ST. LOUIS – Smiles turned to laughter as Doug Mickan, associate pastor of worship and music at Faith Baptist Church in Festus, introduced his friends. Mickan was at Parkway Baptist Church in St. Louis for an Operation Christmas Child event. His friends live in a trunk and depend on him for a voice.
“I have always been interested in puppets,” Mickan said, “and for my 16th birthday, my parents paid for a class at a local community college in ventriloquism.”
“It was about a year before I felt comfortable sharing,” Mickan continued. “My first performance was at my aunt’s church and then God started opening doors.”
Mickan uses his puppets for ministry. Each one tells a Bible story or a concept from the Bible. At Parkway, Tommy was the first to join Mickan on the platform to have a discussion on salt and light. Although Tommy looks young, he has been with Mickan for 32 years.
“It is important for us to be salt and light in the world.” Mickan said, “It is important to shine the light of Jesus in ways like Operation Christmas Child.”
After the discussion, Tommy and Mickan sang a lively song about shaking out Jesus’ love.
“God has been using this ministry through many open doors,” Mickan said. “I’ve been doing corporate events as well as public schools and libraries,” Mickan continued. “With those venues, I must adjust the program because I can’t share the gospel directly. However, when I’m doing a public school, I try to line up a church for the evening, so that I can invite the children and their families back to the church where I can share the gospel.”
“God has directed that path as well,” Mickan said. “One time, I was invited to West Virginia with an Arts Group that had me performing in several schools. I tried to find a church for the evening but I couldn’t get one. I was frustrated about it, but one of the school principals had a teen son with autism who was into puppets. I spent the afternoon working with him and the next year, he and his mom attended the church performance where they heard the gospel. Sometimes, you are planting a seed for someone else to water.”
Mickan pointed to Covid as giving his ministry a boost while he was home. “While I was staying home,” he said, “I made more videos to brighten the days of others online. I loved it and I got more into it.”
Mickan spent 13 years in Arkansas as a worship leader and he has served Faith for almost 11 years. Although his wife, Cindy, is the children’s director, he doesn’t use his puppetry on a regular basis at Faith.
“I’m the worship leader so I’m in the sanctuary when she is having the children’s service,” he said. “I do use the puppets for Vacation Bible School and other special events.”
Mickan’s puppets create laughter for children, but he also includes plenty for the adult audience. The Parkway Church audience of families with children, parents and grandparents laughed as Ralph the talking dog did sound effects for the story of Jonah and Howard Hamilton III (pig) helped Mickan share the story of the Prodigal Son.
“God has opened this door to share the truth with everyone,” he said. “I’m a worship pastor so I want to share God’s love and point to Him.”
After the puppets returned to their trunk, Mickan closed the service by singing a song he wrote and sharing John 3:16. He shared the free gift of salvation offered by God.
The day before the Parkway event, Mickan was taping a segment for MeTV in Chicago which will air on March 16 on Toon in With Me sometime during the broadcast between 6:00 am and 7:00 am. Also, Mickan is online at www.dcmickan.com.