Part 1 - Humility: Not To Be Seen By Others
Jokes. We need a joke. Jokes? Hey. Oh, let me think.
Speaker 1:I know. What's green and black? Hey. Oh, I know this one. I know this joke.
Speaker 1:Hey. Don't kill him, dude. Hey, dude. Don't call me, dude. I don't believe this.
Speaker 1:Oh, let let's get back to the joke. Okay? Yeah. Okay. What's green and black?
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. I know this one. Hey, cool it. They don't.
Speaker 1:But I do. Okay. So you know the joke? Yeah. You help me?
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Alright. I'll say the joke, then you say, I give up. What is it? Okay?
Speaker 2:Yeah. Okay. Alright. What's I give up. What is it?
Speaker 2:Waffle, I haven't
Speaker 1:said the joke yet. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Now what's green and
Speaker 2:black I give up. What is it?
Speaker 1:Waffle, you have to wait till I finish the joke. Oh, right. I see. Right. Yeah.
Speaker 1:What's green and black and has a long straight neck. Waffle. What? Now. Now what?
Speaker 1:Do the punch line now.
Speaker 2:Oh, now.
Speaker 1:Now? Oh, time for Bricky. Yay. Bricky time. What about the forget it.
Speaker 1:Get back to what I was doing. Well, right back when I was born, I was in my father's arms, and dad looked down at me, and he was a famous singer. He looked down and looked at me and looked back at mom, and he said,
Speaker 2:I give up. What is it?
Speaker 1:Forget
Speaker 3:it. You don't get to be as good a puppeteer as Mel if you don't work ridiculously hard. And, you know, I keep talking about waffle and nudge, but then you actually look at how many puppets he's done in his life. And it's just it's like, oh my goodness. This is overwhelming.
Speaker 3:He uses his god given gifts for god's glory, and I think that's what makes a good and faithful servant. That's his legacy is that he yeah. He's a good and faithful servant. God is gonna say, well done, good and faithful servant. And he will be able to say, and look at all these people that are now in the kingdom, at least in part because of you ultimately God's sovereign.
Speaker 3:And yet lots of people will potentially looking at, I've never seen this man.
Speaker 4:Matt there is correct. Not many people who laughed at his jokes or who watched his skill on stage, TV or big screen would ever recognize the man behind the puppets. And in many ways, that's exactly how he prefers it. His name is Mal. At the start of Matthew chapter six, Jesus warned his followers about doing good things in order to be seen by others.
Speaker 4:Instead, he said to serve quietly without seeking recognition. And Mao's life reflects that idea again and again. We have heard and look up to people who have spread the gospel on a global stage, like Billy Graham or Mother Teresa. Yet despite the fact that Mao prefers to stay out of the spotlight, we should be drawing encouragement from examples like this. People who reflect Christ even when they don't get the credit.
Speaker 4:To understand how it began, we have to go back to the church community where he grew up, with some of Mal's oldest friends and colleagues, Sy, Libby, and Emma.
Speaker 5:So Mal and I both grew up at same church at Saint Paul's or Poronga in Sunday school. I didn't know Mal that well as a child. I mean, I would have known him, but we went to different schools. So he wasn't sort of immediately in my friendship group, if you like, but I certainly knew him. He probably hung out more with the the Ceb's group, which was sort of the boys group and doing camping and that sort of stuff.
Speaker 5:But I I certainly knew him. So we were friends, same age. But prior to doing puppets, there probably wasn't a lot that we we had in common, if if you like.
Speaker 6:Libby and Mel, we grew up the same church together. I think I vaguely remember him as this, you know, tall, lanky teenager with Afro hair. He had a big head of hair, which is pretty funny. But I probably didn't have much to do with him till I was an older teen sort of in high school. But, yeah, that's how I remember him.
Speaker 6:And he was he was always just lurking. He was a lot of just larking around. That was Mel. He was very, very funny, but in some ways, probably quite shy. Like, all his fun could come out through his the puppets.
Speaker 6:And not that they didn't in real life, but you know what I mean? He found a way to kind of just bring incredible joy and and also really share Jesus in a really accessible way to kids and adults. I'm Emma DeVries, and I met Mel when I was born, I think.
Speaker 7:He tells me a story that he reckons he came in with his mom to visit me in hospital with my mom, obviously. And then it just started from there. Grew up with him at church. He's a year or two older than me, but our lives were in essence concurrent with each other. I was part of GFS.
Speaker 7:He was part of SEBS, the church we grew up with. Did a career path similar to mine that he was a registered nurse, and I remember working with him on the wards. I was a few years behind him. Mal certainly was instrumental in my trajectory of professional puppeteering. He is just so chill about everything.
