Kelly's Health Update #6

Hi all,

Health Updates: Brain Lesion & Headaches

This is Kelly, commandeering the newsletter for a bit. Many of you have been asking for a health update for awhile. I’m sorry for not writing anything sooner, but for a while, I wasn’t quite sure what to write.

For the brain lesion, the plan is to have an updated MRI in January to determine if the lesion has changed since the last one in July. I have no new symptoms, and my guess would be that the lesion will be unchanged in January, God willing. 

For my headaches… It's been a journey. After experiencing some relief in the States thanks to McKeon Chiropractor and Mindy in Lake Wales, the improvement continued here in Kenya but did not really improve any further.  I went to a chiropractor locally, and tried some myofascial therapy, but nothing really seemed to help. After recommendations by my dentist here, and praying about it for some time, I got Botox in my masseter and temporalis muscles to help with the muscle tightness from clenching (TMJ). I also got a new mouth guard to wear that. Shortly after these two things, my TMJ slowly started improving. The everyday headaches are almost gone, and the lightheadedness went away completely. I’m hoping I won’t need Botox again, but we’ll see.

Learning, Healing, and Managing Stress

I have also been working really hard to improve the way I deal with stress. This past year was quite stressful for us, and I think everything just built up, and spilled over into physical pain in my body. One of the things I discovered in July that has helped contribute to my healing was the existence of mind-body syndrome (also known as TMS- tension myositis syndrome). The basic premise is that the root of a lot of physical pain, in the absence of a structural issue, are actually due to spiritual/emotional issues. Thank you to Karen Mills, wife to one of Matt’s mentors, to direct me this way. I feel this has helped me improve a lot. The research-based principles of this go hand in hand with so many biblical principles about making thoughts obedient to Christ, renewing your mind, and not fearing! The power of the brain, especially when focused on Truth, is amazing. If you experience any type of chronic pain, I would recommend you check out:

-Book: Unlearn Your Pain- by Howard Schubiner

-Podcast: Thought by Thought Podcast by Jennifer Johnson

(This concept is based on work by Dr. John Sarno-who did a lot of work with back pain in the 90s)

Eye Concerns and Prayer Requests

In other fun “I’m getting old news”- At one of my many doctor appointments recently, I found out that areas of my retinas are very thin, due to my significant near-sightedness. This can possibly lead to a torn retina (bad, very bad). The retina specialist I’ve seen here wants to laser my retinas in order to prevent future tears. It’s a minor procedure, but anything involving lasers and eyes is a little worrisome. I would like to ask for your prayers for that. 

Overall, I’m feeling much better than I was from February to September, and almost back to normal. I am so grateful for that. I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone for your prayers through the many trials we’ve had this year. We have needed them, and God has supplied and provided. During this Thanksgiving season, please give thanks with me for this. 

1 Peter 5:10- And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Grateful for all of you.

Kelly

October 2025 News

Elmores Newsletter - October 25, 2025

Hi everyone,

We remain incredibly grateful for your faithful support and prayers. God is moving in remarkable ways, and we are excited to share an update.

Kelvin in Action

Reaching 1 Million Online

We are grateful to God for achieving one of our goals for the year: reaching 1,000,000 on social media. At the beginning of the year, we had 800,000, and we have since made significant progress. To put it into perspective, in 2023, we were reaching 250,000 people weekly, and now we are blessed to reach four times that number. The majority of the 1 million people are not just viewing our content; they are actively reading, watching, and listening to it, particularly our podcast, which has been a powerful tool for reaching the masses.

It's worth noting that we do pay for some advertising, but we haven't increased our budget for it since September 2024. This increase in our reach is largely due to the dedication and talent of our tech team, led by Kelvin, Kuza’s tech director (see pic). Kelvin has been instrumental in managing and coordinating all aspects of our social media. He has continually improved our social media presence and enhanced the appeal of our podcasts and videos. Despite having no formal training in graphic design, video production, or sound engineering, his passion has driven him to develop these skills through volunteering at church and watching YouTube tutorials. All of Kuza's audio-visual content is processed by Kelvin, who has done an outstanding job of expanding our reach without increasing our expenses.

We are deeply grateful to God and to each of you for helping us reach this milestone of 1 million followers online. Your support and prayer have been instrumental in our growth. Please continue to pray for our continued growth and for those we reach to deepen their relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We’re in Zambia!

We’re in Zambia! - Vision 2030

In last month's newsletter, I shared that Kuza’s “Vision 2030” aims to access 200 million people weekly across 11 English-speaking African countries by the year 2030. One of the countries included in this vision is Zambia. Back in March, I was introduced to Faith Radio 92.1 FM in Northern Zambia. This Christian station has an impressive daily listenership of approximately 1 million people.

The director of Faith Radio, Martin, really appreciated our podcast, which he believes can help the young people of Zambia grow stronger in their faith. At that time, I didn't have enough funds in the 2025 budget to pay for airtime. I informed Martin back in March that we would revisit the conversation next year. However, in July Martin reached out to me with a heartfelt message: "I really want to play Kuza's podcast on the air; our young people would benefit from it." He expressed that he didn't even want payment at this time, just the opportunity to share the podcast. He suggested we can discuss payment next year.

I felt honored and excited to see Vision 2030 expanding without direct financial effort. Please pray for God to continue bestowing His grace upon us as we strive to achieve the goals of Vision 2030.

Walter our colleague from Nigeria & Comfort the managing director of Super FM 92.7 Lagos

We've Started in Nigeria - Vision 2030

Last month, in my newsletter, I shared the exciting news that God has given us our "Vision 2030" - reaching 200 million people weekly in 11 English speaking African countries. Our Vision 2030 is becoming more of a reality. I'm thrilled to announce that we have officially launched our podcast in Nigeria! Our first broadcast went live in Lagos, Nigeria, on Super FM 92.7 on Saturday, October 11th. 

This opportunity, which has been made possible thanks to the generous support we’ve received, is a testament to the integral role our supporters play in our mission. Further, the addition of a new ministry under our mission, Serving Workers for the Harvest (SWH), called Perfect Edifiers (PE) based in Nigeria, has been a significant boost. The leader of PE, Walter, has been an incredible blessing by helping us connect with radio stations and managing all the necessary details. Without God’s grace working through the support from our generous contributors, SWH, and PE, sharing this gospel message 2,300 miles from Nairobi to Lagos would not have been possible. I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has prayed for and supported this ministry financially.

We are currently finalizing the details for our second radio station in Nigeria, and I believe we will have everything set before the end of the month. By then, we expect to potentially reach an additional 45 million people, bringing our total weekly audience to as many as 65 million!

With gratitude,

Matt & Kelly Elmore

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Prayer Requests

Ministry

1. Pray for us to achieve our Vision 2030 goals.   

2. Pray for the people of Zambia and Nigeria to come to know Christ and grow spiritually after listening to our podcast.   

3. Pray for healing for Gideon our Kuza staff member who's been having some heart problems.  

Personal

1. Kelly's health - Continue praying for Kelly's headaches to completely go away. 

2. Zeke - Pray for Zeke to continue improving in school and to grow stronger in the Lord. 

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September 2025 News

Elmores Newsletter - September 25, 2025

Hello everyone!

We hope you all are having a great start to the fall season! Currently, it's the perfect weather season here in Nairobi, but we're approaching the "short rains," which traditionally begin in mid-October. Here are a couple of updates we'd like to share with you. 

Vision 2030 - Kuza's 5 Year Goal - Access 200 Million

Mark 16:15 states, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." At Kuza, we are committed to obeying this command of Jesus, strengthened by the extraordinary promise in Habakkuk 2:14, which says, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

Kuza's mission is to evangelize, disciple, and mobilize the youth and young adults of Africa. With this mission in mind, we have set an ambitious goal: to reach 200 million people weekly through Kuza's content by the end of 2030. We aim to extend our outreach beyond Kenya and Uganda, where we are currently based, and focus on English-speaking African countries. The specific countries we want to target include Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Nigeria, and Ghana.

We plan to distribute Kuza's podcasts on radio and TV stations in these nations and develop social media partnerships to increase our online presence. This is a significant undertaking that cannot be accomplished alone; we will need prayer, financial support, and ministry partners in each country. Most importantly, we seek God's grace to empower this work in obedience to Mark 16:15.

We invite you to join us in prayer as we strive to achieve this goal over the next five years.

Missions to Afghanistan in Kenya

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I am a young adults pastor at a church called International Christian Fellowship (ICF). I really enjoy being part of the church and love helping to pastor a very multilingual and diverse community. Recently, a family of refugees from Afghanistan sent the church an email expressing their desire to become Christians and leave Islam. Their names are Hamid and Hamida. They have three daughters, but I have had difficulty understanding their names.

