Grabbing their attention

It's all in the hands.

Nearly 40 people learned creative evangelism through puppetry and ventriloquism at the Capefest Ministry Fair held at the House of Hope on Saturday.

"Ventriloquism works in ministry because it's an attention grabber," said Donna Collins, a ventriloquist of 30 years and a missionary. "My dad was a pastor who used ventriloquism in his ministry. By the time I was 12 I started helping my mom do children's ministry."

The fair, attended by 37 people, also included lessons in clowning, drama, face painting and sign language.

Saturday's event was the third annual children's ministry workshop that puppeteer Charlotte Reed has held to provide ministry skills for anyone interested. Reed teaches puppetry along with 12 workers and speakers who led the all-day workshop.

Reed teaches students the importance of entrances and exits to make the performances believable. "Always turn the puppet around when you're going down the stairs," she said, "or else it'll appear they're going down backwards."

Puppets in space

The idea of puppeteering began in 1985 when Reed's oldest son, Randy, then 8, came home from summer camp bubbling with enthusiasm.

"Mom, they have puppets in space," he told her.

Space was the theme of a show he'd seen at camp. Because he was so impressed, Reed obtained the puppet pattern, which she revised. Since then, the self-taught Reed has made nearly 800 puppets.

"It started out as a hobby and so many people were asking me to do shows and make puppets, by 1995 I had to make it into a business," Reed said.

Reed started working in children's ministry after she had children and found puppets to be helpful in telling stories.

Children "remember probably 90 percent when you use visuals," Reed said.

She travels throughout Missouri, Illinois and Tennessee delivering anti-drug and moral messages to children with a team of six called Puppet Power. Venues include birthday parties, Christmas productions, schools and nursing homes.

"It takes a commitment," said Emily Schlegel of Cape Girardeau, who has been on the team for eight years. "When we do vacation Bible schools, it's every day, but otherwise it's not that time consuming."

"My favorite thing is making kids happy. You can minister to them," Schlegel said.

And Reed intends to minister to even more children through Puppet Power.

"God told me the ministry would be bigger than I ever imagined," she said, "and I can imagine pretty big."

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133