Kids Doing Ministry - One Balloon At a Time

A parishioner at Batcheller Covenant Church, Annette Doerr, has enlisted the help of children and teens from her church during the past two years to bring friendship evangelism to her community. The Joy Bringers make balloon sculptures for people at senior adult centers, schools and other organizations while sharing the gospel message with them.

Doerr, who recently retired from teaching, came across the Joy Bringers curriculum through a Fellowship Christian Ministries conference in the summer of 1999. A pastor from Pennsylvania, Craig Lantz, led a workshop on Joy Bringers and showed Doerr a manual that helped her start her own program.

In 1999, Doerr had eight students involved in Joy Bringers. Her current group includes Hope Lemire, Larry Morrison, Janelle Shoup, Brenda Sommerfeldt, Kenny Russel, Samantha Shoup and Aliana Lemire, along with adult helpers Doerr and Chris Ambrose. They meet at church the fourth Sunday of the month, practicing their balloon sculpture skills before heading to local nursing care or foster care homes. Batcheller Covenant's Joy Bringers have also ministered through senior citizen functions, a town festival and at Sunday night ecumenical church meetings during the summer.

Joy Bringers trained 25 other students from nine area churches in balloon sculpture design this summer in an event called Worship Him at the Marina. Group members also perform their craft at church picnics and each month they design balloon sculptures for those celebrating wedding anniversaries. Doerr believes the balloon sculptures are a viable tool for students as they relate with the elderly.

"The training, of course, includes balloon skills - that's the easy part," Doerr said. ". . . Learning to interact with the elderly and others is the most difficult for them."

Doerr does more with balloon sculpture ministry than train the Joy Bringers. She often carries a purse-sized balloon pump and a supply of balloons and will make impromptu balloon sculptures in grocery store checkout lines, hospital waiting rooms and restaurants.

"I encourage the kids to use them everywhere," Doerr continued. "They're a wonderful skill for mission trips, too." Doerr will use her skills in a November mission trip to Honduras and Guatemala.

For more information about Joy Bringers, call Doerr 231-462-3695 or email her at aadoerr@t-one.net.

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