Listening to the Voices of Every Generation

Over the course of 2020, the Gutscher family home transformed into a green-screen stage, editing studio, and mission opportunity.

The three Gutscher children—Megan,15; Anna, 13; and Andrew, 8—loved volunteering for the children's ministry at New Hope Church in Rocky Ford, Colo. As with many churches around the world in 2020, COVID-19 put most of their regular children’s programming on hold.

“That’s when we thought of puppets!” Andrew said.

The family has been recording puppet shows from their living room and sharing the videos on YouTube for their church and community to view.

“It’s a family effort to make the puppets,” Megan said. “Mom does the sewing, and Dad makes the arms.”

The family used podcasts and Bible lessons found on our children's ministry, Kids Corner,to help craft their stories. The puppets are based on the lizard characters from an audio drama the Gutscher children grew up listening to on Kids Corner.

“It’s fun to show the stories that we have been listening to for so long,” Megan said. “It’s fun just to show them Kids Corner.”

After putting on a few short virtual puppet shows for their church, the Gutschers hosted an outreach event for their community. They strung together four individual shows from their YouTube channel to make a full-length movie, and a local theater owner offered to show the film free of charge.

“I like reaching kids,” Anna said. “I’ve always wanted to tell kids about God, and it’s a good way to do it without having to talk in front of people.”

The Gutschers were featured on an episode of Kids Corner’s “Kids in Action” video series. Each of these videos is hosted by children and features stories of different kids and their families who are sharing God’s Word in a unique way. You can watch that video below.