Tobey was born in Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington. Through his time there he was on the leadership team with the Baptist Student Ministry and learned the importance of discipleship, evangelism and missions. While at the BSM his heart broke for the lost people around him. His senior year of college he felt the Lord leading him to become a campus missionary with the BSM. He spent a year doing that in West Texas and fell in love with college ministry there. After the Lord had called him to another year in full time ministry, he got connected with Brad Schneeflock through a missionary sending organization called GoNow. He heard about the great need for college ministry in the Seattle Metro area and decided to put his yes on the table and go.