Introducing Stephen Andrews: VBC Victoria Regional Coordinator

Stephen Andrews has long been passionate about vocational education and its potential for training the church. “I want training to be accessible to your everyday Aussie, and not just those that are academically gifted. Especially when you think about Jesus’ model of discipleship, we should be doing more apprenticeship type models of training,” he says. 

So he is delighted to be starting a new role with VBC to expand vocational Bible training in Melbourne and Victoria. 

Stephen’s family and work background are both in mission. Growing up in a Christian home with parents who were active in church and ministry, Stephen also saw his grandparents’ life of service in the missionary field. “My dad’s parents, my grandparents, were cross-cultural workers in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan. So from a very early age I was impacted by conversations about them and their work.” 

After his time at university, where he was involved in campus ministry, Stephen began thinking about heading overseas himself. He also met his wife, Kathy, who was similarly open to overseas work. They headed to Bible college at what is now Melbourne School of Theology, and studied there together for a life of mission work, before heading overseas. 

During their ten years overseas, Stephen was involved in church planting, and introducing vocational training to a grassroots Bible college in the area, then helped to start a primary school, which later became a secondary school as well.

Stephen found that vocational training was a particularly appropriate method of training in the context he was working in. Because of the average education levels of potential students, jumping straight into a higher education degree wasn’t always practical or possible. So leaning on the cultural practices of oral and hands-on learning, Stephen found much more success in apprenticeship style training models. 

“ We’re grateful for the different lives that were touched through those different ministries and that many are continuing to walk with Jesus,” he says of their time overseas.
In 2017, Stephen’s family returned to Australia, tired but grateful. Since then, Stephen has continued to work in ministry and missions, taking up a teaching role with Melbourne School of Theology’s vocational training arm. Through this work, Stephen met Damon Sokolowski, who introduced him to Andrew Beddoe. So when Melbourne School of Theology was unable to continue their program and Stephen’s role, Stephen felt that VBC stepping into the space of vocational Bible training in Victoria was a real answer to prayer. 

“It became apparent we share a lot of common perspectives and values in terms of training,” Stephen recalls about those initial conversations with Andrew at VBC. “People may be highly emotionally aware or highly relationally aware, or have high cultural intelligence, but may not have the academic abilities or confidence to tackle Higher Ed. In God’s purposes they have a fantastic role to play, and so creating a pathway of training for that diversity of brothers and sisters, that is what I am passionate about.” 

VBC hopes to have a face to face cohort running in Melbourne by February 2027, and a second cohort running by February 2028. Stephen is now working on finding trainers, promoting the course and talking to interested students. 

Stephen is excited about the opportunities to work with churches and local ministry workers. VBC is keen for students to grow in their relationships with people in their local churches and to have mentors who are connected to the ministries students are actually serving in on the ground. “A really strong partnership with the local church is really integral to what we are doing. Some of their assessments will be reflections on what is happening in their ministry context and local church, and so we want to partner with church leaders in discipling and forming their future leaders,” he says.
Stephen asks for your prayers and for wisdom as he steps into this role growing VBC in Victoria.