Our School Report

We thought we were too old to get a school report now! Here's a teacher's view of the Zephaniah Trust...

Schools can be quite stressful places, so whenever John and friends come along with smiles and the Gospel message, it is a tonic for everyone.

When I was a teacher, the children would all cheer when they were told it was a ‘John Froud assembly’.  Can you imagine, children cheering about going into assembly?  The staff cheered too.

John wants to bring fun – more than that, he wants everyone to participate in silliness and he manages it all in a way that demonstrates just how wonderful is the love that God has for each one of us. 

So, we all flung our arms as wide as they would go (‘So wide you can’t get round it’), tilted our heads so that one eye’s higher (Isaiah 58: 11), twirled around on the spot with hands performing a ‘flashing’ motion (‘build a lighthouse to the nation’) and picked a friend's nits! (Biblical reference uncertain, possibly Revelations).

In and amongst all this hilarity the clear message: ‘I’m special to Jesus, He’s my best friend’ made its way into the hearts and minds of the children, and the adults, and we all came out of assembly feeling better.  

And so the light shines on in dark places.  Thank you Zephaniah Trust and Happy Birthday. xxx

Elaine Schack, former Deputy Headteacher and Zeph Friend

Office Princesses: Jenny...

The frontline work has been underpinned by a lovely succession of office princesses over the years, all of whom have taken on the task of running a small charity and providing some organisation amidst the creative chaos - here's our current administrator, Jenny (who prefers to think of herself as the Office Queen!) on why she joined the Zephaniah team...

It is an odd thing to suggest that God has called you to be an administrator – to shuffle pieces of paper from one side of a desk to the other – but I was called, and ever since it has been clear that God has had a plan for me, for the Zephaniah Trust, and for my family.

Back in 2009 I was working as a teaching fellow at Leeds University. I loved the actual teaching but detested the undervaluing of staff, the constant changing of goalposts, and all the other rubbish that you get in such a vast organisation.

In February 2009 the Zephaniah Trust held their Birthday Bash at the Thornbury Centre, and I went along. It was the year that the team floated their vision of Julie becoming a full-time storyteller, by the employment of a dedicated administrator. I found myself thinking, “I could do that….I think I’d like to do that….but…..”. There were a lot of ‘buts’, but God has a way of just slicing through things. During the evening performance, when singing “If you don’t go, you’ll never know”, John Froud brought a word of challenge – sometimes you have to take a step, take a risk, come out of the cave in which you are hiding, to see what God has got planned for you.

It was the summer before the funding was in place and the Trust’s vision could happen. I took a step, and spoke to John about the administrator job. I took a risk, and spoke to my Head of School at the University, and discussed the possibility with him. I took an even bigger risk and raised the idea with Andrew, my husband...

If God was ever in something, then He was in this. I suggested to my non-Christian husband that I leave my permanent (the university had a no-redundancy policy) job to take an 18-month contract working more hours for less money, and he bought it! I started at Zephaniah in January 2010 and it has turned out to be a very long 18 months!

What the last four years have taught me is that God’s plans are amazing. Not only has the Trust been able to do more work in more schools and churches, but even Andrew has been known to comment that it was a good move, as I’m a lot less stressed (most of the time!). It was good for my son, Thomas, as I can drop him off and pick him up from school at the normal times – the holy grail for working parents. When Andrew was made redundant two years ago, I had a wobble, thinking, “What have I done?”, but it turned out that through working for Zephaniah I had picked up a multitude of new skills (accounts, websites, etc) making me far more helpful to Andrew as he started his own business.

We didn’t know what was going to happen when I made that first step, took that first risk – but God did - and He had it covered.

The Zeph Experience...

We have had so much fun working with all kinds of lovely people over the years - including some fantastic work experience students. Here we introduce our guest blogger, the lovely Pippa, reflecting on her placement with us a few years ago. We're looking forward to working with her again soon!

