{"id":5899,"date":"2015-01-27T08:34:55","date_gmt":"2015-01-27T13:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/?p=5899"},"modified":"2015-08-11T08:35:14","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T12:35:14","slug":"david-selveys-journey-to-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.faithlafayette.org\/church\/david-selveys-journey-to-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"David Selvey’s Journey to Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following article by\u00a0Stacy Clardie<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>is the fourth in a series<\/a> that\u00a0shares our Pastors’ testimonies of how the Lord led them to serve at Faith Church.<\/em><\/p>\n

David Selvey<\/a>, essentially, spent 10 years in preparation to be a missionary in Spain.<\/p>\n

\"SelveyMissionary\"<\/a>
David with his Dad in 1973<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While serving in the Air Force out of high school, Selvey was sent near Madrid near the end of his first enlistment. It was there he connected with a missionary, rekindling a spark he\u2019d felt as a 9-year-old kid \u2014 even before he was a believer \u2014 for that type of ministry.<\/p>\n

It was there he helped plant a church in the late 1970s, seizing and cherishing the opportunity and experience to be involved in nearly every aspect of developing and growing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really when God called me into ministry,\u201d Selvey said.<\/p>\n

So he left the military and headed to Bible college and then seminary. And, ultimately, back to Spain in 1993 to fulfill his dream.<\/p>\n

But there was a problem.<\/p>\n

One that Selvey didn\u2019t even recognize at the time.<\/p>\n

No one had truly prepared him to be a missionary, to witness to people cross-culturally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just sent,\u201d said Selvey, referencing himself, his wife Kathy and children. \u201cAnd it didn\u2019t work out. It wasn\u2019t very pretty.\u201d<\/p>\n

After about two years, Selvey returned to the States with his family falling apart. He wasn\u2019t leading well. They weren\u2019t handling problems well, weren\u2019t solving them Biblically.<\/p>\n

So they went to Faith for counseling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough that time, God began to teach us the principles of the Word,\u201d he said. \u201cI would have a counselor talk to me about a passage, and I\u2019d look at it and think, \u2018Why didn\u2019t I get this in seminary?\u2019 It was the practical aspect of applying the Scriptures to daily life, rather than just a general concept. It was very specific. We\u2019ve grown as a result of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another result: Selvey made what he called the toughest decision of his life, to resign as a missionary and stay in the States.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, it\u2019s meant a boon for Faith, its mission outreach by establishing a mission agency, as well as Selvey and his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see how God has used all of that \u2014 my time in the military, my time helping to plant that church for the military there in the Madrid area, my education, the time and the challenges and the good times we had in that two years in Spain, coming back, having to resign for the sake of my family. God has used all of that to give me the tools that I need to do exactly what I\u2019m doing now,\u201d Selvey said.<\/p>\n

Since 2000, Selvey has been the chairman of the missions committee. In 2004, he helped form what is now Faith Global Missions<\/a> of which he\u2019s now the executive director. Since 2008, he\u2019s been fulfilling the role of\u00a0Faith\u2019s missions pastor.<\/p>\n

Selvey encourages people to consider missions as a career, educates and trains potential missionaries, handles strategic planning for mission trips for Faith and its \u201cG.O.E.R.<\/a>\u201d ministry for short-term missions.<\/p>\n

And with every conference, with every FCI class taught, with every individual session given, Selvey is able to relay not just theories on what to expect and handle but actual experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I talk to a missionary that we\u2019re taking care of, when I talk to them about problems in the field, the difficulty, the challenges of what do I do first, it\u2019s not just that I read it in a book somewhere, so it\u2019s been very helpful,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to be caring for people\u2019s souls, they need to be well-prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faith Global Missions is unique in three areas, Selvey said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a local church ministry, directed by Faith Church not by an independent, autonomous board.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a ministry to local churches. FGM doesn\u2019t accept missionary candidates on their own, only ones connected to a local church.<\/p>\n

It also requires everyone at FGM to complete Biblical counseling training.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want them to understand how to solve problems Biblically. That\u2019s one of the highest reasons for missionary attrition is that people don\u2019t know how to solve problems Biblically,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we ended up leaving the mission field. We weren\u2019t solving problems Biblically. We didn\u2019t know how.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Selvey still goes \u2014 he travels about 50 days a year to minister either within the States or abroad \u2014 he\u2019s learned to have joy in staying<\/i>, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sincerely believe it\u2019s a God-given desire to do this. I love doing what I do,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t love everything about it. But I love what I do. I cannot think of anything else in the world that I\u2019d rather do. I love serving the church. I love serving the Lord. I love ministering His Word to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Selvey and wife Kathy have four children, Jeremiah, Amber, Michelle and Daniel.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following article by\u00a0Stacy Clardie\u00a0is the fourth in a series that\u00a0shares our Pastors’ testimonies of how the Lord led them to serve at Faith Church. David Selvey, essentially, spent 10 years in preparation to be a missionary in Spain. 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