Sometimes it takes a zebra wearing boots to really get the word of God across to people.That’s Khamla White’s point of view.Mrs White runs the Solid Rock puppet ministry at the Cobbs Hill Methodist church which utilises the talents of 12 child puppeteers, three adults and 40 puppets including Zachy the Zebra.The general public can see Solid Rock in action this Saturday when Cobbs Hill Methodist Church puts on a free concert in Victoria Park that will include a puppet show and live music.“The puppet ministry is a good one because it appeals to children and adults,” said Mrs White. “Sometimes when people hear the word of God they feel like they are being preached at or they feel they are having a Bible thrown at them. The puppets provide a more relaxed and fun way to get the message across. You can have a good time while you are hearing the word of God.”While there are several churches with puppet ministries in Bermuda, Mrs White didn’t know of any that had as many puppets as they have. The entire church family came together to help purchase the puppets which were about $50 each.“We started off with four puppets,” said Mrs White. “We wanted to increase the number of puppets we had so we could do a wide range of things. We are a small church, but the members actually bought the puppets themselves. We had an adopt a puppet scheme. When the puppets arrived, the adopters had their picture taken with the puppet they bought.”The puppets include different animals such as a camel, a monkey and a poodle named FeeFee, and people of different races and ethnicities to appeal to a wide range of people in and outside the church. At Cobbs Hill Methodist Church, the ROCK puppets perform every fifth Sunday, when there is one in the month.Mrs White’s fascination with puppetry started when she was a teenager attending the Calvary Gospel Church under Pastor Gary Simons who is now at Cornerstone Bible Fellowship. She started working with puppets there and also took a couple of workshops on the basics of puppetry.“I have always been fascinated with puppets and bringing them to life,” she said. “It is a fun way for young people to get involved in the ministry.”Mrs Smith also plays the violin. She said she loves to entertain but is not an “out there in your face” kind of person. She likes working behind the scenes with the puppets and the children. She admitted there were some pitfalls such as aching shoulders and a sore neck. She is always conscious while working with young puppeteers that there is only so long they can hold their arm up to manoeuvre the puppet.“The important thing with puppets is always making sure that they look alive,” she said. “That is what I always tell my puppeteers. No mater how tired your arm gets, always make the puppet look alive, maybe by keeping the arm moving. Always imagine the puppet is a person. I tell them to look at their puppet and imagine what it would look like if it was animated. I often practice in the mirror. The children have about four hours of rehearsal time before a performance in church. For the concert in the park, they will have had about six hours of practice.”Voices for the puppets can be another challenge. She does voices, but they are not her strength. She said her husband, Sergio, is better at that sort of thing. However, she is currently trying to learn ventriloquism by watching the DVDs of puppeteer Jeff Dunham and his puppet Peanut. Full time she is a senior wealth advisor associate at Bermuda Commercial Bank.“I would say that puppeteering is a passion of mine,” she said. “Both puppeteering and being a wealth advisor are hard work. I spend a lot of time choreographing the puppet shows in my head and organising things to make sure things get done, particularly with something big like this concert in the park. So combined with my job I have to do a lot of balancing.”Mrs Smith also spends a lot of time watching old episodes of Jim Henson’s The Muppet Show. She is a big fan, and has seen all the Muppet movies.“My favourite muppet is Kermit,” she said. “I love the relationship between Kermit and Miss Piggy. She is very animated. I believe everyone has a calling and this is my calling. I have an ability to choreograph a performance. I am able to bring it out with the children. We definitely want to be able to do more events like the concert for the public. Right now in Bermuda a lot of people are depressed. They are facing financial difficulties. It is good for us to be able to put on a free event where people can have a good time and enjoy the show. If they don’t take something from it, at least they had an hour of fun. It is something we can do for the community.”She said in the future she would like to offer puppeteering workshops to other churches, but right now she is working to develop the talents of the children in her church.“We had a recruiting session earlier this year because I lost four of my puppeteers,” she said. “They went away to school. Our new puppeteers were excited to join and learn and participate.”The Cobbs Hill Methodist Concert in the Park will be on Saturday in Victoria Park in the City of Hamilton and will kick off at 12.30pm. The show will include the Sandys Rockers Band, a youth band, and a performance by soloist Shani Smith.