During term 1 the children in the ‘Fireflies’ group have been studying chapters 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32 and 33 from Genesis.
The first five sessions in this unit of kids@church (our sessions are based on this CEP material) covered the story of Jacob and Esau. It commences with their birth as twin sons to Isaac and Rebekah, through the deception by Jacob, to gain his brother’s birthright and blessing from Isaac. Esau’s anger resulted in Jacob fleeing from Canaan to live with his Uncle Laban. En route he dreamt of a ladder ascending to Heaven with angels. Another deceit was Laban substituting his elder daughter, Leah, in place of the younger Rachel, at Jacob’s wedding. This meant that a second term of seven years had to be worked to gain the hand of Rachel. Finally, after many years, Jacob was told by God to return to his old home. He was fearful of his brother Esau as he did not think he would have forgotten or forgiven Jacob’s
deception. However, despite the fact that news arrived of Esau advancing to meet them with 400 men, Jacob prayed to God. He admitted his unworthiness. Later that day the two brothers were reconciled and embraced.
During some of the sessions we encourage children to try to memorise key verses. The key verses for this unit were: “I will watch over you.” (Gen.28:15) and “Lord, you are kind and good.” (Psalm 69:16)
The start of the year has been a settling in one for the nine children in Fireflies. Ranging in ages from aged 4 years to Grade 1, with some turning 7 in 2011, their attention spans and capabilities are quite varied. The kids@church material has lots of suggestions for craft and other activities. In recent weeks we have set up sheet tents to sit in, or have dressed up and packed our animals for the journey back to Canaan, to introduce a sense of drama and anticipation.
The children each have their own ‘Promise Box’ with their name on it. These have been very well received by the children. Each child receives a mini poster corresponding to the large teaching one for each lesson, with reminders of God’s promises, for example, “God always listens to my prayers” and “God will never leave me”. I know that when this unit is completed the children will look forward to taking their boxes home and sharing them with their families.
Bev Foster
