My fellow brother(s) and sister(s) in Christ,
Hello my name is Josh A. Selby. My home church is German Town Christian Assembly. I have felt God pulling me into the missions’ field for quite some time. I have always had a calling for working with people. I actually grew up with two parents that are missionaries. My mum is a missionary from Holland aka The Netherlands. My dad and my mum led Bible studies in our back yard on a tarp for the kids in our neighborhood throughout my youth. From a young age, I was involved in ministries whether it be with my parents or my church. I have felt God leading me for the past five years to working full time in ministry. For the past four years I’ve been working at a Bible Summer Camp called Streamside Camp and Conference. Through the people at Streamside I have met many other missionaries from all over the world. I have been a Counselor to Maintenance to Tech Guy to Lifeguarding to Kitchen Work to Drama Director. Honestly, I have done a little bit of everything here at Streamside. Through all the various hats I’ve worn at Streamside, I have felt a very distinct pull from God that youth ministry is the place he wants me at. Camp has taught me no matter where you go on this green Earth, God is always constant. Whether overseas or over mountains, He is the same powerful God always.
Recently, I have received the opportunity for me to go to Peru as a missionary.
This past year working at Streamside God has opened up an opportunity for me to go to Peru for six months as a missionary with the organization Bible Center Ministries in Peru (BCM Peru). I am prayerfully planning to embark on this journey of epic proportions at the end of October and return at the end of March.
The first two weeks of my trip will be spent traveling upriver in the jungles from one village to another ministering to the people there with a group of missionaries. After the two weeks, I will be working in Lima with BMC’s Bible Institute. The most of the month of September I will be helping to prepare for Pennies for Peru and Bible Summer Camps along with various other ministries for the end of December. Pennies for Peru is a festival/camp for the kids in the surrounding area. There will be fruit provided and entertainment with the Gospel as the message. Some of the specific things I will be doing in preparation are making puppets, making visual aids for Bible lessons and street evangelism, and making scenic design for drama performances from backdrops to costumes to props. Along with that, my day will also consist of street evangelism using the arts such miming and skits. Later in January, I plan on working in various Bible camps throughout Peru as well.
I was going to go to school for Biblical Studies and then go into missions. As I kept on pursuing Bible College, God seemed to keep shutting that door for me. There were a few mission trips with my church that I was going to go on, but God kept shutting those doors closed for me as well. I did however, do some in country mission work with BCM missionaries in Philadelphia who attend my home church. This past year I was having doubts about coming back to Streamside and thinking about simply working full time at home. Fortunately, some of the missionaries at my church reminded me of my passion and promise I made to God about going to missions and working at Streamside until I found an occupational ministry. So when I did decide to work at Streamside this summer, I got the chance to reconnect with old friends of my parents, Carlos and Marion Odico. They had started a ministry in Peru for BCM and they invited me to come and visit them and the IBYM-BCM Peru Bible Institute in Peru. As they told me more about their ministry, I was both convinced and convicted to go help out while I check out the Institute.
He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Luke 10:2-3
This is where you come in. I do not like asking people for help especially when it comes to money, but in order for me to go to Peru for six months I will need support financially. I need to raise $1500 for room and board, $450 for personal expense (shampoo, public transportation, ect.), $800 for the plane tickets there and back, and $150 for the first two weeks in the jungle. This all adds up to $2900. As of right now, these are my expenses. Unfortunately, it is highly probable that the cost will be greater than this. This is why every penny counts. Whether you give $0.50 to $10 to $100, your support helps. Here is how you can donate:
- Using FundRazr.com: With this website, you can donate money via credit/debit card. It will go directly into my PayPal account which will go directly to the mission trip. Here is the web address: www.fundrazr.com/campaigns/9aNQ4
- Send cash or check: You can give either of these to me personally or send it out to this address:
- Through my Church: 610 E. Mt. Pleasant Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19119
- For this check, in the envelope make a note and say “For Josh Selby’s trip to Peru”. Write it out to my Home Church: _Gemantown Christian Assembly _
- Personally to me: 102 West Wood Street, Norristown, PA 19401.
- For this check, you can simply just write it out to me name: _Joshua A. Selby_
Not only though do I need support monetarily, but I am going to need some serious prayer warriors as well. I will be attempting to learn a new language along with a new culture. Please pray for God’s guidance and wisdom for me. Pray for the ability to be able to connect with the kids and the team I will be working with. Pray for a spirit of courage because it is scary to go to a new country with a completely different culture without knowing hardly anyone. From my own flesh to Satan himself, there are many things that will and have come against me, therefore please pray if not anything else. If you learn nothing else from my letter, please pray.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age
Matthew 28:18-20
Sincerely,
Joshua A. Selby