Please keep us in your prayers.
With His Love,
Mrs. Tonya Shelby
Missionary Wife in Kenya