By Sallie Yang
Lighthouse Bible Church, San Diego (LBCSD) has an ever- growing Fireflies ministry of children aged three and under. The Fireflies ministry is comprised of two groups, N1 and N2. In N1, we care for babies from birth until they can walk; and in N2, we care for those who can walk until they are three and potty-trained. As our church continues to grow, so does the number of children in our care and subsequently, our need for more nursery workers. We seek faithful women who are LBCSD members and have a heart to care for these children to join nursery. If you are interested, please contact Carol Lim, our lead nursery coordinator.
Truly, there is never a dull moment when serving in Fireflies. By the end of nursery, I often have to go home and take a nap! The babies and toddlers command our full attention with all of their energy, personalities, and cute and crazy baby–and toddler–ways. They are a handful, but a joy to take care of. Personally, I enjoy the time I get to interact with them one on one, even if it is just to console them as they are crying. It is a way that I get to display Christ to them and to practice kindness, patience, and love, which are fruits of the Spirit. It is my hope that the kids will have a positive view towards nursery and love being at church.
In nursery, we have the awesome opportunity to share the love of Christ with the children through our interactions with them and teaching time. In N2, we teach simple lessons about God and Jesus to build a foundation for what they will continue to learn as they move on from nursery into Sparklers and beyond. This month we are teaching the kids that God made everything based on Genesis 1. We start the lesson by sharing how in the beginning there were no trees, flowers, dogs, daddies, mommies, and babies. But, there was God. And, God is big and strong. God created the trees, flowers, dogs, daddies, mommies, and babies. God created everything! Our memory verse, Genesis 1:1, ties in beautifully with the lesson this month. It is put to a simple melody and sung with hand motions. The Fireflies memory verse songs can be found in the Resource section on the LBC Children’s page.
We teach the same lesson every Sunday for the whole month, adding a craft at the end of the month to reinforce the truths learned. The lesson becomes really familiar to them by the end of the month. I think it’s particularly encouraging when the kids are able to state the truth being taught even before we get there in the lesson. At the end of the lesson, the kids have the opportunity to color on the take home lesson sheet and memory verse paper. I often use this time to reiterate the truths to them. We encourage our staff to be intentional with the time we spend with the kids.
I love the chance to serve alongside the wonderful women in our Fireflies ministry. We have women from all affinity groups and walks of life. It has been great to meet and get to know ladies that I may not have had a chance otherwise to meet. I’ve been encouraged by their hearts to serve God and love people in caring for the youngest, most vulnerable of our church with such joy and sacrifice.
To God be the glory in all that we do!