Speaker 7:He never got stressed or angry, and he's been so consistent as I got to know him. I don't think he's ever tried to be a tall poppy or the on top of the pile or anything. Course, that's a nice thing to have every now and then, but I don't think that's ever what he's aimed for. He's just head down, butt up, and done his work, and it's been a blessing to so many because of it.
Speaker 4:The friendships formed in those early years through exploring ministry would become some of the most significant relationships of Mal's life. Together, they would experiment, learn, and eventually build things that none of them could have predicted, ministries that would reach thousands of children. But the foundations for all of that were laid here among friends, mentors, and a church that encouraged young people to use their gifts for ministry.
Speaker 8:You know, we grew up under Brian King, who is the minister. And were we 13? 12 or 13 when we were allowed to do our first, like, family service at church and run the whole 15, wasn't it? Okay. A bit older.
Speaker 8:But there's not many ministers today, I don't think, that would sort of hand over their service and say, alright, off you go. You guys run the service. And I think being given that responsibility was years later that I realized that Brian was an amazing leader in that he was was a shepherd in that he was up front. He was a big big guy, and you saw him as the leader, but the way he worked was he was there up front leading, but he was actually from behind encouraging other people to step forward, and he would be there with his staff sort of directing you back along the right path as you were going. And so yeah there were some great role models at church when I was growing up.
Speaker 8:And you know Brian I think was probably had the biggest influence in my life. And I was pleased. I was really happy I got to have a chat with him. He passed away, well, it must be fifteen years ago now, maybe, or maybe not. And so I was able to encourage him and say, you know, thank you for the role that you played in our ministry as young Ben.
Speaker 8:So, you know, having grown up in a church that was always encouraging, and also growing up in a Christian family, I think, I don't think, I know my mother has a huge influence on my faith, in that mom has always sort of said, she's not academic, she's not the smartest person, but she is incredibly faithful. And a strong memory I have of my mom is heading off to school every morning. Like, she would when we get up in the morning, there would be breakfast on the table for us. And as I walked down the back steps, I'd look, and the table had all of our breakfast on there. And mom would go to the cupboard.
Speaker 8:She'd pull out a bible and her bible study notes, and she'd sit down amongst the mess of us. And I knew that she was doing her bible study, and then she would be praying for us. And, you know, knowing what she had to put up with, her faith has always been strong. So, yeah, how she's lived her life, and she's always been wanting to serve and always be a part of ministry. She's had the music as being her form of ministry.
Speaker 4:That right there is Mal. While we know that we should be working for God's glory, not our own, it's much easier to learn what that looks like from others. Whether it be the gentle servant leadership of a minister, a mother's quiet grace and consistency in her faith, or the inspiration of peers. Like many things in ministry, and indeed many things in Mal's life, puppetry didn't begin with a grand plan, at least not an earthly plan. It began with an invitation when someone asked for help.
Speaker 4:It required curiosity and willingness to step out of his comfort zone and try something new. And that small moment would end up shaping the direction of his life in ways that no one but God could have imagined.
Speaker 5:I started leading Sunday school when I was just left Sunday school, so sort of age 12, and at church, they wanted young people to get involved with leadership. So I started doing that, and then as part of that, did some puppets. I started doing puppets probably about the age of 14 more seriously and sort of set up a puppet team and started not just doing puppets at church, our own church, but visiting other churches. And I think it was about maybe a year later or something like that, I got an invitation to go and do puppets at Hirstville. Now given that we grew up in Wurronga and Hornsby, Hirstville is the other side of the universe, the other side of Sydney.
Speaker 5:And I had a show that I was doing called The Lost Sun with very simple puppets, and I needed someone to help. And and I had no one who was available. So in fact, I went to the Sebs group at church and said, could you help? And I Mal came, and I think there were two other blokes that came, and we did this puppet show down at Hirstville. I think it was for the Hirstville Seps Group actually, so there was a bit of a link.
Speaker 5:And that was the first puppet show that Mal did. And I'm talking about finger puppets and we did have a little mirror ball that we had, but it's very very basic puppets. And but Mal did that and he he got hooked.
Speaker 8:So the first show I did was number 31. And it was Sebs at Hirstfield. And the reason I did it was I wasn't involved in Sebs, and I was involved in Sebs. Sebs is used to send for the Church of England Boys Society, which is a bit like scouts but with the Anglican church. And we did the prodigal son.
