The Gambia Welcomes NOBS
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by Juliana Rowe Part 1 - The Mission
The 2006 Festival Gathering was beginning to wind down. Tom Boomershine gave his usual pep talk and report on the work of NOBS in the United States and the world, mentioning how well new guilds in Australia and South Africa were doing. He went on to challenge the group to take NOBS to other parts of the world. When he mentioned South Africa, I said to myself, "Why not West Africa? Why not Sierra Leone?" We took a short break during that session. What led me to walk up to Tom by the doorway leading to the main dining room, I do not know. I told him I felt moved in answer to his call, to take biblical storytelling to my home country Sierra Leone. He was excited. He encouraged me to go ahead and do it. He assured me of his support and asked me to keep him posted. When I walked away from him, I said to myself, "Oh, my God, what have I done? Do you realize what you've just said?" My heart began to race, and the thought continued to buzz in my head as I took my seat again in the hall. The session resumed, Tom took the stage again and before I knew it, he was reporting on the discussion we had just had! He announced that I felt called to take NOBS to Sierra Leone. I clutched my face in disbelief. "Oh my God, I did not think he would announce it so quickly!" There was no turning back now.
As I tried to figure out what had come over me, the tune that had been echoing in me since we sang it in worship that morning came to mind again. I started humming it. It was "The Summons." "Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?Then I realized that I had responded to a divine call through Tom Boomershine. I remembered an earlier call, at age 19, when I had entered missionary service soon after I graduated high school. God had summoned me again, and called my name. "Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.My mission at the end of the Gathering was to take biblical storytelling and NOBS to Sierra Leone, West Africa. When I returned to New York, I discussed the idea with every friend living in Sierra Leone who came my way to see if any of them would be willing to spear-head the project in Sierra Leone. Each one gave me another name to contact and reminded me that 2007 was election year and things might be chaotic.
The more I told her about the role I would like her to play, the more she convinced me that she was ready to support my initiative and to arrange meetings with the Council of Churches and clergy who would be interested in biblical storytelling. That she did and more! The stage was set for a pioneer of NOBS to bring its message to The Gambia. |
When the session was over, several members came up to me and were excited about the project. They encouraged me to pursue it. I was overwhelmed, occasionally uneasy, sometimes shaking, and asking myself whether I should have given myself more time to think about it before talking to Tom. However, more and more NOBS members came up to me and offered words of encouragement.
Not ready to give up, I spoke to a friend and former colleague in broadcasting and the theatre arts, Janet Badjan Young, who is now director and chairperson of the National Council of the Arts in The Gambia. She became excited about the project and said, "Why not come to The Gambia? Come to The Gambia!" I was startled by her spontaneous and positive response. 
