The following is a story that Taylor shared with our team about his time serving at the Mother Theresa home in Calcutta, India.
“… I didn’t really have anything to do after that, so I decided I’d find the one person who was sitting alone. Cause, ya know, I just know that would be me as an old guy. Like if I was in a home like that back in America, I’d just sit in a corner and not want to talk to anybody. So I saw a guy sitting in the middle of the floor alone, and I was like, ‘okay that’s him,’ and I sat down and saw that he had, like, boils or something all over his body… And he didn’t understand me or anything, but I talked to him until they needed help handing out tea and crackers. So I got up and brought some back to a guy that was sitting close, and when I tried to hand him the stuff, I realized that he was blind. So I just kinda sat there while he ate, and every once in a while he’d feel around on the ground for the cup, so I would, ya know, kinda set it next to his hand… And then as I watched him eat his crackers, he would… he wouldn’t even eat ’em really. He would just take them and scratch them together… and when he did that, he would put his ear up to it… And I just sat and watched him do that and realized that… that there was this rhythm to it and that… like that was his music… And I don’t know… That… That just killed me…”
Hearing Taylor’s story first-hand gave me a better appreciate for who he is. Taylor and I have only been on the same team since we came to India, but we connected pretty early on at training camp. The joy of the Lord is truly Taylor’s strength, and he brings that joy to everyone he meets. While it’s absolutely true that he could make a Buckingham Palace guard laugh, Taylor’s true gold lies in his depth of character.
Back stateside, Taylor is a National Guard veteran who is currently pursuing a career in film and theatre. You may know him from a little movie called The Fast and the Furious 7. He’ll roll his eyes and say he’s “just an extra,” as if he just passes by on the street, but the man plays a savage mercenary who carries an assault rifle and appears in several scenes. So there.
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Read what Taylor has to say about Indonesia here (prior to team changes, I was going to create a new category called “featured squadmates” just so that I could feature this blog): “My Requiem for Indonesia” — http://taylorupchurch.theworldrace.org/post/my-requiem-for-indonesia