"My first contact with the Zephaniah Trust was when I was set up for work experience in lower school, I had no awareness as to what the time there would consititute and was told that most likely I'd be fulfilling admin duties. I did do this with the help of the friendly Jenny and Julie combo; I learned of how the Trust has evolved over the years and it's involvement with schemes assisting children with all sorts including the transition between primary school and secondary school. Additionally, the community support clubs run at Shipley Baptist Church were running even with construction work going on! I had the chance to meet many of Zeph's good friends over the years and also gain a taste for Interlude's Tea Room.

However, my duties soon stretched beyond admin back at the office. My time with Zephaniah led me to recognising the celebrity figure that is the bearded John Froud; many of my schoolmates had prize memories of assemblies with him from youth and were flabbergasted that I was accompanying him. I too was surprised, it seemed on every other street somebody would wave, beep a horn, or call out 'John' leading me to the conclusion that indeed, everybody knows John Froud. I wound up a backing singer accompanying him along his blue van missions to primary schools all over the place, eating lots of cake and drinking lots of coffee in staff rooms (and feeling grown up because of this...). Throughout this time, I got the chance to work with lots of children who were crazily enthusiastic even during early morning slots and saw teachers transformed by the energy of John and often Julie from the moment we arrived (some tried to be resilient but always wound up joining with songs!).

I enjoyed my experience there so much that I kept in contact and returned with my good friend Esther the next year! I also plan to return this year for more adventures!"

Zephaniah Archive: Summer 2009...

We had a great summer in 2009! Here are just some of the things we were involved in, providing opportunities for people to discover God and have a lot of fun doing it...




WHAT'S THE STORY ABOUT PENTECOST?
Saturday 30 May 2009

Mark and Julie spent an afternoon outdoors at St Peter's Church Addingham, working alongside Otley Deanery Youth & Children's Network (now Otley Christian Resources Hub) on their all-age Pentecost event. Mark led drum workshops, pulling together a scratch ensemble to play in the worship, and Julie dressed up to tell the story of Philip and the Ethiopian to visiting family groups, helping 200 people to hear about and celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit...



DRAKEFEST Saturday 27 June 2009

The Zephaniah staff team, and lots of their friends, headed off to a field in Burnsall to help Mark and Lydia celebrate their 30th birthdays in style at their very own summer festival. Alongside the Drakes themselves, the bill included John and Cath, Julie, and lots of Zeph friends, taking light into a field in the glorious Yorkshire Dales!



HAVEN'T YOU HEARD? ALBUM LAUNCH Friday 3 July 2009

Almost 200 guests joined John, Mark, Julie and friends for the launch of John’s second children’s album in Bradford Cathedral at the beginning of July. Musicians Lydia, David, Alex, Liz, Andrew, Ruth, Cath and Esther helped provide a fantastic ninety-minute praise party, singing new songs alongside old favourites. It was great to see groups of children from some of the schools featured on the album, plus some children’s groups from Bradford churches, and lots of families and friend, all singing their hearts out - and we think God was probably joining in!

RIDDLESDEN GALA Saturday 13 July 2009

While John manned the Zephaniah stand at the Yorkshire Baptist Association assembly, Julie and volunteer Helen went to Riddlesden, near Keighley, working with Riddlesden Churches Together to run their stand at the annual gala. Helped by Rev Alf Waite and a team of volunteers, they offered free craft activities to children and families. Passers-by were also invited to think about what they would ask God if they could ask him anything and write their questions on the Big Question board. The responses ranged from silly to sublime and meaningful contact was made with more than fifty local families/residents. 

SHOWSTOPPERS HOLIDAY CLUB Monday 27 to Friday 31 July 2009

2009's holiday club turned out to be a classic, with lots of fun and laughter! Using Scripture Union’s Showstoppers material, the theatrical theme used the performing arts to explore God’s Big Plan, through five key Bible stories - Creation, David & Goliath, Daniel & the Lions’ Den, Christmas, and Easter. A significant number of new faces arrived alongside the regular holiday club attenders, setting a new generation of Shipley's children on their Zephaniah journey as one generation began to outgrow the club - and move onto volunteering!

And that was just one summer! You can fit a lot into 20 years!
Join us to celebrate and give thanks on Saturday 22 March, when we'll be singing our hearts out to God in Bradford Cathedral once again!