Beginning Again

It’s always hard to know where to start, perhaps that is because each time I attempt to put my thoughts down, the internet goes out, or all the power shuts off. But this is Africa after all, and so it’s par for the course I guess.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the power of family and the impact that is has in each of our lives. Perhaps it’s on my mind now more than ever because I’ve recently said good-bye to my family – a drawn out time of letting go both of my physical possessions and those I hold so dear. It is never easy to say good-bye and yet as I sit here I am fully aware of how truly spoiled I am when it comes to this gift of family. I have been so loved and cared for throughout my life that I’m fully equipped to allow that love to spill over onto others.

I have students working with me that I love dearly, but it’s clear that the love and guidance of family is something they’ve not often experienced. I find myself breaking down concepts again and again, and I’m reminded that even accountability to a task is in many ways a very new concept. Taking apart vision and goals until they become tasks for the week or the day. I’m so grateful for the time that was invested enabling me to reach my fullest potential, and I’m blessed to pass on this gift.

I moved into my new room over the weekend, and my dear friend Carmen put her arm around me and said, “This must be such a huge change for you. So if you need anything let us know. You’re family now, you are my sister.” I was so grateful for that moment because I know the strength that comes from having sisters.

I’m so grateful for this family on the other side of the world – that is willing to support me while I get my feet wet again on this side.

I’m happy to call this complex and beautiful place home.

And I’m so grateful for each of you that lift me up in prayer and support me with your tithes each month.

I’m still about $1000 a month off from what it will cost to stay and maintain the project. So if you’re able to start an automatic monthly gift at www.threadsafrica.org by clicking on the donate tab and selecting the Kuyasa Film School project it would be a huge relief for me.

Love to all from Africa,

Katie

Kuyasa Film School - Where Art Gives Life

I didn’t see it coming.

But God is calling me back to South Africa for the next few years.

When the Kuyasa Film School started in 2008, I had no idea it would become such a passion in my heart.

Experiencing first-hand the effect the school has on students has totally amazed me. And seeing my students journey from their initial interviews to their walks down the red carpet at the first Kayamandi Film Festival was arguably the happiest time of my life.

When school began, not one student had ever held a video camera.

But by the end of our sixth month together, students were excitedly editing their films on sophisticated Mac laptops. And while I experienced the highs and lows of working with students in abject poverty, it wasn’t till much later that I grasped how it shaped my soul.

The revelation came in the form of an email from one of my students.

At the time—some six months later—she was taking classes at a digital photography school. Her initial training and support provided her with the wherewithal to seek a greater learning experience, and now she was pouring out her appreciation.

She told me she stopped dreaming at 11 years of age—realizing that living in poverty was going to be her lot in life.

She thought she was doomed.

The poverty she grew up in as a child was the poverty she would live in as an adult—the poverty she would raise her children in.

Yet there she was—camera in her hand and smile on her face.

She was becoming a person others were beginning to look up to, and she was overwhelmed with the new direction her life was taking.

I couldn’t help but cry—tears streaming down my cheeks—as I thought about this young woman and her newfound hope.

I wept, realizing for the first time I was a tool in the Master’s hand.

And I wept at the thought that a young person’s life had changed because you made it possible for me to be in Kayamandi, South Africa, sharing Christ’s love, and equipping young people to make a difference.

In July I’ll be moving to South Africa.

And for the next couple of years I will share Christ’s love and help create opportunities—through the medium of film—for ways out of poverty and despair.

The mission is to create a model which will prepare promising students for employment in a fully operational film production company—enabling them to make an honest living and move toward advanced studio work and greater career opportunities.

But to do that, I desperately need your help.

First of all, I need your prayers. This isn’t going to be easy. But I’m going because of God’s calling. Please, will you lift me up when you think of me?

I trust you’ll prayerfully consider making me a part of your monthly tithes and offerings. Like other missionaries, I’ll have living expenses, but in addition I’ll need to secure a substantial amount of film equipment before leaving for South Africa.

