Be There...

Be There
© John Froud 2000
First featured on the Be There album, recorded by John Froud & the PKs in 2000
Listen to this track now on the Zephaniah Trust website - click here

Let me tell you, love can be hard,
Let me tell you, love can be hard,
There are times you don't want to go there,
Times you don't want to care,
Let me tell you, love can be hard.

You gotta be there when the one you love's in pain,
Be there when the one you love is in pain,
When the tears are falling down,
You still gotta be around,
Be there when the one you love's in pain.

You gotta be there when there's nothing you can do,
Be there when there's nothing you can do,
When they just don't wanna know
'Bout the love you've got to show,
Be there when there's nothing you can do.

You gotta be there when the one you love lets you down,
Be there when the one you love lets you down,
When the slap comes across your face
It's time to show some grace,
Be there when the one you love lets you down.

Let me tell you, love can be hard,
Let me tell you, love can be hard,
There are times you don't want to go there,
Times you don't want to care,
Let me tell you, love can be hard.

He was there and the nails tore through his hands,
He was there and the nails tore through his hands,
Taking all the pain
So I can live again,
He was there and the nails tore through his hands.

Posted Good Friday 2014

The simple constant message...

It was a struggle, but I eventually conquered the urge to call John ‘Mr Froud’. I first saw
the Zeph team – or some of them – in my primary school assemblies, and I loved everything in them. I remember one Thursday morning how the rumour went round that it was going to be ‘A Mr Froud Assembly’ (we were that excited it needed capital letters), and as my class walked in the whispers went back along the line that it was true…

Those assemblies were amazing: everyone had fun, we sang songs I know people still haven’t forgotten, and the simple constant message of God’s love always came through. I don’t have a particularly dramatic conversion story, but it was things like these assemblies that taught me enough about God to be able to decide, one day, that I wanted to follow him for myself.

So you can imagine how happy I was to get stuck into working with Zeph as a teenager, having experienced first-hand the good stuff they did. They always seem to have something on – holiday clubs, Re:wind and Fast Forward, the Light Party, Refugee Voices – always something to join in with and have a bit of fun while shining God’s light.

I have to admit though, this last holiday club was not without its hazards. Firstly, a child taped me, by my hair, to a cardboard time machine, requiring three different leaders to attempt to free me before eventually cutting off some of my hair. Later, I was asked to be in a drama, told I was to be a German solider and had to sing in German, before being handed a very large sausage. The sausage was never explained. I feel these experiences somehow sum up the wonders of working with Zeph: laughter, the unexpected and the downright odd, all in the name of sharing Jesus with kids in ways which will make sense to them. Because really, that’s what Zeph is all about, and they do it brilliantly­ – and hopefully will be for a long time to come.

Rosemary Leech is, as her blog testifies, willing to do just about anything to share God's love with children, which is a quality we greatly admire. She is currently studying at Trinity College Oxford but has already proved more than happy to revisit Zeph in her holidays - about which we are very happy! She's a sucker for a cup of tea and a cake, and an all-round lovely lady.

Truly Inspirational...

My involvement with the Zephaniah Trust started four years ago with work experience, but my memory of them takes me back to primary school days, sat in the hall on a Thursday morning! The excitement in the playground on those days over the sight of John's van was amazing! 

It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be able to work with John, Julie and the team over the past few years. Their enthusiasm is infectious, whether its leading assemblies, holiday clubs, workshops or lessons - their ability to bring the

Bible alive to young people who may not hear it anywhere else is amazing. 

The Zephaniah Trust is truly inspirational to me and their achievements and work over the last 20 years is immense... Here's to another 20 years of inspiring, touching hearts and opening up the Bible to so many more young people!!

Dan Breeze is another of our wonderful volunteers who began working with us as a work experience student. He is also an inspiration to us, as possibly the only person we've met who approaches re-setting chairs to the scarily specific instructions of different churches with the same cheerfulness as eating a curry. Dan, we salute you!

Hilarity & Hope...

When I was in primary school, some of the most beautiful mornings were when Zephaniah Trust came in for assembly.  You’d know as soon as you heard the sounds of a guitar striking up some catchy and ambitiously fast-paced song coming from the hall, and along the line every child would confirm to every other child that “IT’S MR FROUD!”.  And then we would sing and we would do actions and we would hear stories and we would be happy.  I liked those times.

I did not know that a few years later I would get to befriend these wonderful people and get involved in what they do. It turns out the children’s holiday clubs that they run are equally fun when you’re a “grown up”, and you get to drink tea! I have now spent many a hilarious hour involved in such events, preparing activities for the kids, perfecting actions to “My God shall supply”, praying, eating, and generally enjoying the unique and often slightly odd sense of humour of the other Zephaniah workers and volunteers.

The thing that really makes Zephaniah Trust special isn’t just what they do - it’s the spirit they do it in. Every story, action song, short film featuring a butternut squash or similar or in fact any Zephaniah event is done with a beautiful sense of joy for life, and a passion for spreading light and hope. I have participated in and been introduced to many things through Zephaniah Trust – dramas, building time machine forts, great stories, and the discovery of bizarre Gaelic cartoons – and I think all it points to the happiness and joyful abundance of life at the heart of the Christian message.

Julia Leech is studying theology at York St John University. She combines her own odd sense of humour with a warmth and openness that make her an excellent Zeph volunteer. She is a dab hand with a ukulele and has an extraordinary talent for dancing around dressed as a cyberman. She would probably never forgive us if we ended this blog post without pointing you in the direction of "bizarre Gaelic cartoon" Fraochy Bay, broadcast on BBC Alba...