How they Found our Church

Hamida and Hamid found ICF online through ChatGPT, which I found amusing. The ICF secretary introduced them to me, and I had the privilege of getting to know them a little better. They invited me to their home weekly to teach them about Christianity. This has been challenging because their English is not very strong. I’m not entirely sure if they are Christians because they did not understand terms like "gospel" or "sin." I tried explaining a bit at church, but it seemed they were not fully aware of these concepts.

Discipling Them

My plan is to take it one step at a time and discuss the gospel as we go along. Today, we talked about prayer while sitting on the floor, as they did not have any furniture, which is normal for them. During our discussion on prayer, I taught them about it using the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6 and a few other passages from the Sermon on the Mount. We were able to get them a New Testament Bible in Persian, which is the language they read and speak most comfortably. Unfortunately, we haven’t found a Persian Bible that includes both the Old Testament and New Testament, but we hope to get one soon.

One thing that struck them as we went through Matthew 6:9-13 was the phrase, "forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12). They expressed that they loved how Christianity is a religion of peace that emphasizes forgiveness and commands its followers to forgive. They mentioned that the Taliban in Afghanistan were not very forgiving, and as a family, they want to live differently.

Lunch with Them

After discussing scripture, they offered me lunch. We ate in what felt like a picnic style on the floor to me, but was normal for them. The meal consisted of Afghan food: flatbread, rice with raisins and carrots, fresh vegetables, and chicken in a tomato and onion-based sauce that was well-spiced. It was delicious, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. As a missionary to Africa, you never dream that you will have the privilege of sharing the gospel with people from Afghanistan, but God opens all kinds of doors. 

How they Arrived in Kenya

After the US military left Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban began to take control of the country. Anyone who was considered a threat to the Taliban was either killed or threatened with death. Hamid was the president of a technical university, and the Taliban wanted him out. So he left the country seeking shelter and safety. He found open arms of welcome in Kenya. He's now a UN refugee in Nairobi and has a job working at a restaurant, making a very small wage. It's been quite humbling for Hamid to move his family out of Afghanistan, but they are very optimistic about life and excited that they can have religious freedom.

I would love for you to pray for Hamid and Hamida's salvation. Please pray that God will reveal Himself to them. Also, pray for me to have wisdom and discernment to teach them the gospel and the basics of Christianity faithfully.

Teaching the Bible Online

We have a video series called "Soma," which means "to read" in Swahili. The purpose of Soma is to help young people learn how to read and study the Bible effectively. In this series, we've explored every verse of a particular book in the Bible to promote a verse-by-verse understanding, with the hope of encouraging pastors and churches to preach the Bible in this way.

Traditionally, Soma videos have been longer, lasting 10 to 15 minutes. However, we've decided to shorten them a bit and try something different, which is what you will see here. This is the first video in our new series on the book of 2 Peter, focusing on verses 1 and 2.

One key word that Peter repeats throughout this book is "knowledge," which appears seven times. This word is connected to a relationship with God that brings grace and peace (2 Peter 1:2), promotes godly living (2 Peter 1:3), encourages virtue (2 Peter 1:5-6), and offers salvation through Christ (2 Peter 2:20).

During Peter's time, false teachers were claiming to possess "special knowledge" that existed outside the foundational faith in Christ. However, Peter aimed to teach his readers that true knowledge is found through a relationship with God in Christ, which leads to a godly and virtuous life.

We hope to communicate these essential truths throughout this new Soma series, especially since false teachers are still unfortunately prevalent today. Please pray for us as we record these videos, and that they resonate with believers.

Beyond the Office - Fellowship

One of the things I have always appreciated about Kenyan Christian culture is its strong commitment to fellowship. People frequently gather to share meals, enjoy tea, and engage in each other’s lives. They actively support one another financially during significant moments, such as funerals and weddings. Another beautiful aspect is their dedication to prayer. For instance, when a mother gives birth, believers often visit her home a couple of months later with gifts, money, and prayers for the child. Additionally, when someone buys a piece of land, a house, or starts a new business, fellow believers are called to pray for God’s blessings. This community approach to fellowship is truly heartwarming.

At Kuza, we strive to embody similar values. We are involved in each other's lives in the ways mentioned above. One unique tradition we have is celebrating birthdays. On someone's special day, we all go bowling, share a meal, and take turns saying something encouraging about the birthday person. While Kuza is a ministry that employs people, we aim to cultivate relationships that go beyond professional boundaries. This commitment to fellowship allows us to hold each other accountable, share genuine prayer requests, and provide support in each other’s weaknesses. 

Please pray for us as we maintain our dedication to fellowship, for through it, the world will know that we are disciples of Jesus (John 13:35).

Thank you for your support! 

Matt, Kelly, & Zeke

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Prayer Requests

Ministry

1. Pray for us to achieve our Vision 2030 goals.   

2. Pray for Hamid & Hamida's salvation and for Matt to have wisdom to teach them the gospel.   

3. Pray for Kuza to communicate the truth of scripture through our new Soma series.  

4. Pray that Kuza maintains a dedication to fellowship. 

Personal

1. Kelly's health - Kelly for Kelly's headaches to completely go away. 

2. Zeke - Pray for Zeke to continue imporoving in school and to grow stronger in the Lord. 

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To continue receiving my updates, please click the button below. After subscribing, please check your email and click the "confirm subscription" email. Sometimes, the "confirm subscription" email could land in your spam folder, so check it everywhere. If you don't confirm your subscription, you won't be able to get our updates. We really desire you to follow and pray for us. It should take no more than 30 seconds to subscribe:

Kelly’s Health Update #5 - We're Going Back to Kenya

We had Kelly’s final doctor’s appointment today. The neurosurgeon and neuro-oncologist at Tampa General (TGH) both reviewed Kelly’s most recent MRI from Monday, and told us there has been NO significant change in her brain lesion over the past two months. We’re grateful to God for this update. The neurosurgeon (who is a glioma specialist) said that while the lesion has some characteristics of a glioma tumor, it is “weird enough” that he thinks it’s unlikely it’s a glioma and just needs monitoring for the time being. 

We now have plane tickets to return to Kenya on July 24! We will have about a week to rest there before Kelly returns to work (August 1). Kelly will follow up with her neurologist in Kenya, and she will have another MRI in 6 months there to review the lesion (which we will share with the TGH team).

Regarding Kelly’s TMJ (temporomandibular joint) issues, Kelly has had additional appointments with the chiropractor, Dr. McKeon, and the TMJ masseuse, Mindy, and continues to experience increased relief in that area. She’ll have one more visit before we leave, and we have some plans for how to continue some treatments in Kenya. 

We want to say thank you for the outpouring of love once again. We’ve been very blessed and loved on by the body of Christ during this time, and have seen God’s provision in a multitude of ways. Thank you to all those who reached out specifically with some suggestions regarding TMJ situation. Seems like many of us have unfortunately struggled with this. 

Specific prayer requests:

-Please continue to pray for Kelly to have continued healing from her headaches and a steady return to strength so that she can be fully engaged in work and home life in Kenya. Please also pray for good stress management skills. 

-A safe and not non-adventurous trip to Kenya

-For Zeke’s transition back to Kenya and the beginning of second grade. Please pray especially for his reading and math abilities, his focus, and his confidence. 

Get More Updates

I am going to start sending my ministry, prayer email, and updates on Kelly through a new platform called Epistle. I'm making this switch because Epistle makes it much easier to get updates out, it's secure, and it sends updates in a clean format designed to be as simple as possible for ministry partners to read on any device. To continue receiving my updates, please click the button below.

After subscribing, please check your email and click the "confirm subscription" email. Sometimes, the "confirm subscription" email could land in your spam folder, so check it everywhere. If you don't confirm your subscription, you won't be able to get our updates. We really desire you to follow and pray for us. It should take no more than 30 seconds to subscribe.

Update #4 on Kelly’s Medical Condition- A Glimmer of Hope?

We’ve had a lot of people checking in about updates regarding Kelly since the last newsletter. We really appreciate your love, concern and support of us! Just as a refresher, we let you know that we were having to wait for another MRI to see if the lesion has changed in the 2 months since the May MRI. This next MRI is scheduled for July 14, and we have a follow up appointment at Tampa General Hospital (TGH) on July 17th to discuss the results. So, we have been basically “on hold” since then. We are planning to send out an update to all as we’re able following that appointment .

