00:00
So initially that first
problem was myself,
00:03
and it was that fear of
people are not going to come.
00:06
There was a lot of concern
because we were using
00:08
Christian content that
we might offend somebody,
00:12
but for 20 years I've been doing this now
00:13
and not once has anybody ever said to me,
00:16
"I'm really offended,
so I'm not coming back."
00:18
So I started to come on
a Wednesday and a Friday
00:22
and then I noticed that
they were gonna start
00:25
doing a special thing with a
Christian message on a Monday
00:28
so I thought I'd turn
up for that, as well.
00:30
It's just a really nice friendly group.
00:32
You get everyone chatting to each other.
00:35
The children absolutely love it,
00:36
they talk about it all the time.
00:38
They have, it's called
'Big God', to our kids
00:40
'cause of the song that we sing,
00:42
that's their group, obviously,
it's called 'See and Know'
00:44
but the children know it
as 'Big God' playgroup
00:47
and they love it, they look forward to it.
00:49
The toddler group is just basically
00:51
like any other toddler group.
00:53
There are toys so the
children can have free play
00:56
Parents can get drinks,
00:57
then about halfway through the
session we ring a little bell
01:01
and that is a sign that it's
time to, it's God's time,
01:04
so 'See and Know', it's
built round a framework
01:06
of very simple nursery rhyme type songs,
01:08
and there's four songs.
01:10
There's a bell song where you ring a bell,
01:12
the children come and sit down
01:13
with their parents, carers, grandparents,
01:16
and then there's a welcome song
01:18
where we welcome each
child as an individual.
01:21
We sing to them, we shake their hand
01:22
because God welcomes
us, He knows our name,
01:25
He welcomes us as individuals,
01:28
and that's what we would
like to do with the children.
01:29
We welcome then as individuals.
01:31
There is then a storytime session,
01:33
then there is a Bible song, as well.
01:35
So we introduce the
Bibles to the children,
01:37
we put boxes of Bibles out.
01:38
The children come and
run to get the Bibles,
01:41
literally running to get
hold of the Word of God,
01:43
and then is a prayer song
at the end where we pray,
01:47
we thank God for we have and who He is
01:49
and how much He loves us.
01:50
And then there's always
a craft, there's a craft
01:52
that links into the story
that the children do
01:54
with the parents and carers,
01:56
and then they can take that home
01:57
as a witness within their own home.
01:59
There's more structure to it,
which I think is quite good
02:01
so the children know
what's going to happen
02:05
Some play groups I've been
to and they're literally just
02:07
playing all the time, whereas,
they play for a little bit
02:10
and they know that it's
singin' time and storytime,
02:12
so George enjoys the structure.
02:13
They love the singalong
time and their dance time,
02:16
they absolutely adore it.
02:18
Oliver through and through, he can't wait,
02:19
when he gets up on a
Monday morning, that's it,
02:23
I've got so many incredible
stories of how God can work
02:27
through 'just' a parents
and toddler group.
02:30
The one that instantly springs to mind
02:32
was a lady called Julie who
was living away from her family
02:36
but she was with a partner in our town,
02:38
and she was very lonely, she
didn't know anybody in the area
02:41
and one day she just
happened to be walking past
02:44
when we had our session on,
and saw all the prams outside
02:47
and came in to find out what was going on.
02:49
And then she kept coming back each week,
02:52
and long story short she
made a commitment to Jesus.
02:55
She went back to her
partner, they got married,
02:57
they are part of the church,
03:00
she started doing the children's work,
03:01
they had another baby and
that whole family's life
03:04
has been changed just because one day
03:07
she happened to walk past
a parent and toddler group
03:09
and she came in and she
heard how special she was
03:12
and how much God loved her.
03:13
And the God of relationship,
03:15
gave her the relationships
that she needed.
03:19
If you're already running a toddler group
03:21
and you don't use Christian
content because of that fear,
03:24
and that fear can stop us
from doing these things,
03:27
Do it anyway, don't be frightened.
03:29
We're in a church building,
03:31
they're coming to a church building,
03:33
they're expecting God
in one way or another.
03:35
We've had, just recently
this past two weeks,
03:37
we've had one of our new mums
who's come along, loved it,
03:41
"Can I have my baby baptised?"
03:42
"Yes, of course you can."
03:43
So never ever underestimate
what can happen
03:47
in a parents and toddler group
03:48
because God's there
before you, He's done it,
03:51
and those children matter more
to Him than they do to us.
