Luke & Tonya Shelby
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Luke Shelby was born in Russelville, Arkansas in 1974 where his father, Richard was the pastor of River Valley Baptist Church. Their family moved to Jacksonville, Arkansas to help in the ministry of Bible Baptist Church in Sunday school, bus routes, and teaching in Jacksonville Christian Academy. This ministry is responsible for nearly every spiritual decision in Luke’s life and is still his home and sending church to the field of Kenya. Dr. Mike Files has been his pastor for over 10 years. Luke was saved at the age of seven, after family devotions that his parents held before bedtime and baptized in October of 1981. At a very young age Luke along with his two brothers helped in the bus ministry and Luke was given his first bus route as a young teenager. On April 18, 1990, Luke surrendered to preach at the age of 16, during a revival with Evangelist Joe Boyd. During the next year Luke struggled with the area of this calling to preach the Gospel of Christ. During the next missions conference, Missionary to Kenya, Tim Whitfield, showed his slides and preached to share his burden for the African people and their need for the Gospel. Luke prayed over this burden and direction from his pastor, Bro. Harris, and the Word of God. All of these things came to work together in time and at the age of 17 he surrendered to be a missionary to Kenya. (Ezekiel 22:30; Lamentations 4:8–11; Jeremiah 333; Romans
8:28)
There are Four Instruments that God always uses in His divine purpose for someone’s life 1. The Conviction of God’s Spirit 2. The Confirmation of God’s Word 3. The Commendation of God’s Man 4. The Commission of God’s Church Other things that God may use in our lives to lead us are circumstances, desires, and open doors. Luke attended Bethel Baptist College, a ministry of Bible Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Arkansas, and graduated in 1996 with a BA and in 2006 with a MA. While in college he met his wife, Tonya in 1994 and they were married on July 15, 1995. Tonya was saved at the age of 15 under the preaching of her father Robert Keeton, who has been working in the Rock of Ages Prison Ministry for nearly 20 years. The Shelbys now has four children (Abigail Nichole, 8/11/96, Breanne Michelle, 8/20/97, Caleb Anthony, 11/25/00, and Kay-Leigh Jeanine, 11/23/04)
The Shelby Family started on Deputation in June of 1997 and were on the field by April of 1999. They have completed Swahili language school, worked with a veteran missionary and have been living in Kisii, Kenya since January 2001. The have started South Nyanza Baptist College and seven churches that are under national leadership, and they are working with pastors and laymen of 14 churches to evangelizing their area by preaching in the markets, schools and prisons. They have already seen more than 5,000 saved and there are many opportunities of open doors for them to work in the future. They have a vision of starting churches in the Maasai villages near them and even reaching across the border into Tanzania. Please pray for the Shelby Family
