In 2016, when Micah was 15 years old, what became known as the "Great Flood of 2016" hit Livingston Parish, Louisiana, as well as numerous other surrounding parishes. Micah's family lost everything - their house, their possessions, even the church that his father pastored. They had to build everything again from the ground up.

The LeClercqs were displaced for a while, and at one point, they had to live with Micah's grandmother, whose house was fortunate not to flood. One day, while everyone was cooling off after a long day of gutting both a house and a church, Micah's grandmother put on a VHS tape for everyone to watch. It was a clip of a family comedy show, and a ventriloquist was one of the acts. Micah had never seen a ventriloquist before, and was captivated by the art. He immediately took on ventriloquism as a hobby, which mentally helped him get through the stressors of recovering from the flood. While Micah didn't have puppets himself, some of the old puppets in the FPC of Livingston attic didn't touch water, so he practiced with them for several months.

In February of 2017, Micah was given his first three puppets from different adults in his life - a toucan he named Zeke, a shark he named Mr. Munchies, and a turtle he named Chet. A couple months later, Micah invested in his first puppet, an Arabic mule he named Ahmal Ahmule.

At first, ventriloquism was only meant to be a hobby that helped him get through the flood rebuilding efforts, but it developed into a ministry in June of 2017, when his mother signed him up for the UPCI Louisiana District's Kids Kamp as a SALT volunteer. There, 16-year-old Micah worked in kids ministry for the first time, and he was inspired by the kindness of his fellow SALT volunteers and the move of the Spirit among the kids campers. On the last day, he heard an audible voice from God telling him to get the Holy Ghost and pursue children's/family ministry. Micah prayed for the Holy Ghost for two weeks until finally getting it, and then a week later, The Puppet Pulpit was born.

Micah had brought his puppets to camp, and spent every day interacting them with the kids. This caught the attention of a church in Lake Charles, Louisiana, who contacted Micah and asked him to evangelize for their children. The children's pastor at the time, Alec Story, encouraged Micah to keep improving in his evangelism. Word of mouth kept Micah busy, and he improved his skills with each church.

Nearly a decade later, The Puppet Pulpit has spoken for over 300 churches, schools, and other venues. It grew from four characters to over fifteen. Countless children have been prayed through under the ministry, and there's still so many more to go. 

What started as an attempt to get his mind off hardship resulted in a life calling, and lives changed. We are so thankful to God for all the places we've been, all the kids we've met, and all the opportunities we've received.