In the meantime, we had a supporting church that had a connection to a different neurologist who offered to review Kelly’s MRI scans and he came back with the same conclusions as TGH- He doesn’t think the headaches are caused by the lesion, and lesion is something that he would continue to monitor with serial MRI’s. As also stated by the board of doctors at USF/Tampa, the lesion does not appear to have any characteristics of cancer, and could be something that Kelly has had since birth.

TMJ - Some Hope

Despite the positive feedback, she has continued to suffer from persistent symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and lightheadedness, which seemed to be worsening at the end of June (after briefly improving in May). This has left us feeling a bit uncertain about how to proceed, and a bit frustrated. However, a visit to a chiropractor here has offered some hope (Shout out to Dr. McKeon in Lake Wales, FL). He noticed that Kelly’s neck and jaw muscles were extremely tight, and wondered if TMJ (temporomandibular joint) issues were contributing to her headaches. She does have a history of clenching/grinding her teeth. He has a masseuse in his clinic that does TMJ-specific massages, and referred her for that. The masseuse said her two main chewing muscles were in extreme spasm. After having the massage and given daily exercises to do, Kelly has finally felt relief for the last few days. Her lightheadedness (and other random things like eye twitches) have significantly improved. It’s still early, but she’s going to seek out a couple other treatments to help address this issue and we are praying she will continue to see improvement. She’s also gone off all pain meds in case some of her headaches were “rebound” (medication overuse headaches).

Despite a pretty rough June, we are grateful for the unwavering support and love we have received from our church communities. Every supporting church we've visited, along with several others, has either laid hands on us and prayed or offered prayers from the pulpit. This outpouring of love has deeply moved us and reminded us of the power of prayer. We are grateful for the love and care of the saints. The church has truly been the hands and feet of Jesus to us. We have learned the importance of sharing our trials and struggles with the body of Christ, who have been a loving and caring group of people, representing Christ well.

Additionally, we have been well cared for in the U.S., thanks to the financial gifts from those who have generously sent support. God has provided for us through all of you, and we thank you deeply for that.

Walking in Faith

As we sit down to plan our next steps, we are assuming the upcoming MRI results will be positive, and we are aiming to return to Kenya between July 22nd and 25th. Kelly is supposed to start back at work on August 1st, with students returning on August 8th. We have some options there to help continue with work on the TMJ issues. 

To be honest, we feel a little anxious because we are unsure if Kelly will be able to handle a full teaching schedule. We are concerned that her health issues may not be fully resolved, and are uncertain about the next steps. However, we are determined to walk in faith and obedience, doing what God has called us to do in Kenya. We hope and pray that Kelly’s headaches will subside, but we also trust that God gives us grace, even amidst our suffering (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). We hold onto the promise in 1 Peter 5:10: "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." May it be so, Lord Jesus! Please continue to pray for us, for Kelly, and that God may be glorified through this, using it for our good (Romans 8:28). Pray for us that we will remember and hold tightly to the good and release the uncertain and the frustrating to God.

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Get More Updates

I am going to start sending my ministry, prayer email, and updates on Kelly through a new platform called Epistle. I'm making this switch because Epistle makes it much easier to get updates out, it's secure, and it sends updates in a clean format designed to be as simple as possible for ministry partners to read on any device. To continue receiving my updates, please click the button below.

After subscribing, please check your email and click the "confirm subscription" email. Sometimes, the "confirm subscription" email could land in your spam folder, so check it everywhere. If you don't confirm your subscription, you won't be able to get our updates. We really desire you to follow and pray for us. It should take no more than 30 seconds to subscribe.

17 Years on the Mission Field

July 4th is a special day to remember the independence of the USA, but it also marks the day Kelly and I arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, to begin our missionary work. It was July 4, 2008. I was 25 years old, and Kelly was 26. We had been married just over a year. It truly feels like it was just yesterday. I want to document a few things that led me to the mission field in Kenya and what happened after we arrived.

What Led Me to the Mission Field

During high school, our youth pastor, Mark Williams, challenged me and my fellow juniors and seniors to take our relationship with God seriously. I particularly remember his “5 out of 5” sermon, which had a profound impact on me and my friends. Although I don’t recall the exact points, he emphasized five things that growing Christians do. He then asked us how many of these five things a Christian who truly treasures Jesus would practice. I thought to myself that I did two or three of those things and loved Jesus, so it must be two or three. But Pastor Mark firmly stated, “5 out of 5.” That hit me to the core, and I realized I wasn’t as serious about my faith as I should be. From that moment on, I began to grow more serious about my relationship with Jesus as I entered my senior year of high school.

When I attended Florida State University, I joined a Bible study at the Baptist Campus Ministries (BCM) as a freshman. I witnessed the juniors and seniors in the Bible study sincerely treasuring Christ. While I had seen my youth pastor and other adults do so, this was the first time I had seen my peers genuinely treasuring Him. Their passion was contagious, and it was during my freshman year in college that I started reading my Bible seriously and praying daily. I began to deeply treasure Christ.

In my sophomore year, I went on a mission trip to Kenya with Global Youth Ministry (GYM), my first mission organization. That trip changed my worldview and allowed me to see people in another culture, country, and continent treasuring Christ with all their hearts. This experience planted the seeds for my desire to be a missionary in Kenya.

By my senior year in college, I felt a clear calling to missions and full-time ministry. The passion for the Jesus that I had spilled over to where I desired to go to the nations. GYM offered me the opportunity to become a missionary in Kenya, where I could help others treasure Christ. After graduating from FSU, Kelly and I got married and moved to GYM’s headquarters for 1.5 years of training to be missionaries.

Arrival in Kenya

I remember that I didn’t know anyone in Kenya in 2007 or 2008, but I was introduced to a youth pastor named Hamisi Kirenga from Ridgeways Baptist Church (RBC). We exchanged a few emails, and Pastor Hamisi helped us find an apartment to rent and promised to pick us up at the airport. Neither of us had a picture of the other, but we moved forward in faith. Hamisi picked us up along with the children's pastor, Pastor Dan, from RBC. Our flight was three hours late, and communication in Kenya wasn’t as reliable then as it is today. At one point, Pastor Hamisi and Dan thought we might not have arrived and were about to leave the airport, but something compelled them to stay. Upon our arrival, I spotted a sign with our name, “Elmores,” and they took us to the apartment that Pastor Hamisi had arranged for us.

We arrived just before midnight on July 4th, with all our belongings fitting into six suitcases. The apartment was a one-bedroom, one-bathroom space decorated with zebra-print carpets, curtains, bedding, and furniture. To our surprise, we found the place filled with flying termites because it had rained earlier in the day, leaving the windows open, which attracted the termites to the fluorescent lights. Additionally, the shower had a wooden door instead of a shower curtain, and the door was partially molded, which freaked Kelly out. It was quite an experience; we realized we were no longer in Florida. However, we knew God had called us to this new land to help people treasure Him with all their hearts. We fell asleep that night, planning to meet Hamisi and Dan the next morning to go shopping for essentials and learn more about Kenya.

Initially, we had only planned to stay in Kenya for one year, but God had different plans, as we have now been here for 17 years. There’s much more to share about the beginning of our journey, but I praise God for His provision and faithfulness in our mission work. I do not regret this decision; it has been the privilege of my life to know the Lord and serve Him on the mission field in Kenya. My prayer is that many more people will come to know and treasure Christ—not only in Kenya but across the world.

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Get More Updates

I am going to start sending my ministry, prayer email, and updatesbthrough a new platform called Epistle. I'm making this switch because Epistle makes it much easier to get updates out, it's secure, and it sends updates in a clean format designed to be as simple as possible for ministry partners to read on any device. To continue receiving my updates, please click the button below.

After subscribing, please check your email and click the "confirm subscription" email. Sometimes, the "confirm subscription" email could land in your spam folder, so check it everywhere. If you don't confirm your subscription, you won't be able to get our updates. We really desire you to follow and pray for us. It should take no more than 30 seconds to subscribe.

Kelly's Medical Update #3 - Sit and Wait

Hello, we hope you are all doing well. We have once again been deeply touched by the love, prayers, and concern that we have received from everyone. Your support means the world to us. Thank you for showing us the love of Christ.

Medical Update

Kelly and I visited her neurosurgeon on Tuesday at Tampa General Hospital (TGH). We were expecting him to review Kelly's MRI and schedule a biopsy for sometime next week. However, he shared something quite different. He expressed that he did not believe Kelly had a tumor (glioma). Since his specialty is brain tumors, his opinion carries weight. He advised against performing a brain biopsy while weighing the benefits and the risks and suggested waiting two months to see if the lesion develops further. He also mentioned that it might resolve on its own. Notably, he added that it is not uncommon for biopsies to yield non-viable samples.

