Cat Tuckwell’s story begins like so many others—arriving at university without a thought about faith, consumed by big plans for her future. She didn’t expect to encounter Jesus through the faithful ministry of an MTS apprentice. That changed everything.
Now, shaped by her own MTS journey, Cat is determined to pass on that same gift, helping others grow in their faith and step into ministry, multiplying the gift of the gospel as one that keeps on giving for generations to come.
Through her ministry with Bendigo Christian Union on campus at La Trobe University, she’s inspiring students to take the good news of Jesus to the unreached and under-resourced corners of Australia.
From atheist to apprentice
In 2007 Cat moved to Wagga Wagga to study veterinary science. She encountered the Australia Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) Christian group on campus at Charles Sturt University (CSU) during Orientation Week. Making friends with some Christians and becoming curious about what they believed led her to church and even to Bible study. That’s where she met Lisa, who was in her first year of MTS. Lisa offered to meet up with Cat to read the Bible together, and Cat agreed, because she assumed it was “remedial” Bible study so that she wouldn’t drag the group behind.
Week after week, Cat continued attending church, Bible study and meeting up with Lisa. Slowly her eyes were opened to the truth.
“In my first semester, I came to realise that one, I was a sinner, and two, that Jesus had died for me so that I could be forgiven and restore the relationship that I broke,” Cat explains.
Overcoming resistance
While she was in her third year of university, in 2009, Cat was invited to a SPUR (MTS Recruit) conference in Canberra. She was initially quite resistant.
“I did not want to go to the conference because people went and changed things in their life,” Cat laughs. She had seen another student quit their university degree after attending that conference, and at that time her veterinary science degree was too important to her. However, everything changed a few weeks later when she was diagnosed with lymphoma at the age of 21.
Over the next six months as Cat took time off study to receive chemotherapy, she came to realise that sharing Jesus with people is what matters most. This was helped by attending SPUR (MTS Recruit) Conference after all, in 2010.
After finishing her degree and working as a vet, Cat was prayerfully considering whether to start an apprenticeship. In conversations with AFES staff worker Jane Lister, Jane said something that has stuck with Cat—‘We’re not going to be disappointed if you don’t do a ministry apprenticeship, we’re going to be disappointed if you’re not a radical disciple of Jesus.’
Cat shares, “That just freed me from my worry, and I realised whatever I do, it’s about being having Jesus as the centre of all of my life.”
18 months later Cat felt compelled to undertake an MTS apprenticeship so that she could be better equipped to serve the Lord, regardless of what that looked like.
Shaped for Ministry
In 2016 and 2017 Cat did her apprenticeship on campus at CSU under trainers Steve and Jane Lister. She learnt a lot during that time—one of the most significant being that ministry is always about training and multiplication. Her trainers encouraged her to use every moment of her apprenticeship as a training moment, they trained her to do things like equip others to read the Bible for themselves or pray in church.
“Through MTS I realised that I hope never to be a vet again if God would let me,” Cat explains, “because of the great gospel needs. But I needed to be better equipped to be able to do that.” So Cat headed to SMBC in 2018, where she completed a Masters of Divinity before moving to Bendigo in 2022 to join the AFES Bendigo Christian Union staff team at La Trobe University.
Cat’s dream is to start training apprentices in her current role. She shares, “I’m keen to send people to less-reached and less-resourced parts of Australia and the world. So we need to train more people for the harvest.”
Inspiring the Next Generation
Cat has realised that for many of her students, they haven’t had any exposure to apprentices, so they don’t have a concept of what an apprenticeship would look like. Cat is actively working to invite an MTS apprentice from a metropolitan university to come to La Trobe at Bendigo on a regional placement to help break down some of those barriers.
Part of the way Cat is sharing the vision for apprentices is through something she calls ‘radical disciple dinners.’ Once a term she hosts a dinner where she helps paint a picture of what it looks like to live for Jesus. She says, “It’s part of being prepared for when I do train someone, God-willing.”
For Cat, MTS is a powerful investment in the gospel. She says, “MTS is such a wonderful ministry in that it’s encouraging and helping us multiply ministry. The harvest is plentiful and there’s not enough workers. But regardless of whether people go into full-time paid gospel ministry, or they are trained and equipped for the church and their workplace, I don’t think there’s a more worthy investment.”
Cat’s story is a powerful reminder of how one faithful step can lead to a ripple effect for the gospel. From being discipled by an MTS apprentice to becoming one herself, and now preparing the next generation of gospel workers, Cat’s journey demonstrates how the gospel not only gives life to one person, but keeps on giving by the grace and faithfulness of God.