Finding Purpose: Tomas Cera's Transition into Youth Leadership

Vocational Bible College has welcomed a bunch of new students this year. So what sorts of people have started training in 2024?

Tomas Cera had the privilege of growing up in a Christian home, where his parents taught him the gospel from a very young age.

Tomas had always known and trusted Jesus, but it wasn’t until he was about 18 years old that something clicked for him.

“When I started dating my now-wife, I was able to see her family just on fire for Jesus,” Tomas explains. “I got to see that not only does the gospel save us—it changes us as well. It opened my eyes.”

When Tomas graduated from high school, he initially enrolled in university but ended up dropping out. He tried an electrical trade, but that wasn’t for him, either. After trying a bunch of different options, Tomas ended up starting an apprenticeship as a floor installer.

Last year, Tomas’ pastor (who also happens to be his father-in-law) approached him about an opportunity: to step into the role of Youth Director at their church.

It wasn’t what Tomas had expected.

“I never thought it was a possibility,” Tomas admits. “I've been doing youth work for years, and just never thought of it as being a job.”

But the more Tomas thought and prayed about it, the more it seemed like the right thing to do. He made the tough decision to quit his apprenticeship.

“It was a big decision, but I felt called to do something else,” he explains.

As of this year, Tomas is working part-time as a concrete labourer, and part-time for his church. Part of his role at church also includes getting further equipped.

“We looked into lots of different options—theological colleges,” Tomas shares. “They’re all really good in their own way, but I was definitely not an academic person, especially in high school. It was just not my forte.”

Tomas admits that he felt quite stressed just thinking about the study aspect of his ministry role.

But then his father-in-law spoke with Bruce Bennett, who told him how VBC works and who it’s for.

“When he explained that to me, I thought, ‘Well, this sounds perfect,” Tomas laughs. “I'm a tradie, so this lines up with everything.”

Tomas is now enrolled in a Diploma through VBC. He started training at the beginning of this year and he’s loving it so far.

“I'm enjoying it. I love joining with all the people online from all around the world. We've got some guys from Kenya that are joining in the Zoom. I love that we're all Christians. We all believe that Jesus has saved us. But everyone’s input is different, and that’s awesome.”

Tomas has found his trainers to be incredibly helpful.

“They're so easy to talk to—so friendly,” Tomas says. “They make sure everyone understands something before we move on.”

Right now, Tomas is being equipped for his current part-time role in youth ministry. As for the future—he’s leaving that in God’s hands.

“I'd love to do it full-time in the future, but I'm just going where God calls me,” Tomas shares. “But yeah, I would love to do youth work full-time. That would be awesome.”

For anyone unsure about enrolling in training at VBC, Tomas is full of encouragement.

“I would strongly encourage people to look into it,” he says. “I was always concerned it would be too academic, and that I would really struggle. But I haven’t found that at VBC. They always check that it’s not too much for people. I’d say jump on board!”