Several weeks ago I mentioned perhaps starting a puppet ministry with some of the kids at church and they went berserk crazy excited with the idea. David put out the "advice needed" post on his pastor's forum and the idea immediately got panned by several pastors as being 70's passe' and no longer relevant. But, there were those that agreed with him, that anything that will get youth involved in doing ministry themselves is worthwhile. One pastor even boxed up 3 of their own puppets and sent them to New Hope to get us started (Thanks, Tim).

So, I've been spending lots of time this morning/early afternoon researching puppetry. I found George, an awesome man in Ohio who was selling some of his ministry's overstock and used puppets. They're in the process of being ordered now. I've had online conversations with Grace Community Church and they've been incredibly helpful. I've received 2 books on the subject already and placed an order for a 3rd today. I've joined a puppet bulletin board plus subscribed to a puppet blog. I've downloaded scripts and started a "notes" page along with a very cool mission statement from a group that has their ministry together! I'm grateful that ministry-minded people are so generous with their ideas, guidelines, etc. All this will help tremendously with our first meeting of adult advisors.

It all seemed like such a simple thing to do. I mean what kind of expertise can it take to stick a puppet on your hand and talk while hiding behind a curtained stage? Well, the more I find out, the more I understand how wrong I was. This is intense stuff! But, if done well, it's important stuff; it's presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can't get any more important than that.

This video really impressed me. The guy who did it not only has all the details of movement, coordination, etc down, but he tells the story in such a compelling way that...well, just watch: