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I was greeted at the airport by Dr Sunny Tan, dean of the Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) in Penang, and by his wife Rosalind, director of the Holistic Child Development (HCD) Institute that is housed on the same MBTS campus. They took me in their car to the other side of the island, approximately another hour's drive. So, by this time very tired after so much travelling, and suffering the effects of jet lag, I was glad to finally get some rest in the guest room that had been prepared for me at the Seminary.
The Baptist Seminary has close links with the growing Child Theology Movement and has hosted several of its international consultations. Sunny Tan is one of the directors of CTM. They informed me that at one of these consultations they had invited Dr Jerome Berryman, the founder of Godly Play, to talk about his work. However, Jerome could not attend due to health problems. So, for about 5 years they had heard a lot about Godly Play but had never had the chance to experience the method personally. Now with my arrival in Malaysia, that opportunity finally arose and for that reasson the welcome was doubly warm!
Later on, Sunny and Rosalind took me to a local Indian terraced restaurant for a very tasty breakfast: lentils and pita bread, washed down with iced lemon tea. After that it was back to the Seminary to start setting up for the 4-hour workshop on the principles and practice of Godly Play, which would take place straight after lunch in the campus refectory. As over 40 people had already booked in to attend the workshop, and last-minute registrations were still coming in via the telephone, we decided that the most adequate space was the Seminary chapel - and even that later proved to be rather cramped!
Even so, there were good responses from others. The participants were from a broad cross section of church affiliations and contexts: school teachers, Sunday school volunteers, and professionals who worked with mentally and physically challenged children and young people in schools and day centres. Particularly in the second part of the workshop, during the full session of Godly Play, there were lively contributions to the wondering time and good responses to the well-stocked table of art supplies. Some chose to take their work outside to the patio where there was more space. Others returned to the desert bag and the story artefacts. And three of the participants asked me to tell them yet another story.
Early the next morning, Sunny, Rosalind and I caught the plane back to Kuala Lumpur, and then a taxi to the MBTS extension centre in Klang Valley. The centre was actually an apartment building in a residential area in one of the KL suburbs. A second 4-hour workshop was waiting for me there, too!
This time, the group was much smaller numerically - just 15 participants. It was a more relaxed session and we had a break for lunch. The group, although small, still represented a diverse mix of church denominations. A few from a local Lutheran fellowship had already begun to use Godly Play with their own children at church. They had bought several volumes of the Complete Guide to Godly Play and had made their own materials, such as clay 'people of God' figures. However, this was the first time that they had ever experienced Godly Play for themselves or received any training in the method.
The feedback following the 2nd workshop was on the whole much more positive and several participants were already asking for further ongoing training. This will obviously pose a challenge to them and to Godly Play trainers internationally.
My time in Kuala Lumpur had not yet finished, but I will resume that experience in the 2nd post of this Malaysian blog.
Many photographs were taken of the session in Penang. They can be found here
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