To give online you can do so at the following link – www.threadsafrica.org and click on the donate button - just be sure to designate Kuyasa Film School as the project.

Major expenses for video equipment, computers, the flight, medical insurance, and such, must be secured before I can leave for South Africa. Your initial gift will help secure the essential equipment for operation of the Kuyasa Film School.

Then the real sustaining work begins.

Staying in South Africa will require the ongoing financial support of family and friends; I am fully trusting God to secure ongoing monthly support I need.

So your gift today—for cameras, laptop computers, lights, microphones, and incidentals—will get the ball rolling.

And your longer-term financial commitment will help make it possible for me to fulfill God’s touch on my heart to provide “life-giving solutions” to the life-threatening conditions of so many young South African kids.

Thank you for your gift today and your ongoing financial support.

I’m so grateful to have you in my life.


Katie Taylor

July 27th, 2009

Wow, thanks to all for your overwhelming and uplifting response to my last email. I really enjoy each email that I receive – it just often feels very time consuming to write individual emails with so little consistent connection to the internet. But I’m glad that you seem to appreciate the updates, so I’ll do my best to keep them coming.

I’m really grateful to have been able to come prior to the arrival of the Threads team and even more grateful for these two weeks that followed their departure. Things can feel so busy and rushed when attempting to connect with each project and I’m now able to focus on each student with which I speak.

For example on Monday I was able to assist a student with their university application. To walk him through each question and help him to enter his latest grades into their correct slots is a very simple gift that I’m able to give. And while at moments I wonder how he’ll be able to thrive, let alone survive, in a university course when the application proves daunting – my pride is reinstated when we check the boxes with regard to his parental education.
Mother: PRIMARY SCHOOL X Father: PRIMARY SCHOOL X

And when it comes time to check the positions that his parents currently hold with regard to work, he calmly explains that they are both deceased. And I begin to imagine the many obstacles this young man has overcome simply to get to grade 12. And what gifts I’ve been given in this life…to not think twice when I once checked boxes that both parents have more than a 4 year degree, not to mention the love that flowed freely from them both.

The other day I went to the home of one of my students to complete an interview. She graciously shared so much of herself with me – at times through tears. Later I sat on the roof of Kuyasa with Odwa and we burned through an entire 60-minute tape and talked for another hour after the tape ran out! It’s difficult to express the feeling of gratitude that I have that these students are still so willing to be vulnerable in talking with me. I feel really honored at the depths to which they are still willing to go even after a year has passed. I know it’s a truly a cathartic process for them and one student even commented that they had never been asked the question of how they felt after the death of a parent.

Please be in prayer for one of my students Ncumisa. She is a media village student that was traveling with the YWAM team into Mozambique when the bus carrying the team was in an accident. It’s hard to know all the details from this distance but several of us have spoken with her. From what we can understand in the early morning hours the driver either fell asleep or took a turn too quickly causing the entire bus to flip. The students were sleeping and Ncumisa woke outside of the bus with her two front teeth knocked out of her mouth. The windows of the bus had shattered and as far as we can tell it is possible that most of the passengers were thrown from the bus. Praise be to God that all of the students are as okay as they can be, truly shaken up of course, but some of the worst injuries sound like a fractured hand and a few sore backs. Ncumisa is down playing her injuries we believe so as not to worry others, but she describes her missing teeth and a few scrapes as the worst of her injuries. A doctor has checked her out, and the team is now headed to a hospital. So please keep her in your prayers.

So many more stories to tell of course – but those are just a few highlights and lowlights before I fly home again this Friday. I’m happy that it looks like I’ll be returning to a job pretty quickly after my return – truly an answer to prayer.