The neurosurgeon presented Kelly's MRI to the "tumor board," a group of 30 doctors at TGH. They concurred with his assessment and recommended waiting rather than proceeding with a biopsy. We will be in Florida for the next two months, during which Kelly plans to have another MRI, scheduled for sometime between mid and late July, to monitor any changes. If there are no negative changes in the lesion, he said, "Off to Nairobi you go."

How We Feel & What's Next

On one hand, we feel relieved that she won’t need to undergo a brain biopsy. On the other hand, Kelly continues to experience near-daily headaches and fatigue. Prior to our departure from Nairobi for Florida, Kelly struggled with daily activities; she often couldn’t complete a full school day and found it challenging to manage routine tasks at home due to her headaches and fatigue. However, since our arrival in Florida, her headaches have become less severe and less frequent, and she is engaging in more activities without feeling overly fatigued. We have a follow-up appointment on June 6 with the neuro-oncologist, so we will be asking more questions about whether there is another test we can do to determine the cause and ensure we can effectively manage Kelly's symptoms.

Doctors in both Kenya and the United States have expressed uncertainty about Kelly’s condition, which is understandably frustrating. Nevertheless, we place our trust in God. He knows what Kelly is experiencing, and we will pray for God to fulfill the promise of 1 Peter 5:10 in her life. In the meantime, we will wait and spend time visiting family between Lakeland and Lake Wales/Ocala. We ask for your prayers for Kelly’s healing and for clarity in the next steps following her MRI in July. Thank you for your continued support.

Get More Updates

I am going to start sending my ministry, prayer email, and updates on Kelly through a new platform called Epistle. I'm making this switch because Epistle makes it much easier to get updates out, it's secure, and it sends updates in a clean format designed to be as simple as possible for ministry partners to read on any device. To continue receiving my updates, please click the button below.

After subscribing, please check your email and click the "confirm subscription" email. Sometimes, the "confirm subscription" email could land in your spam folder, so check it everywhere. If you don't confirm your subscription, you won't be able to get our updates. We really desire you to follow and pray for us. It should take no more than 30 seconds to subscribe.

Update #2 on Kelly’s Medical Condition

Thank you Church!

Kelly and I are truly grateful to God for His mercy and for how He has raised the church up to be such a blessing. Through prayer, financial support, housing, food, fellowship, and constant encouragement, God’s people have truly been His hands and feet during this challenging time. We have developed a fresh appreciation for the love of the church exemplifying the hands and feet of Jesus. To all of you who have supported us, thank you, and praise God!

Medical Update

This week, Monday, we went to have Kelly’s MRI. On Wednesday, we met with her neuro-oncologist at Tampa General Hospital (TGH) to discuss the results. The TGH neuro-oncologist echoed what the neurosurgeon in Nairobi had said: They confirmed that there is a lesion, but they cannot determine whether it is a tumor or inflammation based on the MRI results, even with the advanced technology available in the USA compared to the MRI in Kenya. A biopsy was recommended in order to provide definitive answers.

We will meet with a TGH neurosurgeon next Tuesday to schedule the brain biopsy. After the biopsy, we will have a clearer understanding of Kelly's condition and the next steps for her treatment.

Despite the uncertainties, we are encouraged by the information from TGH. If Kelly does have a tumor, it is treatable, and we have caught it early. While we await further clarification, we choose to remain hopeful and optimistic about the future.

We humbly ask for your continued prayers, with our verse for this season in mind, 1 Peter 5:10. Please pray specifically for protection during the biopsy, as the lesion is located deep within the brain. We believe in the power of God through the prayers of the saints. Whether it is a miraculous healing or a successful medical treatment, we trust that it will be achieved through the Lord’s power (Psalm 103:2-3). Your prayers provide us with strength, and we deeply appreciate your support on this journey.

God Bless You All!

Matt & Kelly Elmore

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Update on Kelly's Medical Condition

Hi everyone,

Kelly and I are deeply grateful for your unwavering support and prayers regarding Kelly’s medical condition. Your kindness and prayers mean the world to us.

In case you missed it the first time, Kelly has been experiencing new and nearly daily headaches since mid January.  Initially, she attributed these headaches to stress, but a recent MRI revealed a lesion on her brain. The doctors believe it may be due to inflammation (possibly from an infection) or a low-grade, non-aggressive tumor. While they consider it more likely to be a tumor, there is still some uncertainty among the specialists reviewing the scans.

Update

We plan to leave Kenya on May 4th and will stay near Matt’s sister in Lakeland, FL. She will help Zeke finish the school year as she homeschools him along with her boys. On May 9th, we will meet with a neuro-oncologist at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), who will conduct another MRI and potentially other testing to reassess Kelly’s condition.  He agreed that it would be beneficial to do further testing before a biopsy is done. Thank you to all who reached out with contacts! We were able to have a phone consultation with the specialist, and have been very grateful to the staff at TGH in their willingness to work with us. Also thanks to the body of believers, we have been able to find affordable housing in Lakeland for the month of May, and into June and July if needed. God will provide every step of the way. 

How Can You Support Us?

Pray - Please, please continue to pray for Kelly. Our prayer has been 1 Peter 5:10. She says that since we sent out our first update, she has experienced God’s supernatural and surpassing peace, and we can FEEL your prayers. 

Thank you for your continued support. We covet your prayers and we pray that God will make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Cor. 9:11).

God Bless,  

Matt & Kelly Elmore

Update on Kelly & Request for Support

Hi everyone,

Kelly and I are deeply grateful for your unwavering support and prayers regarding Kelly’s medical condition. Your kindness and prayers mean the world to us.

In case you missed it the first time, Kelly has been experiencing new and nearly daily headaches since mid January.  Initially, she attributed these headaches to stress, but a recent MRI revealed a lesion on her brain. The doctors believe it may be due to inflammation (possibly from an infection) or a low-grade, non-aggressive tumor. While they consider it more likely to be a tumor, there is still some uncertainty among the specialists reviewing the scans.

Update

We plan to leave Kenya on May 4th and will stay near Matt’s sister in Lakeland, FL. She will help Zeke finish the school year as she homeschools him along with her boys. On May 9th, we will meet with a neuro-oncologist at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), who will conduct another MRI and potentially other testing to reassess Kelly’s condition.  He agreed that it would be beneficial to do further testing before a biopsy is done. Thank you to all who reached out with contacts! We were able to have a phone consultation with the specialist, and have been very grateful to the staff at TGH in their willingness to work with us. Also thanks to the body of believers, we have been able to find affordable housing in Lakeland for the month of May, and into June and July if needed. God will provide every step of the way. 

How Can You Support Us?

1. Pray - Please, please continue to pray for Kelly. Our prayer has been 1 Peter 5:10. She says that since we sent out our first update, she has experienced God’s supernatural and surpassing peace, and we can FEEL your prayers. 

2. Financial Support - Additionally, with this unexpected situation, we do have some additional expenses that are outside of our normal budget. Our insurance here in Kenya does not cover any services in the U.S., but we are blessed to be a part of Samaritan Ministries, a Christian health care sharing program. They will help us pay for a good portion of any medical expenses, but we will need to pay the copays and other doctor consultations fees. We will also incur additional housing, transportation, and living expenses that exceed our normal budget for missionary work in Kenya. We are truly grateful for the generosity you have shown us during our transition from our previous mission to our current work with Serving Workers for the Harvest (SWH), so please do not feel pressured to assist us. If, however, you feel led to help us in this way financially, we have arranged with SWH to increase our budget for the added expenses related to our time in the USA. 

How to Give: 

1. Online* - Go to ElmoresinKenya.com and click the “donate now” button (see below). 

2. Check- Make the check payable to*: "Serving Workers for the Harvest" and include a note indicating "425 Elmores’ Kuza Ministry"  Mail the check to: Serving Workers for the Harvest -  PO Box 705 Buda, TX 78610

*Please do not write “Matt & Kelly’s Medical” or anything similar on your check or when giving online if you desire your gift to be tax-deductible. 

Thank you for your continued support. We covet your prayers and we pray that God will make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Cor. 9:11).

