First the Great News—

• God is so incredibly Good—you already know that!
• Our first group of Level Two film students are about to graduate—you might have guessed that.
• Odwa Nomavuka and Ayanda Msebenzi, have been accepted into a degree program in film with full tuition scholarships—now that’s really exciting!
• And next year the program will expand to include a new Level Three (two students)—nobody knew that (till now).

And now for the Challenging News—

• The largest monthly contributor to Film School Africa must significantly scale back her giving this next year—now that’s going to be a challenge.
• It will be necessary to secure funding for Odwa and Ayanda to live near campus—I don’t have an exact figure yet but I’m guessing that’s a $700 a month commitment.
• The cameras and computers we have used day-in and day-out for the past four years are falling apart before our very eyes—surprise surprise!
• To learn lighting techniques Level Three students (2) need a course that will cost nearly $1000 each—we don’t have the lighting kits or the $2,000.

By all standards this has been an incredibly amazing year.

God has performed numerous miracles in the hearts and lives of our students, and I’m absolutely overwhelmed and grateful for your prayers and support.

But as I anticipate an exciting future, I realize we won’t be able to get there without God’s blessings and your unwavering financial help.

So here goes. Will you consider a monthly donation for Film School Africa? Your one-time or ongoing monthly gift can’t be too small or too large. Click here to donate and designate your contribution.

And if you missed the video made for you by Film School Africa students last month – check it out here!

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support. Together we’re using art to give life,

Katie Taylor

Breakthroughs

As you well know, watching a breakthrough happen in someone’s life is one of life’s greatest rewards.

Recently one of my Kayamandi students was attacked. His attackers used guns to beat him on the head and face, leaving him with stitches and a face swollen beyond recognition.

When I went to visit him at his home, he embraced me in a way I could sense not only the pain of recent events, but the pain of losing his mother as well.

He needed a mom’s loving arms, and he got them from me.

While our time together was incredibly special, it wasn’t until a few weeks later I began to see the full impact of the film ministry.

You see—it was time for this young man to stand before the class and pitch his next film. He weaved a story about two friends who unknowingly run into the wrong kind of guys, he described how one of the men would be beaten and hospitalized, and how his friend would react and seek out the assailants.

It was beautiful because he was utilizing film to work through his trauma.

By using a camera and actors, he was put in a position of power to explain a situation in which he had no control.

While I thoroughly enjoy teaching students the art of film and equipping them to move into a career of storytelling, helping kids with their traumas is my most fulfilling work. And it’s the reason I reach out to friends like you for help.

Will you consider making a generous monthly commitment to Film School Africa so we can effectively use film to change lives?

You can give online by simply clicking on www.threadsafrica.org. Or you can secure the address where you can send your check. Just be sure to designate your gift to the film school.

If you’re not able to participate at this time, there are other ways you can help. Certainly your prayers are powerful and effective. And Film School Africa is blessed to have an American high school student, Stephen Linam, helping us with our numerous equipment needs.

Stephen is repairing and enhancing used mac computers and video cameras so that we can put them to use. We’re also gathering headphones, microphones and computer speakers. You can contact Stephen directly at macsforafrica@gmail.com if you have questions or would like to donate some equipment to the cause.

Thank you for all you do to support this ministry—I’m forever changed because of your generosity.

Katie Taylor

The students put together a video so that you could see the impact of your giving. You can watch it by clicking this link http://youtu.be/df99FSH-YUY

Ayanda's triumphant return!

I just wanted to share with you a little bit of the joy that I was able to experience recently as Ayanda returned safely from Kenya. Odwa, Luvuyo and I all attended his graduation from the Discipleship Training School (DTS) as well as the completion of his outreach phase. It was a wonderful day to celebrate, and really take in the life change that is so evident in Ayanda. It's hard to put it into words, so I won't try, rather I'll let his words speak.

"Hey!!!! I just want to thank you for everything you've done for me, I really appreciate everything. This has been an amazing experience starting from lecture phase till Outreach and now the debriefing. I believe that "DTS" planted something in my life that I can't describe: because it is too great, too deep, too high and too wide to prove, but I know I am not the same as before. The whole thing affected the way I think, speak and how I see things.

The new Ayanda is being born, am ready to do God's will, I know it's not going to be easy but am willing to take it. For I know the Lord will be by my side and he will never leave me. I feel that the Lord is calling me to Kenya to take care of his children but the problem is who is going to take care of my family because I feel that they are expecting me to support them. Which is true somehow I have to take the responsibility because they invested in my life. And if I become a missionary who will do that?"