Loving you all from the other side of the globe,

July 22, 2009

things are going well here in south africa -

had some hot chocolate up at the new Tapestry house with some of the girls yesterday. it's really fun, i think we have a nice little bond now thanks to the shedding of many tears at the homes open. for those that don't know the Tapestry home now houses 6 young ladies that were previously in very desperate need of a place to stay. i was charged with the task of inviting the girls to accept Christ into their lives at the homes open. needless to say that when i began to speak i was reminded of my dear Lusi and Nana, now safe and with a loving family in Ohio , and the tears began to flow. i expressed that i wasn't familiar with each of their journey's, but that i knew it had been a long and difficult road to that moment where they stood before a new warm home complete with new beds and couches. each and every girl began to sob with me as we prayed together...they have since offered me one of the beds in hopes that i'll stay. :)

sounds like they already have a wonderful dynamic worked out of eating together as a family, praying together at night and speaking openly about their expectations of one another. i think my friend heather and i will go over one evening to play monopoly. i've started a few guitar lessons with one of the girls (for those that know the extent of my guitar understand that i'm teaching the fingering for G, C and D) and have been able to connect with a few others with talk of clothes and music. :)

had an amazing time of debrief with the team and i was graciously able to share the safari with my good friend Carmen. far too many stories to share in an email but Carmen (who never cries) was moved to tears and stated more than once that it was THE best experience of her life. we were joined by my good friend Maud for a truly moving trip to the Apartheid museum. we were handed cards at the start that denoted our skin color, and based on those cards we were required to use a specific entrance to enter the museum. the fact that i was now "colored" and that my dear friends Carmen and Maud were white, and that we would be separated for even just a few minutes hit me to the very core of my being and induced immediate tears. it was a blessing to watch Dave, the only Afrikaans male in the group, put his arm around Maud, his dear friend and sister in Christ, and recognize the many years of hurt between their two cultures. it was an experience i won't soon forget.

had a wonderful outing last night with most of my film students. we were minus a few but 9 of us went out last night for pizza and a movie. 9 people polished off 6 large pizzas! you can tell we were mostly young men. :) we then went to see the Transformers movie. two students had never been to a movie in the theatre and most of the others were only there for a second time - and this is with a movie ticket priced at 9 Rand (a little more than 1 dollar). the reaction was priceless - so much excitement, laughter and even fear from the ladies in the group. one student continued to turn around to look up at the room from which the light was projected, it was really funny. i managed to sneak a video camera in and captured some of their reactions immediately following the movie. good times.

had a wonderful weekend away with friends this last weekend. lots of time by the fire, a little wine tasting and even a couple hours in a canoe. it was a wonderful time of connection with dear friends and is a wonderfully inexpensive way to vacation. :)

still have more video to do of the house but am also working on connecting with each film student to interview them personally. so lots to do!

my love to all - thanks again for everything - my heart feels very full when i'm here,
katie

July 7th 2009

July 7, 2009

wow - we have had a very busy start to the week! this small, but experienced, team of 12 is working quite well together and we seem to be accomplishing a lot in a short amount of time. monday was a very full but a very productive day as we all hit the ground running. it was great to meet with a few of my previous students and include them in the process of filming the Tapestry Home going up. we sat together and i explained the vision and the story that we were trying to convey - gave them a few specific tasks of footage that they were to gather - and they took the responsibility on themselves and got right to work. it was really rewarding to watch as they broke off and began to sort out their tasks - and i could see a renewed energy in the face of one of my guys that has many big home struggles. my friend Heather asked him how he was doing, and he responded with a giant smile that things were great this day because he is back behind the camera. :)

the home is going up faster than you can blink and it has been so wonderful to watch the excitement build for the girls that are moving in. i escorted two of the girls up to see the home, and the joy on their faces cannot be described as they saw their 'new rooms'. one of the girls was so gitty she was jumping up and down.

at one moment i ran into sisNoma when she was walking back from seeing the house for the first time. she looked at me and asked, "sisKatie, have you seen the house?" when i responded that i had, she quickly burried her head in my chest and began to sob. i had my video camera in my hand, so sadly there was no one there to "capture the moment". we joked as i tried to extend my hand and capture what my friend Brad called emotional breakdown take 2. it was a great to hear her try to describe her excitement over how huge the home is.

many more stories to tell but sadly i'm out of time. my love to all -

back in africa

I’m safe and sound – and while I know that several of you have been waiting for days to hear that I’ve arrived – in true Africa fashion our internet has been down for the last few days. So I thought I’d catch you up on a few stories that have started this blessed four-week journey.

