December 31, 2001
JUGGLERS FOR JESUS:
Texas couple combines art and soul
___By Leann Callaway
___Special to the Standard
___IRVING--Last May, Nathan Dorrell graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth with a master of divinity degree and a call to missions. But he and his wife, Kathy, didn't believe God was calling them to a traditional pastoral or missions ministry.
___Instead, theyare juggling their way into new ministry territory--literally.
NATHAN DORRELL watches as his wife, Kathy, demonstrates one of their props used to illustrate stories with a biblical or moral message. The Dorrells perform at church functions for children and youth, Upward basketball banquets and other events with outreach in mind.
___"A juggling ministry can be a hard thing to picture if you've never seen it," Dorrell admitted. "My wife and I present the gospel using juggling, art and storytelling. We use juggling props and tricks to share Bible stories and Christian messages.
___"In our juggling presentations, we get the audience involved by using comedy and seriousness, and believe it or not, we lead people into worship," he added. "With juggling, we feel we can display the truth of the gospel in such a simple way that kids, youth and adults can all understand it."
___The Dorrells amaze their audiences while telling Bible stories about Zacchaeus, Jonah, King Belshazzar, Daniel and Jesus.
___For example, they tell the story of Zacchaeus using a giant Chinese yo-yo. This yo-yo is not attached to the string like a normal yo-yo, so it gets tossed off the string and caught back on the string. As Zacchaeus climbs the tree, the yo-yo climbs the string. When he hops out of the tree, they throw the yo-yo up and "jump rope" with the string and catch the yo-yo back on the string.
___Another way they capture audience attention is by drawing. For the story of Daniel chapter 3 (the fiery furnace), they draw a picture of the story while juggling.
___The Dorrells, who are based in the Metroplex, spend much of their time performing at worship services, revivals, youth rallies, camps, Vacation Bible Schools and other events for Baptist churches in Texas.
___Although he couldn't have know how God would use his gift in ministry, Dorrell got the juggling bug at church.
___"I started juggling after seeing two guys juggling at my church's clown ministry one Wednesday night when I was in the sixth grade," he explained. "The guys didn't teach me, but I watched them juggling and doing a few tricks. I went home, and the next day I was determined to learn how to juggle."
___It was not until he entered college, however, that Dorrell found a way to use juggling in ministry. On a summer mission trip, he struggled to teach 50 inner-city kids using traditional methods.
___"I felt like I was failing at my job that summer," he said. "I was praying for a way to get the kids to listen to the lessons I was supposed to be teaching them because I knew they weren't listening to me. God answered my prayers with juggling. When I was praying, I saw the three balls I had taken with me that summer, and I didn't know why I had taken them except maybe to clown around a little.
___"All of a sudden, I realized juggling might be the answer to my prayers. That night I wrote a story to tell that went along with the parable of the talents, and I told it while juggling the next day. I wasn't all that great at juggling, but the kids listened."
___Based on that success, he continued to hone his juggling skills and to develop routines that convey a gospel message.
___Now he and his wife spend hours every day practicing and developing new routines.
___Dorrell, who bills himself as "the crazy tie guy," has been performing for 10 years now, and he uses each opportunity to witness to unbelievers.
___For two years, he performed for tourists on the National Mall on Washington, D.C. Then he began juggling in churches while going to seminary.
___He has performed at the White House for the inaugural parade, for the president of Egypt at the United Nations, in Brazil, Chile and the Bahamas.
___But every Christian camp and church outreach event are equally important, he said. "They are all on my list of favorites as well, because I enjoy doing what God has called us to do."
___Dorrell has even taken his message to juggling competitions, where his act is a rarity.
___"Most jugglers take offense that you would use juggling to share your faith," he said. "That makes it a lot harder and a little more nerve-racking."
___Nevertheless, in 1997 he won the International Three Ball Championship, and in 1999 he won two gold medals juggling more objects than anyone else in two categories of competition. In 2000, he was named "Most Amazing" at the Atlanta Juggling Festival.
___All the awards came for doing what he feels called to do--pointing people to faith in Christ while juggling.
___For more information, visit www.crazytieguy.com.
___
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