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By Andrea Dujardin-Flexhaug
“A MERRY HEART doeth good like a medicine,”
says Proverbs 17:22.
Pastor David Kelly and his wife Joy take this quote to
heart at Okanagan Falls Community Church, where their puppetry skills
regularly bring Bible stories and God’s message alive.
But the pastoral couple also take puppetry to a whole
different level, with their rather unique skill of ventriloquism.
The history of that art form goes back centuries,
and early on was thought to have mystical and magical powers – and
consequently, it was not looked on favourably by the church.
But ventriloquists in the first half of the 20th
century – such as the renowned Edgar Bergen and his puppet Charlie
McCarthy – made it a popular form of comedic entertainment.
The Kellys consider their ventriloquist performances as
merely one of the tools they use to bring God’s message to others.
“It’s my intention of taking back something
that I think God has given us – imagination,” says Joy,
“and he’s given us the ability to create. Why? Because he is
very creative and he’s very imaginative.”
The ventriloquism puppets are only a few of the
wide variety of hand puppets, of all shapes and sizes, the Kellys perform
with.
Everything from marionettes to sock and rod puppets are
used, at church services and community events.
They use them to tell Bible stories – and as Joy
points out, Jesus was a great, original storyteller.
“There’s a story in the Bible about the
donkey that speaks,” she also notes. “And God made the donkey
talk, because Balaam was not paying attention to God. And so God made the
donkey talk to him, and got Balaam’s attention.”
Joy had grown up watching well-known ventriloquist
Shari Lewis and her puppet Lamb Chop on TV.
“And as a child, I went ‘Wow. Someday I
want to be just like her, only I want to tell people about
Jesus,’” recalls Joy. “Because as a young child, I had
come to know Jesus. “
Joy studied ventriloquism with professional puppeteers;
and she also obtained a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts.
At one point, Joy was invited to work for Muppets puppeteer Jim Henson
– but found out she was too short in height for the stage sets.
Now, Joy takes her theatrical skills on the road
during the summer months, going from Bible camp to Bible camp as a
travelling performer of sorts, in a ministry with puppets.
Has she ever had complaints about her ventriloquist
puppets in particular?
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“Yes, actually I have. I’ve had people ask
me why do I do that,” she says. “Not here, but in my travels on
a rare occasion, I will have someone who’s very religious, quite
concerned about the skill – [asking] ‘Isn’t that a
bad thing?’”
David Kelly first became interested in ventriloquism at
Briercrest Bible College, while watching a Christian ventriloquist at a
seminar there.
And he recalls that even the dean of faculty at the
school was “just literally in tears – and I thought,
‘This is a powerful medium of communication.’”
Every Tuesday night at Okanagan Falls Community
Church’s Kids Klub, the puppets make an appearance. They have
proved to be a real drawing card for the young people, who enjoy working
the puppets.
“At Kids Klub right now, we are using our flower
puppets,” says Joy. “They look like flowers – and the
flowers talk.”
This form of mini-theatre is also taken to the Sunday
services, and David notes: “Oh, it’s very well received. The
adults enjoy it as much as the kids.”
The couple also make appearances with their special
ventriloquist puppets Leroy and Quacker, every six weeks or so.
“We do accept invitations from other
churches,” notes David. “I’ve been invited by the
Salvation Army to their staff Christmas party, two of the last three
years.”
When time allows, the couple has performed not just for
Christian groups, but for banquets, staff gatherings and local community
events such as OK Falls Days. They also do puppetry seminars upon request.
“So if anyone’s interested in
starting a puppetry ministry in their church, we could take a
weekend,” he says.
The Kellys can be contacted at quacker@uniserve.com or
250.497.7097.
December 2008
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