I arrived Saturday evening and was greeted at the airport by the two smiling faces of Cindy and Neal. When I’m not with the team I’ll be staying at their place – and I’m grateful to report that their place is bigger and nicer than the flat that Cindy, Nana, Lusanda and I once shared. ☺

I did get some rest on the plane, but it was really nice to be able to get a full nights rest lying down on a bed upon my arrival. I believe that first nights rest helped me to quickly get over that jet-lagged feeling and I was ready for church the next morning.

It was great to be back at church and I was excited to see my dear friend Heather again. As a double blessing she brought one of my students, Luvuyo, with her. This was a wonderful treat, because Luvuyo is one of the two students whom are currently taking part in the Media Village YWAM program, and I really didn’t expect to see him at all. That afternoon he would be leaving to rejoin the YWAM group, and would the next day be catching a flight to Brazil! It’s an amazing opportunity for him to minister to others, but it will no doubt prove to be a very challenging 2 months there. A moment that touched me deeply was when we stood there singing a stanza in a praise song that read, “I see a generation…rising up to take their place”. My heart was overflowing with the reality that this young man was growing so much and that he was being stretched and challenged into taking his place as a wonderful young Christian man – and that it all started with the film project.

The great day continued with a Sunday afternoon braai (BBQ) at the home of some friends of Cindy and Neal. The stark contrast between the “haves and the have not” is always an odd feeling to me at first, but it was still a wonderful afternoon of playing catch phrase and enjoying a big lunch.

Monday was my first day in Kayamandi – a day to which I was very much looking forward. When I stepped out of Cindy’s car I was practically pounced on by my dear Odwa. It was so wonderful to see him, and so much has happened for him since we were last together, but it felt like nothing had changed. I could hardly take a step without giving him another hug and then another hug – it was great to see him again.

Later in the day I was greeted with a phone call – Heather brought me the phone and handed it to me before telling me who was on the other end. I said hello and the person on the other end of the phone call burst into tears. It was then that I knew it was sweet Ncumisa, my other student doing the Media Village YWAM program. She is currently up north doing her mission work time and will shortly be going up to Mozambique for a few months. It has been a very challenging time for her, but she is a very bright and strong young woman. It was great to be able to encourage her a bit, tell her how proud I am of her and how much I miss her. I know that she is sad to be missing this time while I’m here – but like many others she has been using the momentum of the film project to move herself forward and experience a life outside the confines of the township.

That afternoon I was able to go over to see Zintle and her 3 month old baby girl Lisakhanya. I had a massive bag of clothes to deliver with 5 or more outfits in each size ranging from newborn to 3T! It was complete with blankets, socks and shoes - and it was a huge hit. She was very grateful for all the clothes and I was able to hold little Lisa while we visited. Zintle seems to be doing well and little Lisa has her mother's deep beautiful eyes and two of the biggest cheeks I've ever seen on a baby. :)

It's been a great first few days and with team members trickling in over the next few days it promises to get busier every day. I really miss having Nana and Lusanda here. It feels so quiet to not have Nana sleeping in the living room watching Generations, but I'm so grateful for the time I was able to spend with them in Ohio before I left the states.

My love to all - I hope to be able to provide more updates soon.

hey party people

Well, for the two of you that are still reading this blog - the countdown has long since begun.

Within a few weeks I'll be back in Kayamandi, South Africa and will be having a sweet reunion with my wonderful film students. It will be hard to leave knowing that my sister's family is moving to Portland and will therefore be gone upon my return - but still I have great joy in going back to this land that I love.

I hope to write a few blogs, post a few pictures and include you both in my journey. :)

Until then...