Speaker 8:And and I I just loved it. I thought, wow. Here's a medium where I can't be seen and I didn't have to learn lines. It was it was so much fun. And I I think from there it just clicked and we had fun doing it and you just kept on having creative ideas and I went, oh, I can go along with this.
Speaker 8:This is fun. I was thinking I I actually did I had a little I don't know if it was a Scotty Dole or was this little character, wooden head, which had the fingers for the hands, which I used to entertain my younger sisters with, and I just used to do silly things with that puppet for them. So that would have been when they were probably, you know, two or three. So that was a long time ago I did that. And then the Muppets sort of came on the scene, I think they used to air on a Saturday evening.
Speaker 8:And so, you know, we'd be out doing the grounds at home and then Thank you. Come in in the evening and sit down and watch the Muppet Show. It was just
Speaker 3:Welcome to the Muppets.
Speaker 8:I loved seeing the Muppets. And I think why I loved puppetry was that I could hide and not be seen because I didn't like being the upfront person. I still don't like being the upfront person. I like to be able to hide behind something, and so, you know, to be able to do that with puppets is great.
Speaker 4:At first, puppets were simply fun, a creative outlet, a way to tell stories. But it didn't take long for Mal and the others to realize that something deeper was happening, that these simple characters could connect with people in ways they hadn't expected.
Speaker 5:As part of our leadership development at church, because Brian King and other leaders at church were so keen to see young people develop their gifts. And there's a lot of creative people came out of Saint Paul's at that time. But as part of that, I was doing puppets and the assistant minister's wife said, oh, Scripture Union are running this puppet training down at Marylands. So I went to this course for six weeks, and it was very basic puppets. But it was eye opening because it was seeing somebody who was passionate about children and evangelism, and I remember one of those days going, that's what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life.
Speaker 5:It was so clear, and I sort of go look back and go, okay, that was probably a calling. But then the puppet ministry was built on that, was, no, we're here to tell kids about Jesus. So Mal was passionate about that. Phil and others, you know, that were involved understood that. And so really, every single show we did was somehow or other to introduce children to Jesus.
Speaker 5:So it was never ever about anything else. And we realized, no, we we were actually wanting to communicate and puppets was a great way to do it. And you could pick other things. You know, you could pick music, or you could pick storytelling, or you could pick clowning, or you could pick any number of other ways of communicate, preaching. And for us, it was no.
Speaker 5:Puppets is a way to connect. And there's there's a lot of things we learned by teaching others that allow puppets to do things that people can't do, and so puppets have an ability to get under people's guard. It it's like people will listen to a puppet in a way that they might not listen to a human. It's quite fascinating to watch. And Mao was especially good at this, you know, because of humor, because of the way that he could move the puppet to bring it to life, the way that the puppet's eyes looked.
Speaker 5:All of these things had an ability to just get people into a position where they're listening and sort of suspending belief and and catches them off guard. So whether it's a child or an adult, within seconds, you can be talking to them in a way that you can't do as as an adult speaker. So you suddenly realize, okay. This has got an interesting power to it. And we experienced this at a hospital where we got invited into the kids ward to do puppets, and all the kids were enjoying it.
Speaker 5:And there was a girl at the back who was laughing and smiling, and the dad came to us afterwards, and his daughter had encephalitis. And he said, that's the first time she's spoken in twelve months. Thank you for that. And something about the puppet had connected with her that that nothing else had.
Speaker 4:Moments like that reinforced the impact that they could have. Puppetry wasn't just silly fun. It became a genuine tool for connection and sharing the joy of the gospel through faithfully being humble and servant hearted. For Mal, that wasn't just part of a character. It was how he lived.
Speaker 4:Another colleague turned lifelong friend was Sandy.
Speaker 9:I was working for Youth Force, which was the kids and youth section of Bible Society New South Wales. And they had a department which was very small, and then there was an attached ministry, surprisingly called No Strings Attachment, which was an outreach to churches as a means to letting people in churches know about their ministry, but also engaging younger people in the work of the Bible Society through puppet ministry. Now Sy and Mal had been involved in puppets since they were teenagers. The ministry had grown where they had been asked to go out for ministry purposes around churches to be able to connect with kids. Because in those days, there wasn't a lot of children's ministry done well.
Speaker 9:And they had a an art form that was able to connect with children very well. So he came on when Simon came on full time and pretty much paid on a show by show basis. But I was responsible for looking after his bookings and liaising with the churches and that sort of thing on his behalf. So he didn't have to do that. He really just do the shows.
