Kelley made his first trip to Russia in 1991 with a group led by Josh McDowell. That same year, the Florida Youth Fellowship responded to an opportunity to begin an exchange program with students from Chelyabinsk, a city of 1.5 million people located in the Southern Ural region of Russia. The exchange program was a tremendous success and generated a need for a career missionary family to develop a church in Chelyabinsk. Kelley and Rhonda began working in Chelyabinsk in October 1993 with their two children, Lee and Lindsay. They served in Chelyabinsk for eight years. Today, there is a vibrant, growing church in that city.

Kelley and Rhonda—who now have four children: Lee, Lindsay, Natasha, and Christian—accepted the role as regional coordinators for Europe, the Middle East, and the FSU (former Soviet Union) in July 2002. Serving as regional coordinators, the Philips live in Berlin, Germany.

With the role of regional coordinator come varying responsibilities. These include serving as liaisons between Outreach Ministries of Church of God Ministries, the missionaries, and the national leaders in this part of the world; joining with national leaders in strategic planning and implementation of ministries throughout the region; supervision, counseling, and coordination of missionaries in the region; and establishing budgets and fundraising for missions ministries in the region.