Journeyman opens eyes to gospel through drama
___RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Sometimes Kristin Cato washes an elephant in church. She leads the enormous animal into the sanctuary, where she scrubs its ears and trunk. Then she rinses the animal off while 70 teenagers watch.
___Technically, there's no elephant. But Cato's pantomime is very convincing.
___Cato uses drama and multimedia ministry to evangelize teenagers and university students in Moscow, Russia. More than 2.5 million young people live in the city. She writes, teaches and directs dramas at schools, churches and special events.
___"I never thought I could be a missionary doing drama," said Cato. "I thought you had to be a missionary in the jungle fending off anacondas or mosquitoes."
___In college, Cato studied and worked on theater productions. She focused on props, set design and costumes but also performed and traveled with her Baptist Student Ministry drama team. After graduation, she applied for an International Mission Board journeyman position and became the first IMB missionary to pursue full-time drama ministry in Russia.
___Russians are passionate about the fine arts. In Moscow alone there are more than 20 professional theater groups.
___Cato trains Russian Christian youth and students to use drama to reach out to non-believers and to make worship interesting. She often travels to churches and leads hands-on workshops. Currently she's compiling a drama resource book and participating in a church start with about 30 college students.
___Reaching Russian young people can be difficult, because Baptists often are viewed as a cult group there. But local high schools without drama programs have allowed Cato to start several drama clubs--where she builds relationships with the students. Some pupils ask her questions about spiritual issues.
The Baptist Standard
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