Speaker 9:By that stage, the hardest work in the job was getting around to the places because it was all over Sydney. He used to drive all over the place. Not only Sydney, though. He'd go into Central Coast, you know, Wollongong, all around, not get paid very much at all. But he was happy to do that as his ministry because he did have a gift, a real gift, and he wanted to see God's word reaching kids.
Speaker 9:And that's something that's never changed in his heart. It's always been like that.
Speaker 7:So I think Mal used anywhere that he's worked as a ministry. Didn't matter whether was Christian, God fed, for want of another expression, but he used any opportunity. And he and I would for the years that we worked at the ABC together, we would encourage each other in frustrations or things that just humans get on each other's nerves and how to deal with that in a responsible manner. And I believe that he always has tried to be as Christ would be and used very acknowledging that creativity is of God. It is, you know, how to act not selfishly in that creativity because a creative arts can be very me centered.
Speaker 7:Certainly not Mal. Certainly not Mal. And that encouragement together. So seeing that, seeing what he's done working in the schools, you just got he is he was made to be a servant, and he has served served served, always served. And when we were performing in the ABC and doing anything professional, you're not in a position to serve.
Speaker 7:You know? Everybody's got their own jobs. But even in that, he was kind and generous and thoughtful. So I think there is that running theme for Mal, whether it be with Loggersdore or whether it be in the hospital. And he cared cared very much for people and had a great name at the hospital too for that very reason, that he was experienced, knowledgeable, and compassionate from a bystander point of view, watching how he's worked with Colin Buchanan.
Speaker 7:And Mal would be absolute best person to work with. And I did some fill in stuff for Mal with Colin when Mal couldn't do it. Mal was just all hands on deck. He's not just well, you just do that, and I'll do my one little bit. Mal is the person who goes, yep.
Speaker 7:We're doing this together. Let's hoe in. And so the shoes that I had to fill when I was doing his character in on the Colin Buchanan show. There there was a bit to do. Now you gotta pull this rig and pop that thing and rest of it.
Speaker 7:And I actually learned a lot about how you can achieve a lot by being a servant. You can actually push yourself and gain a lot. So Colin Buchanan was probably one of those ones where I as a bystander, went, wow. You do a lot. And then everywhere, when he's been in television, when he's been in church, when he and Marley got married, and then the church in Barrowa that they were part of for ages, just knowing how much he was on the the sound desk and he was on everything.
Speaker 7:He's he's not a pew sitter. He's not a I'll just sit back and let the world come to me. So probably doesn't sit comfortably. We're just being served and given stuff. I think that's a big challenge for him.
Speaker 5:Everything good and particularly creative and impacting benefits from a team, and none of this that has been described has happened by an individual. It's all happened because of amazing teams every step of the way, and and the teams evolve and change, and some people come, some go. And each person has a different gift. Each person has a different contribution. And I I as I look back, I see that more clearly than ever that it's been that team effort that's made it happen.
Speaker 5:I think Mal came along at a time when this was all very new, you know, where it was at at its formation. And he had the ability to connect into something even though he didn't know where it was all headed. None of us did. And he had the commitment to go, yeah, let's make this work. But not blindly, like he wrestled with it.
Speaker 5:He he had to think hard about do I get involved with ministry? So there's a big shift when you're going from being a volunteer doing this sometimes to kind of committing your life to it, and that was a journey that Mal had to go through. But I think what Mal had was that loyalty to go, yeah, I'm gonna stand and deliver and push through even when it's hard.
Speaker 4:In any ministry or big creative endeavor, there is so much that goes unseen by the audience. So many people that you wouldn't realize have put in days or months of blood, sweat, and tears behind the scenes. This mini series isn't simply to give praise and attention to a man that never sought that, but it's to encourage people to use their talents for the Lord's kingdom while imitating the values that Christ taught us. For Mal, ministry was never about standing in front of a crowd. It wasn't about being seen and admired.
Speaker 4:It was about serving, often in ways that most people would never notice. Whether it was helping behind the scenes, supporting friends, or simply giving his time to others, The same quiet pattern kept appearing.
Speaker 9:Mal's very observant and very meaningful in his interaction with people. And one of the ways I think he exemplifies that is that he understands the big picture. He understands the long term game in that he took something that he was good at, like photography, for instance, and saw that that was a way to document significant moments. In actual fact, he he was the videographer for our wedding, and he did that out of the kindness of his good heart. You know?
Speaker 9:And we didn't know him well at that stage. We got to know him better after. But he also when it came to any social events or significant events with friends or family, he always documented them in a photographic way or in a video such that they are a legacy that we didn't know at the time were gonna be significant. But we look back now, and we're so grateful that he did that. He knew that could be in the action but behind a camera and contribute to those situations in a way that was really meaningful, probably more so than any of the words that were spoken in those situations.