God Bless,  

Matt & Kelly Elmore

Prayer Request - Kelly's Health

Hello,

Kelly and I would like to ask for your prayers. Since mid-January, Kelly has been experiencing new and nearly daily headaches. Initially, she attributed this to stress, but a recent MRI revealed a lesion on her brain. The doctors believe it might be due to inflammation (possibly from an infection) or a low-grade, non-aggressive tumor. While they think it is more likely to be a tumor, there is uncertainty among the specialists reviewing the scans. They recommend that Kelly undergo a biopsy to determine the nature of the lesion. However, since the lesion is located deep within her brain (specifically in the right caudate head), the biopsy poses certain risks. We are planning to travel to Florida for the biopsy and to gain clarity on what’s going on. Our plans are to see a neurosurgeon at Tampa General Hospital as soon as we’re able, but we’ve not gotten an appointment yet. 

We do believe that God is faithful and uses all things together for good. He uses our trials and sufferings for our good, his glory, and to draw us closer to him. Kelly and I are praying for 1 Peter 5:10 to come to pass in our lives. 1 Peter 5:10 says “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” Please pray this verse with us. 

Kelly and I would greatly appreciate your prayers for the following:

1. Complete healing from the condition, whatever it may be.

2. God’s sustaining power during these headaches.

3. The peace that surpasses understanding.

4. Affordable housing for our stay. We are looking for somewhere in Lakeland to be close to Matt’s sister and not far from Tampa.

5. For God to be glorified through our lives in this situation.

6. Protection and peace for Zeke during all this.

Thank you for your prayers. We will keep you posted on the situation. God bless you very much!

Matt & Kelly Elmore (and Zeke)

March 2025 News

Elmores Newsletter - March 28, 2025

Hello everyone!

We hope you all are having a great start to the spring season! Right now it's the hot season here in Nairobi, but we're getting close to the long rains. Here are a couple of updates that we want to share with you. 

We hit our target of $35,000

At the end of the year, we sent out a letter regarding our move to our new mission organization (SWH), getting a new office, and increasing expenditures to support our staff. We communicated that the move would cost us an extra $35,000. We requested you all to help us by increasing your monthly giving and by sending in one time gifts. We are very humbled and grateful to report that God has worked through you to provide just that. We have hit our target to raise the additional $35,000 in cash needed for this year. Because of your giving, we are able to continue in all our ministries, and are able to maintain our access to 19 million people between Kenya and Uganda. This is so exciting and we couldn't have done it without your support.

New Office

We are so grateful to have a new office space for Kuza. Moving away from the old ACO office was hard, but God has blessed us with a wonderful location. This new office is not just a physical space, but a strategic move that will significantly enhance our operations. We initially had several options after a long search, but in the 11th hour, God dropped a fantastic office in our lap, and we were able to sign a 5 year lease. We have set up a new studio that looks great and installed solar power to decrease our monthly budget. We were able to set up Starlink internet at the office because it’s the cheapest and best quality. Our landlord is allowing us to sublease the extra space we have in the house and turn another part of the property into Airbnb rentals. Our strategic location near the UN Africa headquarters and the U.S. Embassy makes it ideal for Airbnb rentals. We believe that the subleasing and the Airbnb will eventually bring in enough income to allow us to have our office rent-free, enabling us to channel more funds towards the ministry.

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Prayer Requests

Ministry

1. Pray for the successful construction of our Airbnb, which will help generate income for the ministry.  

2. Praise God for reaching our goal of $35,000 and not having to stop any of our radio and TV outreach. 

3. Pray that we reach our goal of reaching 1,000,000 weekly online this year. 

Personal

1. Kelly's health - Kelly has been having headaches (sometimes migraines) almost daily since the middle of January. Please pray for her healing.

2. Zeke's School - Pray for him to grow more confidence and to improve in his academic skills.

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Subscribe to Continue Following Us

I am going to start sending my ministry and prayer email updates through a new platform called Epistle. I'm making this switch because Epistle makes it much easier to get updates out, it's secure, and it sends updates in a clean format designed to be as simple as possible for ministry partners to read on any device.

To continue receiving my updates, please click the button below. After subscribing, please check your email and click the "confirm subscription" email. Sometimes, the "confirm subscription" email could land in your spam folder, so check it everywhere. If you don't confirm your subscription, you won't be able to get our updates. We really desire you to follow and pray for us. It should take no more than 30 seconds to subscribe:

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Financial Support

If you feel that God is leading you to support our ministry of reaching youth and young adults of Africa, please see one of the options below. 100% of all financial gifts come to the mission field & are tax-deductible: 

1. CHECK- Make the check out to: "Serving Workers for the Harvest" & write "425 Elmores’ Kuza Ministry" in the memo line. Mail the check to: Serving Workers for the Harvest -  PO Box 705 Buda, TX 78610
   

2. ONLINE- You can give a one time gift or set up a recurring gift by hitting the "Donate Now" button below: 

New Mission Organization

We Have a New Mission Organization

November 21, 2024

Dear Matt & Kelly Elmore Supporters,

We hope you and your family are doing well! We have a major update for you as we head into the holiday season! 

As you may know, our current mission organization, African Christian Outreach, has five ministry “arms”- Student Discipleship Ministry (SDM), Pamoja House, New Beginnings Crisis Pregnancy Center, Frontiers, and Kuza, with 50 staff members. When we joined ACO in 2018, Matt brought Kuza with him under the “umbrella” of this ministry. 

Due to various factors, ACO is currently undergoing some internal restructuring and vision recasting. As a result, beginning in the new year, Kuza (the ministry and staff) will be moving out from the umbrella of ACO and will be partnering with a different 501c3 nonprofit ministry organization moving forward. 

We first want to say that we are so grateful to ACO for the support they’ve provided over the last 6 years. Kuza (and Matt’s ministry in general) would not be what it is today without their guidance, help and support. We are grateful to Tom Stickney, the Director of ACO, for all the ways he’s supported us throughout the years, from his generosity and encouragement, to bringing over suitcases full of Kuza equipment or surprise presents for Zeke. We’d also like to thank the Board of Directors for their oversight and support. Kuza has thrived and expanded under their care, and many have come to hear the gospel and accept Christ over these last 6 years. 

We would like to introduce our new sending organization, called “Serving Workers for the Harvest”. You can view their information on their website: https://swharvest.org/

Matt already had an established relationship with them through other missionaries, and we are grateful that God has provided a new way forward for us. Serving Workers for the Harvest (SWH) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization in the U.S. All donations are tax deductible, and end of the year giving statements will be provided. 

SWH will provide us with:

1. Fantastic financial services

2. Great missionary care

3. Solid accountability 

4. Help with resources and partnerships 

5. Future help to start our own 5o1c3, should we decide to do that. 

These wonderful resources will help us go the distance to fulfill our calling here in Kenya. 

New Expenses
With this change however, comes some increased costs. Under ACO, there was no additional cost for raising money under their umbrella, the Kuza office space was rent-free, and two of the Kuza staff members were partially funded by ACO. We now have to raise money to meet the costs of these necessities. In addition, Serving Workers for the Harvest charges an 8.5% administration fee to help cover their expenses. This is typical of many missions organizations and nonprofits, and SWH is actually quite a bit cheaper than most who charge 15-18% admin charges. This results in an yearly budget increase for us of $35,000 (with the combined expenses of the 8.5% fee, office rent, and paying the salaries of the two Kuza staff members).

You have been a faithful supporter of our ministry. Our Kuza ministry has blossomed to our current access of up to 19 million people weekly between Kenya and Uganda through our blogs, videos, podcasts, and devotions being shared through social media, TV, radio, and buses. We would like to ask you to prayerfully consider increasing your giving, especially monthly giving, to help make up the $35,000 deficit. If we are not able to make up this deficit, we will have to reduce some of our outreach, which we are prepared to do if that’s what the Lord has for us. 

Future for Kuza
We believe that Kuza is primed to reach hundreds of millions of people in the continent of Africa. With an ever-growing internet infrastructure and 75% of the population being under the age of 35, there is great potential to help people know and treasure our Lord and Savior Jesus. We humbly ask for your continued prayer and financial support to realize this vision. Your giving and prayer makes a huge difference. 
 

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In order to transfer your online giving to the new ministry:

1. Between now and December 31, 2024, you can cancel your online/automatic giving to ACO by emailing Matt at Mattelmore4@gmail.com with a request to cancel. 

*If you do not do this by December 31, 2024, it will automatically be canceled. 

2. After canceling, please go to:

www.elmoresinkenya.com and find the “Donate Now” button (or click "donate now" below). This has been linked with the new Serving Workers for the Harvest website. Follow the directions on the site. 

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Please Send Checks this way to the new ministry: 

Make the check out to: "Serving Workers for the Harvest" & write "425 Elmores’ Kuza Ministry" in the memo line. 

