Hello to all of our family, friends, and supporters! We wanted to write everyone one more time before we leave Kenya and begin our furlough in the USA.
We are all doing very well. We made it safely to Nairobi, and we have been taking care of our last doctor and dentist appointments before heading out. We will be flying out tomorrow (Wednesday) night at around 11:30 PM (East African Time), and if all goes as scheduled; we will arrive in Little Rock, Arkansas around 7 PM (Central Standard Time) on May 6th. We are getting excited about arriving in the USA! Kay-Leigh (our 5 year old) keeps asking, “How many more minutes?”
After a week of continual farewells with our Kenyan churches and friends, we are ready to take off for America. Please pray for our children, as they are finding it very difficult to leave home (Kenya) and all of their friends. We have dried more tears this week than in their whole lives, I think! They really are looking forward to seeing family and friends in the USA too, but the United States is not home for us; so please pray that our children will adjust to American life smoothly and enjoy their short time there. We truly praise the Lord for our children and their hearts for Kenya. We are very proud of them, and we are thankful for their desire to serve the Lord while they are young.
As all missionaries can tell you, the life of a missionary is often filled with good byes. And those good byes are probably one of the most difficult things we encounter. But our lives are also filled with many joyful reunions!! And we are looking forward to seeing so many of our family and friends soon! We will be traveling together as a family most of our furlough time. So, we will see many of you over the next 6 months.
Please keep the Shelby Family in your prayers as we begin our long safari to and through the USA.
Serving Him in Kenya,
Luke, Tonya, Abigail, Breanne, Caleb, and Kay-Leigh Shelby