BERRYVILLE, Va. — Puppets are fun, silly and colorful. They may be associated with children, but puppet ministry leaders will tell you that puppets are for everyone.
The Berryville Baptist Rascals, a puppet troupe from Berryville (Va.) Baptist Church, have delighted and shared the love of Jesus with hundreds of children and adults for the past 22 years. Joan Houck, puppet and youth mission leader, has been involved in this ministry from its inception. She admits puppets are a great way to enable young people to share their faith and that witnessing the lives that are touched brings her great joy.
Berryville Rascals at the Clarke County Fair.
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The Baptist Rascals, for youth in grades 6-12, and the Little Rascals, for children in grades 1-5, have about 75 puppets. With costumes, props, stage, lighting and sound equipment, Houck notes that traveling can involve a U-Haul trailer.
“From Berryville to Indianapolis, my Jesus is so fabulous” was the tagline the youth from Berryville Baptist applied to their most recent mission trip. This summer the team of 17 youth and seven adults spent 9 days in Indianapolis, conducting Vacation Bible School at the Metro Baptist Center, participating in Sunday worship at a community church and presenting nightly programs at a local mobile home park.
The troupe also held puppet shows at the Wheeler Homeless Shelters for men and women, hosted an afternoon of arts, crafts and music at a women’s halfway house and provided a special puppet presentation in the lobby of Riley’s Children’s Hospital.
Presentations and music are changed to fit each venue. Many times young people will come out from behind the curtain and share music or a short message. Puppet shows can include sign language, mimes and other visual presentations, adapted to the audience, says Houck.
While staff at the men’s shelter shared some residents were skeptical about a puppet show, Houck recounts the men were likely their most enthusiastic audience in Indianapolis with an incredible response to the music and message.
Baptist Rascals in Indianapolis are (from row, left to right) Jeffrey Rosenberry, Bradly Braithwaite, Dane Duncan, Bruce Ward, Zach Bartasiewicz, Robert Rosenbrook, Garrett Rosenbrook, Amanda Gordon, Sarah Cantrell, Ted Schultz, Alana Bartasiewicz; (back row) Anna Louthan, Kristina Bartasiewicz, Sam Whitacher, Kierstan Tinsman; (sitting) Lee Louthan and Caroline Louthan.
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The puppet team makes trips to children’s hospitals when they have the opportunity. According to Houck one of the most meaningful moments of the Indianapolis trip was following the puppet team’s presentation at Riley’s Children’s Hospital. The mother of a child undergoing treatment for cancer thanked them for providing a time of relief and diversion. “It was the best gift you could have given,” said the mother.
The Baptist Rascals have a standing invitation each Christmas for a program at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
“The base has a Christmas party for military families whose children have cancer,” says Houck, “and we consider it a privilege to be asked to participate.” Each year Santa Claus arrives by plane or helicopter and distributes gifts. And through their puppet ministry, the troupe is able to bring the good news the birth of Jesus to the party, says Houck.
In 1998 the Baptist Rascals went on a mission trip to South Africa. Participants were older youth who worked for more than a year to make money for the trip. Houck says while traveling the team has slept in college dorms and in church basements. In Indianapolis the group of 26 stayed at the Metro Baptist Center and shared two showers and toilets.
The Rascals are involved in local mission outreach programs. The troupe was involved in a Vacation Bible School held at Rose Hill Park in Berryville in early July. Later that month both puppet troupes participated in Academy Street Fun Day, an event focused on fun and games for the community.
A puppet ministry takes a lot of hard work, but Houck points out that she’s proud and impressed with the dedication of young people. Over the years she has worked with puppeteers whose children are now grown and are eager to take part in the puppet shows, Bible stories and singing.
“The Baptist Rascals are willing to travel and welcome invitations,” says Houck. For more information visit the church website.
Barbara Francis (bfrancis@religiousherald.org) is on the staff of the Religious Herald.