Judah & Elena Kelly Newsletter (Fall 2024)

We’re back and this summer was amazing!

It was filled mostly by our team to Tanzania, which went great. We spent three weeks by the base of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain, driving to different schools around the area and setting up small clinics with four stations. We would check villagers’ eyesight and ask if anything was bothering them. If they needed reading glasses, we would provide them. We also got to do puppet shows and dramas. The team was able to talk and minister to so many kids and teens in the schools we visited. We also got to see what it means to serve others.

The Teen Missions base where we were was surrounded by rolling hills and sunflower fields, it was just gorgeous. We also had the opportunity to visit Ngorongoro Crater national park. It’s home to the vast, volcanic Ngorongoro Crater and “Big 5” (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino). We went on a safari and saw so many animals. It was awesome!

We had a team of seventeen kids with fourteen girls and three boys. They did great, and we had no drama or major health problems, praise the Lord! There were so many moments this summer that we saw God moving, including in the lives of our teens. Judah and I praise God that we have the opportunity to lead teams every summer and invest in the lives of these teens, and we are so excited about what this next year will hold.

The last couple weeks we have spent doing deputation, which is just a time for recovering and recuperating from the summer, as well as time to work on raising support and visiting family. Judah and I had a close friend from Australia come to stay with us, and we had a lot of fun showing her around and hanging out. We also flew to Ohio for a few days to visit Elena’s grandmother and spend time with family.

Now we are back at work. If you didn’t know already we work full time during the year at Teen Missions Headquarters. I am in the Video Department and Judah works in Graphics, and our jobs mainly consist of creating promotional materials.

Some things we are excited about—the new Sojourner Bible students started this week. We now have two “adopted” students that we make sure are doing well. In total there are 15 students at the Sojourner School of Ministry at the Teen Missions headquarters.

We had a great time attending our annual staff retreat this year. It was a few days where the staff and students come together to connect, as well as discuss the summer.

We are also planning a trip to Washington state at the end of November. We hope to build more connections and reconnect (Judah lived in Bellingham for a few years). We already have some meetings lined up and would love to meet up with any of you who live around there if possible. If you would like us to speak to your church or youth group to chat about what we do with Teen Missions, please let us know!

Other news: As a staff we have been praying for the country of Zambia. There has been an extended drought for a few years and now it is causing a severe famine that is resulting in thousands of people going hungry. Teen Missions has been working in Zambia for decades and has many bases, Rescue Units, and Bible schools. At the Rescue Units (which are located usually far out in the bush) there are many reports of orphans and others going days without food. Teen Missions is working to try to help the orphans at the Rescue Units by providing frequent meals every few days, but the goal is to be able to feed them every day. Right now they are struggling financially with meeting that goal. If you would like to help with that cause, please visit the link on the back.

Here are some ways you can be praying us:

• Pray for energy and focus as we go back to work
• That we continue to make connections with both individuals and churches
• To be able to raise our support to the level it needs to be

Thank you so much for your prayers,

Judah and Elena Kelly









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