What wonderful issues to grapple with - and what amazing ministry lies ahead. I've always believed that Film Project Africa could and should be replicated - perhaps these are just the first steps toward a Kenya branch. :)

Please continue to pray for Ayanda as he finds his feet in Kayamandi once again. As he tries to swim upstream in his community and with his friends, that he might stand firm in all that he has learned.

In three weeks he'll be starting the video production semester and it will be nothing short of a challenge, but it's one that will equip him, and for that I'm grateful. For all who have supported us, you've made a real impact in the lives of many - but it's so fun for a moment focus on just one.

To become involved or donate to Film School Africa, simply go to www.threadsafrica.org and click on the donate button. Together we're harnessing the power of film to forever change lives.

Leadership Camp - 45 Student Leaders Camp in Tents

Three and a half days of leadership camp left me simply desperate for God, desperate for answers, and desperate for a bed!

It was incredibly fulfilling to work with these young leaders and help to provide guidance and instruction during these few days.

The weekend started with an intense challenge that would rival Survivor because of its more than two hour length! Students were put into groups of 5 and were given laminated maps, two inner tubes, 3 sticks and a rope. They were then sent into a gently moving river of varying depths to take their team and their raft upstream.

Several stops along the way had them searching for flags and working as a team. But easily the greatest challenge was the fact that of 45 students, at least 20 were not at all comfortable with water! Some could not swim at all and one of my own students said later that it was her first time being in a body of water of any kind! (It was great fun to watch her learn to swim in the pool throughout the weekend.)

“Going against the flow” was a common theme over the next few days as students grappled with issues of their identity, the effect that Apartheid has on how they value themselves, and forgiveness. Huge topics for a huge weekend.

If I’m being honest, I didn’t really want to go. Just the idea of taking a long weekend and spending it in tents was not that appealing to me. But man was I glad I was there!

The weekend really brought me back to the heart of what I do – and it connected me with students that I wouldn’t otherwise have known.

The weekend made me desperate to find all the answers in the bible to every question they have.

The weekend reduced to me tears as conversations about forgiveness led one young girl to speak about how rape had left her pregnant at 15. Through tears she told me about the blessing of that little girl’s life, even in such turmoil and hardship.

Days later I was struck with this picture of what happens when we don't strive after forgiveness as people who have been forgiven so much. I'm sure the analogy stems from so much talk about who is able to swim and who is not...Our feet are shackled to the bottom of a pool and the water is filling up around us, but we have the key to unlock our chains in our hand. But it's just too scary to put our face under the water, dive down and begin the process of unlocking ourselves. So instead we settle for drowning slowly.

From Cape to Kenya!

Ayanda Msebenzi has completed his 3 months of discipleship training and is now on his way to do 2 months of mission work in Kenya!

I was reminded by a friend recently, that it’s an amazing fulfillment of the great commission to see a young man who lives in a shack take to the slums of Kenya to spread the gospel.

Personally, for me it’s experiencing his dynamic change in just 3 months that blows me away. Before he left for Kenya, Ayanda joined us for our Monday morning prayer meeting. To hear the conviction with which he speaks and his command of the truth was just plain inspiring.

The other day I received an update that read, “Dear Parents” and I giggled. He and I laughed about it together over lunch, and then he later wrote me a text and called me mom. A touching sentiment for sure, but also an accurate account of how invested I feel in his future, and the future of others.

Upon his return Ayanda will start into the Media Village video production semester, and the directors there are already speaking with him about fulltime employment with them, which speaks to how hard he’s working.

The outreach cost was more than we planned, but it’s certainly not my place to halt what God has set before him, and so we step out in faith that God will meet these needs as He has met the others!

Jungle Room grabs cameras and takes to the streets (of Kuyasa)

Our 8 to 11 year-old art class is in full swing! We’re working through the ViewFinder Project curriculum – a wonderful initiative that teaches students that with the help of a camera they can make even “ugly” things beautiful.

It was insightful to get a glimpse into what they find to be ugly. When asked the question I heard answers like, “fights, stabbing, shouting, food in the road, police, vomit and Tsotsis (street thug)”. At the least it was a glimpse into what an 8-year-old might be exposed to in a township.

What a challenge and privilege it is to teach a young child about photography – and in another language! Each Friday I’m amazed with what they retain from the week prior, and I certainly love the tiny arms eager for hugs at the end of class.