Speaker 9:So that would be one of the ways. And very generous. He would often take photos and then send them through, And in later years, edit things and send them through or videos and put them onto technology that you he knew you had and things like that that is just so thoughtful that doesn't necessarily come natural to most people. And I think that's something that I always look back on as just a generous spirit. Not necessarily how the world interprets generosity, but his time.
Speaker 9:He was always generous. You never felt like you were rushed with Mel. He would always give you time, and he never valued material things is another thing I noticed about him. He always was content in what he had. He loved his toys, of course, his gadgets and those sort of things when it comes to technology and that.
Speaker 9:But he never took on a sense of he knew more or he was better because of what he had. And I loved that about him. It was a stillness of heart, I think. He never had to prove himself or justify anything he did. That's a special thing.
Speaker 9:A lot of people don't have the security in their own self to be able
Speaker 7:to do that.
Speaker 5:Mal has a huge amount of creativity in how he's able to bring a character to life, and he's put a lot of focus into that and taken that very seriously. And so, you know, when it came to that sort of performance and telling a story and communicating with an audience, you know, he's just been so brilliant. But then with the ability to then work hard to set up and pack up and not take credit and just be hidden behind the stage and that's unique, you know, to have that sort of ability and yet not want the limelight. Having said that, I think puppeteers often are like that because that's why they end up hiding behind a black screen. So but Mao was particularly good at that, and and he showed that in every season, no matter who he's working with or where he is, he's willing to be a servant.
Speaker 5:And and I think as as I look back and see that servanthood in him, you realize that is the spirit of Jesus shining through him. It's that servant leadership that Jesus demonstrates. That's what makes Jesus stand out. He he was the one that said, if you wanna be a leader or if you wanna be great, be a servant. So in a lot of ways, Mel exemplifies his savior and his lord in how he's operated.
Speaker 5:And I I just have the blessing of being able to see it over many decades, and he's always been consistent. He's always been mal. He's he's always been, in some ways, predictable. Predictably kind and generous and faithful to people as well as to Jesus. So he he has lived out his faith in every stage and place that I've ever seen him, and that's been a lot of places.
Speaker 6:Look, I think he can see how the Lord's worked in his life over all the years and all the experiences he's had. So there's a great kind of wisdom about Mal, but he hasn't lost his humor or he's always just cracking a funny or seeing a funny situation, which is a beautiful thing. So, like, the, you know, the let the children come to me and do not try to stop them, and the kingdom of god belongs to such these. I think that's what I've seen in Mel. There's, you know, incredible maturity.
Speaker 6:He's now a grandfather. He's had so many different work roles and has really poured himself into all of those. And, you know, he's there's a whole period of his life when he's working with Ken Sandel and sort of doing corporate videos and so on, and then he's worked at PLC at the school and just sounds like he's just been an absolute legend there. So there's that whole side of him, I suppose. I didn't I didn't know, but I think there's just such a maturity there in just being a man of God who's just, you know, just quietly encourages.
Speaker 6:But that was always there. So I guess we've all just got a lot older, and he's lost all his hair. So you know? But, yeah, he's been through a fair bit in his life, so I suppose, yeah, there's a lot of life experience with that.
Speaker 4:Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honored by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret.
Speaker 4:Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. Matthew chapter six verses one to four. Jesus says, do good quietly, not for recognition, but simply because it's the right thing to do. We are put on this earth to bring glory to our creator, not ourselves. Through all of these conversations with people about Mal, the same words appear again and again.
Speaker 4:Quiet, generous, servant hearted.
Speaker 1:And I'm packing up everything.
Speaker 10:What? By yourself?
Speaker 2:Yep. All by myself.
Speaker 1:I'll just order my book.
Speaker 10:Careful careful, Waffle, with my lovely old bible.
Speaker 1:Hang on. I know this bible.
Speaker 10:Yes. We know that. Never stop reading the bible. Not a better book to read.
Speaker 1:Oh, I would, but I can't read.
Speaker 10:Oh, that's okay, Waffle. Sit back, and I'll tell you a fabulous story from the Bible.
Speaker 4:For decades, thousands of children heard the voices of the puppets. But the man behind those voices has always been content to remain just outside the spotlight. Next time, we'll step behind the curtain and explore the hard work that made these moments possible. We'll focus on what the apostle Paul encourages in Colossians three, working hard for the Lord with all your heart. In the discipline, dedication, and teamwork that brought these puppets to life.