Mail the check to: Serving Workers for the Harvest -  PO Box 705 Buda, TX 78610

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Please Become a New Monthly Supporter: 

With the increased expenses that we have moving forward, please consider becoming a monthly supporter by clicking the "Monthly Supporter" button below. 

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Thank you all again for your continued support of your ministry. We pray that God blesses you abundantly! We are so grateful for all of you. 
 

-Matt, Kelly, Zeke, and the Kuza staff (Kelvin, Justus, Tiffany, Isla, Marvin, Edgar, Gideon, Naini, and Pete)

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Prayer Request:

1. God’s blessing on ACO as they move forward with their new vision

2. A quick and easy process of registering Kuza as its own organization here in Kenya

3. God’s continued provision in regards to finances, resources, and any logistics as we move forward.

May 2024 - Matatu (Bus) Ministry

Hello everyone!

As you may have seen on the news, we’ve been bombarded with rain and widespread here in Kenya. Our neighborhood has certain low-lying areas that become flooded easily, making the roads impassable. But for the most, we personally have remained unscathed. Unfortunately in other places, there has been substantial loss of life and property, particularly in the slums. Pray with us that the rains will ease. 

We will be traveling back to the U.S. in early June for 5 weeks this summer, and hope to see some of you then!

Matatu (Bus) Ministry

Our online ministry, Kuza, has embarked on a unique venture called the Matatu Ministry. This ministry leverages the ubiquitous presence of Matatus, privately owned buses in Kenya, to disseminate our gospel-based content. With approximately 20,000 Matatus in Nairobi, which transport around 7,000,000 people daily, we see a vast potential for outreach. Most Matatus are equipped with TV screens and loud sound systems, which drivers use to entertain passengers with various videos and music. Kuza plans to provide USB flash disks to drivers, encouraging them to include our content in their repertoire. 

Our gospel-based podcasts and DJ mixes will be the content that is given to the drivers. We hired Christian DJs to come to our studio and make Kenyan Christian music mixes. We plan to market Kuza and gospel messages through these DJ mixes. You can view one of the mixes by clicking here (or scroll below).

Kuza's April Reach

In the first quarter of 2023, Kuza reached 250,000 people weekly online. In the first quarter of 2024, we’ve been reaching 400,000 weekly. However, in the month of April, we exploded to reach 1,100,000 weekly. We were thrilled to see those numbers. After doing a deeper dive, we realized that the expansion to Uganda and more efficient marketing strategies have paid dividends. We’re unsure if these numbers will be sustained moving forward, but we’re grateful to God for what has happened.

Pamoja House - Autism Workshop

Our dedicated ministry, Pamoja (Together) House, is making a significant difference in the lives of people with special needs and their families in the Nairobi slum area of Kibera. A recent autism workshop we organized drew around 50 parents and community members, underscoring the real need for our services. Our staff members, Beryl, Gideon, and other volunteers, have been instrumental in providing free services, workshops, Bible studies, and emotional support for families with special needs. Their unwavering dedication is truly commendable and has a profound impact on the community. 

Pamoja House Kibera is also in the process of starting a sewing machine project to help people with special needs, so that their families can make things that can be sold to support themselves financially. We’re at the very beginning stages of this, but we desire your prayers to see this gain momentum.

Family Update

Zeke's had a much better second semester of Kindergarten! He’s grown in confidence and ability, and we’re so proud of him. Like other teachers can attest, Kelly is hanging on until May 30!!

Please Support Us Monthly

We would love to ask you to consider becoming a monthly supporter of our ministry. We could use $50, $100, & $200 a month supporters to help us reach more and more people through Kuza and Pamoja House Kibera. Please join our monthly support teach by clicking the link below. 

More Pictures

Matatu Ministry - DJ Mix

Prayer Requests

Ministry

1. Reach our fundraising goals this summer. 

2. Pray for the Matatu Ministry to reach lots of people and for the drivers to be committed to playing our content. 

3. Praise God for the increase in Kuza's reach this April. 

4. Pray for Pamoja House Kibera's sewing project to provide a steady income for the people with special needs and their families. 

5. Pray for those affected by the floods, and for the rain to ease.

Personal

1. Zeke's health - Zeke has been doing better with constantly getting sick with colds due to his asthma, but pray for us that he would continue on the upward trend. 

2. Pray for quality time with supporters and family this summer.  

March 2024 - Uganda Ministry

Expansion In Uganda

Expanding to Uganda

Our online ministry, Kuza, has been very successful in reaching young people in Kenya. Each week, we’ve been reaching 300,000 people online, 3,000,000 through radio broadcasts of our podcasts, and 400,000 through TV broadcasts. We’re humbled that God has enabled us to reach this many people, most of whom are from Kenya. We’ve felt led to expand Kuza's radio and TV ministries to other countries in Africa, and were blessed with an opportunity in Uganda, which borders the western side of Kenya. Many of you helped us financially make this a reality, especially because of your gifts in November and December. Thank you for enabling Kuza's expansion to Uganda. Uganda is the second youngest country in the world. 78% of its population is under the age of 35 years. With such a young nation, it is essential to reach young people for Christ, and Kuza provides a great way for us to do that. 

Radio & TV Partners in Uganda

Matt travelled with Vic, one of our Kuza staff, to Uganda in February to help establish partnerships with a radio station named XFM. XFM is the largest secular youth radio station in Kampala, Uganda (the capital city), reaching 5.4 million people daily. We will be able to play our podcasts twice a month on this station. We also partnered with Uganda's most prominent Christian radio and Christian TV station, SpiritFM & Spirit TV. Spirit FM reaches around 2 million daily, and Spirit TV reaches around 1.5 million people daily. Spirit Media will play our podcasts weekly on TV and read our devotions daily on the radio. 

Largest Youth & Young Adult Radio Station in Uganda, Reaching 5.4 Million Daily

Access to Nearly 9 Million People

We now have access to almost 9 million young people in Uganda. We’re so grateful to God for allowing us to reach this many people through XFM and Spirit Media.  
 

Please Support Uganda Ministry

We would love for you to help us build and sustain this ministry in Uganda by becoming monthly supporters, or giving a one time gift towards this specific ministry.  Join with us as we seek to reach so many young people in Uganda by clicking below to donate. Please also pray with us that God will use Kuza powerfully in this country, especially for those tuning in from the secular world, who would never otherwise hear gospel-centered truths. 

Please support Kuza's ministry in Uganda!

Other Pictures

Vic & Matt being interviewed on a Ugandan TV station

Vic & Matt overlooking Kampala, Uganda

November 2023 News

Hello everyone,

Hope you are enjoying some fall weather!!! We are in the middle of “spring” and lots of allergies! Matt will be traveling to the States at the end of October and beginning of November to do some fundraising. Pray for Kelly and Zeke while he’s gone!

Here’s some ministry updates:

Kuza 

We’ve reached new growth with our online Kuza ministry. In 2021, it was 80,000 weekly. In 2023, it was 250,000 weekly. Now, from May to September, we’re consistently reaching around 300,000 people weekly. Although Kuza is primarily an online ministry, we also share our podcasts on seven radio stations and five television stations. The radio stations reach around 3 million people weekly, and the TV stations reach around 400,000 people weekly. We thank God with a humble fear for this reach, as we feel the weight of responsibility to teach and guide this large group in biblical ways.

Good Story
In the last two weeks, three young people received Christ through Kuza. We had one young lady fresh out of college and working her first job who received Christ through our online evangelism video. She said she feels so much joy and relief from being forgiven for her sins. She’s excited to know Jesus and grow closer to him. We’ve connected her to a local church and other Kuza discipleship materials to help her grow in her faith.

4:12 in Pokot 

Some of our 4:12 staff members recently traveled on some of the worst roads imaginable to do ministry amongst some of the least reached people groups in Northern Kenya- the Pokot. There is a church in the area, one of very few, and they are hungry for us to teach them how best to reach young people. The Pokot people have had very little change in their way of life and dress in the last 100 years. It is incredible to see them live in traditional ways; however those ways have not historically included the gospel. Reaching young people for Christ who can grow up with a strong foundation in the gospel will be critical to help filter all of their ways of life through gospel truths.

Every Christian must learn to filter their culture, family lessons, thoughts, and feelings through the timeless principles found through the gospel; otherwise, we become weak and vulnerable to following sinful patterns. We believe that this 4:12 training in places like Pokot is strategic to help accomplish the “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20) part of the great commission.

Count Me In Camp 

One of our organizational partners for Kuza is named “Count Me In” (CMI). CMI is just one of Kuza’s amazing organizational partners that we get to serve with. CMI is an evangelism ministry that travels to a few hundred high schools yearly to share the gospel using DJs and dancing. It is a unique ministry, but the teens love the music and dancing, which opens the door for the gospel to be preached. Once they accept the gospel, Kuza plays a role in helping the teenagers they reach to grow spiritually.

