Page 14 - The Circle / July 2016

By JOAN TRUBY
Godly Play South Africa:
A JOURNEY OF JOY AND LOVE
This story starts with the joy of love and friendship of two special childhood friends of mine: Angela in Vancouver and Bridget in London. Angela’s daughters went to church in Vancouver where they heard and loved Godly Play stories. Angela wrote to Bridget about Godly Play, and in 2004, Bridget saw me in London and told me
to defend Godly Play only to have him tell me all about a similar programme called the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd which he had seen in the United States and thought was fantastic. So with his support and backing, I continued making materials and telling stories.
“The Parable of the Good Shepherd” on her lounge floor. I was sold: heart, mind and soul.
I came home, bought the book, and pestered my wood-working, long- suffering husband Stan to make figures, materials, figures, and more materials every weekend as I started telling the stories to the children at our children’s church.
When the Dean of the Cathedral called
what I was doing with the children, I felt a little nervous, thinking he was not happy. So I went in fully prepared
14 the CIRCLE | JULY 2016
“More and more people are becoming excitedly involved in Godly Play from different regions, churches, and organisations; translations into other South African languages are being explored...”
In the years that followed, I struggled without anyone else’s support as there was no Godly Play training in South Africa, I had never met anyone else who did Godly Play, nor met anyone who had even heard about it. In 2012 I was in London again with Bridget and had the opportunity to go to a Godly Play Introductory workshop where I had the chance to ask all the questions I had been burning to ask. It was such a joy and surprise to meet actual people who
me in to find out
were doing it and not to just read it all in a book on my own. I came back to South Africa and wrote to the Godly Play