The Unexpected Journey: Meet David Sinden

Despite growing up as a Missionary Kid—his parents were missionaries with CMS—David Sinden never expected to study theology or end up in ministry himself.

David spent time in both Singapore and Indonesia as a child and a young adult. After studying composition and music production once he finished high school, David wasn’t exactly sure what to do for work.

“I did a radio course, to try to get into that, but it didn't work out,” he explains. “So I was not really sure what to do with myself.”

Someone from Global Recordings Network (GRN) spoke at Stanhope Anglican Church, where his parents attended, one Sunday. The representative from GRN expressed a need for volunteers. 

“I thought, ‘Why not volunteer, you know—something to do in the meantime,’” David says.

After volunteering led to a traineeship, and a traineeship led to a job, David knew he made the right decision.

GRN trainees were required to study theology part-time, so in 2019 David enrolled in Vocational Bible College one day a week.

Given his local church, Quakers Hill Anglican, was running VBC classes, David thought it would be a good choice.

He had also heard that VBC would be a more practical option for studying theology, so he chose it for that reason too.

“It definitely lived up to my expectation of being more practical,” David says. “Compared to other courses I did, it wasn't as academic.”

David particularly enjoyed the Old Testament classes. There was also a subject on World Religions in this second year that taught him a lot.

In his first year at VBC, David attended classes with five other students.

“It was a nice community,” he shares. “We enjoyed doing stuff together.”

During his second year, David started off with a trainer all to himself. Later in the year he was joined by another student. He missed the community of his first year, but he did appreciate the one-on-one time with his trainer, Andrew Beddoe.

“I had a lot of questions about things, and Andrew was able to answer everything,” David laughs.

After finishing up at VBC, David was offered a role on staff at GRN as a recordist. He travels out on location to record audio content for the GRN website and the 5fish app.

The job is not at all what David imagined himself doing.

“It is a bit left field for me,” he acknowledges. “I didn’t really see myself doing this sort of work, but the opportunity was thrown at me and I felt that maybe this is what I should be doing.”

When asked if he enjoys it now, the answer is an emphatic yes. 

He’s also grateful for his time at VBC.

“It’s a great practical College,” he says. “It doesn’t require too much academically. If you’re looking for something practical, then I definitely do recommend Vocational Bible College.”