Every year, CMI does a youth camp to build on what they’ve done through school ministry. This year, they invited Kuza to come and do breakout sessions.

Some of our breakout sessions were:

-"Fighting Negative Thoughts with Prayer"

-“Can a Christian be Cursed?"

"Dealing with Challenging Families."

There were around 800 young people at the camp. Our breakout sessions were well- attended, and many young people hung around sharing heart-wrenching stories. It was a powerful camp, and we are honored to be a part of it.

SDM 

One of our Student Discipleship Ministry (SDM) staff, Alex, met with around 20 university students from Karatina University, which is where he is posted. Alex talked with them about “Financial Stewardship and Budgeting”, which was a previous Kuza blog post. Alex said that handling money is a struggle for many university students, so helping them make wise choices and understand the biblical principles of finances is vital. 

SDM and Kuza have become very strategic ministry partners in university ministry. SDM staff do the critical life-on-life evangelism and discipleship with these students, and Kuza helps build on what was taught. Kuza also has opened doors for SDM staff to minister to university students. The SDM students first interacted with Kuza’s content online, without realizing that SDM was part of the same ministry!  Alex’s story of using Kuza’s content with SDM is something that we are strategically trying to strengthen as part of ACO’s strategy to reach youth and young adults. 

Other Pictures

Met an old Global Youth Camp friend in Nairobi named Kevin Rairden. 

Out with Zeke

4:12 Conference with 900 teenagers.

Kuza devotions are being read on Lulu FM by 4:12 staff member Fondo. Lulu FM reaches 1.2 million people daily. 

Zeke "Hulk" Elmore with his good friend "Captain America"

We're grateful for all of you! Thank you for your continued support! 

The Elmores- Matt, Kelly and Zeke

Prayer Requests

Ministry

1. Praise God with us for Kuza's growth, but also pray for more wisdom and grace in teaching God's truth to the masses. 

2. Pray for the Pokot people to have a great understanding of the gospel and for its truths to impact their culture. 

3. Pray for SDM and Kuza to strengthen ties to Christian Unions across Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda university campuses. 

4. Thank God with us for the fruit of the CMI camp. Pray also for the teenagers who received Christ at the camp to grow stronger in faith. 

Personal

1. Pray for Zeke- to develop bravery in learning, perseverance, and a love of learning.

2. Pray for Kelly and Zeke to be ok and have fun in Nairobi without Matt, who is fundraising in Florida. 

3. Pray for Matt to hit his goals while fundraising in Florida. 

October 2023

Hello everyone,
We had a great but short time in the States this summer. Thank you to all of you who supported our fundraiser in Lake Wales, and to all of supporters in general! (As most of you know, Matt and Zeke were able to get their passports and arrived exactly a week after Kelly!) Kelly has started back at work teaching at Rosslyn Academy, and Zeke has started KINDERGARTEN! It’s been an adjustment, but he’s doing well.

Here’s some ministry updates:

Visitors

Recently, two of our ACO board members came to Kenya to see what was happening. They did a fantastic job encouraging and exhorting us to keep pressing on with the ministry. Our board does a beautiful job at helping hold us accountable to the ministry’s mission and vision, while helping us raise money too. It’s nice to have a board that cares for us.

SDM

In August, we had Christian Union representatives of 14 different university campuses come to our Kuza office for some leadership training. The director of our Student Discipleship Ministry (SDM), Victor Otieno, led them in the training. We also got to tell these leaders about Kuza. They were very excited about the training and expressed the desire to partner with SDM and Kuza. These student leaders lead more than 15,000 Christian college students in total. Partnering with them will allow us to continue to reach more and more for Christ. One student who attends the most liberal university in Kenya talked about a lot of difficult struggles of being a Christian on his campus. The university at one time shut down the Christian Union, which was the only campus ministry even available. Despite the challenges, their ministry has grown and has amazing stories of salvation. We plan to continue partnering with these leaders.

Pamoja House - Kibera

We have a new ministry called “Pamoja House - Kibera,” which is in the largest slum in Kenya. We have an existing Pamoja House ministry in Kilifi on the coast, but felt led to start a new Pamoja House ministry in Nairobi to reach out to people with disabilities and their caretakers. We’ve found that people with disabilities and their caretakers have minimal services available to them. Churches are also unsure how to minister to the disabled community. Pamoja House - Kibera desires to help these families with disabled children and equip churches to reach these families. Our staff members, Beryl & Gideon Thuku, are a fantastic team that are well equipped to meet such a task. Beryl has her Bachelor’s degree college in special education. Beryl's mother was a special education teacher at a boarding school, and Beryl grew up around children with disabilities. Gideon is an excellent discipler and helps families with disabled children to see the hope and glory of the gospel in and despite challenging situations.

Heartbreaking Yet Encouraging Story
One heartbreaking, yet encouraging story was that during a recent weekly Bible study with mothers of disabled children, Beryl found out that one of the mothers was giving her daughter with severe cerebral palsy porridge and tea only for all her meals. This had been happening for years. Her mother said that due to eating and swallowing difficulties, these were the only things the girl could eat. Pamoja House bought the family a food processor/blender and Beryl taught her how to blend healthy and more balanced foods for the girl. Something that seems so simple in America is inaccessible to some here. All of the mothers in the Bible study presented this mother with the food processor. They were so excited, and the mother of the girl cried tears of joy because of the thoughtfulness of the practical gift. There are many other stories like this. Pamoja House- Kibera strives to give the hope of the gospel and help disabled people and their caregivers feel the love of the gospel.

Other Pictures

Zeke's first day of kindergarten

Matt preaching with Justus (Kuza staff) on Pearl Radio in Nairobi.

Matt preaching at Zephaniah's church (4:12 member).

Zeke "organizing" his room.

Young adults bible study that Matt leads at our church.

We're grateful for all of you! Thank you for your continued support! 

The Elmores- Matt, Kelly and Zeke

Prayer Requests

Ministry

1. Pray for our board members to continue to guide us in wisdom. Pray also a blessing over all of their families and businesses.

2. Pray for wisdom to serve for Beryl and Gideon at Pamoja House - Kibera. Pray also for them to better communicate gospel truths in challenging situations.

3. Pray for Matt to shepherd a young adult Bible study well at our church in Nairobi.

Personal

1. Pray for Zeke- to develop bravery in learning, perseverance, and a love of learning.

June 2023

June 1, 2023

Hello everyone,

By the time you get this, we are hoping to be home in the U.S for one month!  However, we're still currently waiting for Matt and Zeke's renewed passports, and it doesn't look like they will be returned in time. Kelly may have to come on her own for a bit! Pray with us that Matt and Zeke's will come quickly. 

Here’s some ministry updates:

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Kuza

Ghetto Radio - Kuza now has a 7th radio partner to play our podcast weekly. The station is Ghetto Radio, which is based in Nairobi. Ghetto Radio is not a Christian station, but they have a Sunday morning DJ who plays Christian music along with our podcast. Ghetto Radio reaches the more low-income areas of Nairobi, and it’s frequently heard on buses around town. It has a reach of 1 million daily listeners. It’s been a blessing to have our podcast on this radio station because it reaches the heart of modern Kenyan popular culture. Everything from music, dance, dress, language, and pop culture comes from these lower-income areas of Nairobi. It is imperative for the gospel to be heard and understood in these cultural centers, because this is where the cultural movers and shakers come from. Ghetto Radio is a strategic partner for us to reach these key areas.

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Kuza

Zambia Team - The third most represented country that visits Kuza’s website is the African country of Zambia. Amazingly, some visitors came from there recently to visit Kuza and find out more specifically what we do. We set up tables in a room at our office, made a nice lunch, and did a presentation for them. It was exciting to have international visitors get on a plane to learn about our online ministry. The more we do Kuza, the more we realize how rare it is to have an online ministry in Africa that is reaching to other African countries.

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4:12, Kuza, SDM, & Pamoja House

Conference- Teaching at Advance Youth Ministry Conference - In April, there was a gathering of youth ministry organizations and youth pastors from around Kenya for the Advance Youth Ministry Conference. It was exciting to see many youth pastors and leaders gathered together. Matt was asked to speak about digital ministry in a breakout session and share about Kuza in the main session. Unfortunately, he got some sort of stomach bug the night before and was unable to share, but Vic (a Kuza staff member) stepped in. He did a commendable job. At the Advance YM Conference our 4:12, Kuza, SDM, and Pamoja House ministries all got to make amazing connections and develop partnerships.

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Personal

Working Out Evangelism - Matt works out with two of his staff members, Vic and Kelvin, a few mornings a week at a local gym. They have made several gym friends, and have been able to share the gospel with them. One named Nelson was a Christian, but was struggling to grow in his faith. He joined Vic’s weekly bible study that he runs out of his apartment. Nelson was so excited at how intensely they have been studying the Scriptures and how much he’s grown in his faith. We’ve also shared with two guys named Vince and Edu, and are hoping to continue developing relationships with them. Vince recently accepted Christ and has come to church with us twice. Vince also introduced us to his neighbor Esther, and we shared the gospel with her. She's not ready to receive Christ yet, but she's been coming to church with us.

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Personal

Spaghetti Bash - At Rosslyn Academy where Kelly teaches, they have an annual “Spaghetti Bash”. All participants anonymously bring in some form of a homemade pasta sauce, and then everyone votes on their favorite. Kelly’s alfredo sauce has won four times over the years, and she’s won the past two years in a row by adding bacon to the award-winning sauce. Of course, there were lots of jeers and sneers in good fun that she won. But bacon makes everything better!

We're grateful for all of you! Thank you for your continued support!

The Elmores- Matt, Kelly and Zeke

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Prayer Requests

Ministry

Pray for more wisdom to teach God’s word to our followers on Kuza.

Pray for the people who received Christ with Nicholas’s Jesus film presentations to grow in their faith.

Pray for our fundraiser to be successful on June 4th.

Personal

Pray for Matt and Zeke's passports to come quickly!!!

May 2023 News

May 3, 2023

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while since our last newsletter. Please accept our humble apologies. Sometimes the time just seems to get away from you! It was bone dry in Kenya for months (to the point that every day Zeke was covered in a fine layer of brown dust!), but we finally started to get rain in mid-March. We thank God for the rains!

Here’s some ministry updates:

Kuza

Growth

We’re humbled that the Lord allows our online ministry, Kuza, to grow so much. We recently checked our analytic numbers, and without any “paid reach” (paying to advertise), we reach between 130,000 to 150,000 people weekly. If we add in the paid reach, we reach as many as 250,000 people weekly. This time last year, we were reaching roughly 80,000 people weekly without a paid reach. We thank God with a humble fear, as we feel the weight of responsibility to teach and guide in biblical ways.

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4:12

Retreat

Last month, we held our annual retreat for our 4:12 ministry on Kenya's coast. The 4:12 ministry equips churches to reach youth through teaching conferences and in seminaries. We invited a local pastor named Dan Ndungu, who taught us what it means to be a godly man, a godly pastor, and a godly leader. We had an extremely meaningful time praying for one another, sharing challenges and enjoying fellowship.

Reports & Churches Planted

We received some reports from our team members at the retreat. In the last 6 months, we’ve seen more than 200 churches start youth ministry for the first time. Many churches have seen fantastic growth in their youth and adults since doing this. One of our teachers, Nicholas, takes the Jesus film (along with a projector, speakers and a microphone) along to his 4:12 conferences. He shows the Jesus film in nearby marketplaces. He has planted 14 churches while out and about with 4:12.

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4:12 - Nicholas's Story

Great Story

Nicholas of our 4:12 ministry recently taught a conference deep inside the bush in Eastern Kenya. He planned to show the Jesus film afterwards. His host told him they had to travel to a site 50 miles down the road to show the Jesus film. This journey took nearly 5 hours because of the terrible road conditions. As they were driving, they hit a slick muddy spot, and the car fell into a ditch. In doing so, the speaker that we use for the Jesus film slammed into the back windshield and shattered it, and the car wouldn’t start. They called the village's only mechanic up ahead, and he came and fixed Nicholas’ car. They finally arrived to the village at nighttime. Nicholas set up the Jesus film equipment. The entire village of 200 people came to watch, and everyone in the entire village was deeply moved and responded, saying they wanted to accept Jesus. This is unheard of. Nicholas and his host headed back to the original village, and on the way, his car broke down again. The mechanic was unable to come, so they slept in his car on the side of the road. The mechanic arrived in the morning, and they showed the Jesus film that night in that village. So many people showed up that Nicholas was unable to count them. Hundreds and hundreds responded, and the team was overwhelmed. Knowing Nicholas, we know there will be plans to help plant or strengthen the churches in these two areas.

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Personal Story

Kelly's Parents Visited

Kelly’s parents were able to come visit us in February. Although they came during the super dry and hot season, it was fun to have them here and do a few things we haven’t done before. We went on a safari and did some fun stuff around Nairobi.

Other Pictures

Zeke on Safari with Kelly's Family

Catching Catfish with Dad

Zeke running on Field Day

Out Near Tea Fields

Prayer Requests

Ministry

Pray for more wisdom to teach God’s word to our followers on Kuza.

Pray for the people who received Christ with Nicholas’s Jesus film presentations to grow in their faith.

Pray for our fundraiser to be successful on June 4th.

Personal

Pray for Kelly and Zeke to finish the school year well.

November 2022 News

Hi everyone!

We hope everyone is doing well! It’s hard to believe we’re heading into the final bit of 2022. We pray that God will bless you and your families as we close out the year. We’ve been staying busy. Zeke is loving school and learning how to sign a “Z” on all his papers! Kelly has been helping with Rosslyn’s high school production of Radium Girls (which is a crazy true story, if you’ve never heard about it). Matt got to take a trip to the U.S. to surprise his dad on his 70th birthday. His mom and family friends arranged and paid for Matt to travel with his dad on a big hunting trip to New Mexico, which was a really special time.

Kuza

Evangelism Through Kuza
We’ve been averaging over 400 monthly clicks on our “Receive Christ” evangelism video online. Not everyone who clicks on this video actually receives Christ, but we’ve set up the video so that whenever someone does, we request that they send us their contact information. We then call them and make sure they understand the gospel, pray with them, and then direct them to download our app and read our devotional series, which helps them to grow in their newfound faith. We also connect them to a nearby church that we know and trust.

Great Story
Just this past week, a young lady named Ekra watched our Receive Christ video online and was overjoyed that we called her. She was confused about the gospel and had several questions, and at the end of the conversation, she prayed to receive Christ. She joyfully downloaded our app and has started reading devotions to grow. We’ve connected her to a nearby church and will continue to follow up with her.

Visiting Tuliza FM - A secular radio station that partners with Kuza

Kuza

Nicholas and Zephaniah, two of our 4:12 staff, were meeting with a presenter at Tuliza FM, which is a secular radio station. They were on air promoting Kuza. After they were off air, the presenter asked them more about the gospel and what it meant. After hearing what they said, the presenter said “I think I need to receive Christ”. We’ve been following up with him, and since then, he’s been actively reading the Kuza app and growing in his faith.

The Tuliza FM Radio DJ that Received Christ 

New Beginnings 

Great Story
Earlier this year, a young college student had an unplanned pregnancy. She told her father and mother that she was pregnant. Her father was very upset because here he was toiling away to pay for her college fees, and she ended up pregnant. During her third trimester, her father’s anger boiled over, and he said he would not pay for her education or housing anymore unless she aborted her baby. The girl was heartbroken. She determined to kill herself and the baby because she could not bear to have an abortion. Her plan was to travel into town and jump in front of a bus or semi-truck. On her way to town, a good friend called her and said, “Hey, how are you doing?” She responded truthfully and told her friend the whole story. Her friend then told her about our crisis pregnancy center. The young lady called our New Beginnings office, and our staff went to town to meet her. Our staff members took her to our shelter, cooked her meals, and counseled her. They even went to the hospital with her and slept at the foot of her bed during and after birth. She’s now a happy mother. Her baby is doing well, she’s reconciled with her family, and she’s back in college. She said that she was overwhelmed with the love of Christ and New Beginnings.

Our New Beginnings Staff

Other Pictures

Surprising my Dad on his 70th birthday in New Mexico

Eating lunch with all our staff members in Eldoret, Kenya

Visiting Radio Injili - Kuza Radio Partner

Prayer Requests

Ministry

1. Pray for more people to find hope in Jesus through our Receive Christ video.

2. Pray for the young lady who kept her baby to become a wise mother and raise her child to fear the Lord.

3. Pray for the leadership of Kelly’s school, Rosslyn Academy, to have wisdom, discernment, and strength as they deal with some difficulties.

Personal

1. Pray for Zeke to continue to grow in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. 

2. Pray for Matt's and Zeke's health. Matt has been having earaches, and Zeke seems to have bad allergies.