Background to the Song
Griots First Hear the Gospel
from Songs They Create Themselves
by Roberta King
A Glimpse into an Ethnomusicologist’s Diary
Diourbel, Senegal, 1985
April 11, Thursday afternoon:
• I meet three géwél * women—griots** who sing the praises and history of Wolof families they serve.
• Thirteen, fourteen, maybe nineteen, children mill around the room wanting to shake hands with both tubaab (white) women visitors.
• Flying, colorful, long skirts swirl to the deafening roar of Wolof music blaring from the stereo.
• More ladies come and go, seeking to catch a glimpse of the foreigners who dress like them.
• We crunch on freshly roasted and sugared peanuts, served with red hibiscus flower punch.
• Spontaneous songs of praise and flattery—à la géwél —are offered to Astou Fall (my Wolof name) and Aida Dia (Marilyn Escher, a CBFMS*** Bible translator).
• Astou Fall gets lots of compliments on her beauty…due to excess pounds. I know where
I’m appreciated!
• Since I do not speak the language. I can only gesture and make faces. Recognizing my
theatrical abilities, the women grant me the title of “gewel.”
After two hours of getting acquainted, we finally get around to the main purpose of our visit: the creation and taping of a new song from the Abraham story for a radio program. Two more hours and we’ve recorded four versions of Abraham’s wife’s praise song where God promises to make her, Sarah, the mother of many nations and to establish an everlasting alliance through her son Isaac. After several trials, the women and children have memorized the song and made it their own.
Will there be an opportunity to further discuss the implications of this song to their lives?
April 13, Saturday afternoon:
The géwél women come to the tubaab’s home. I play and sing on my Ugandan
thumb-piano. The ladies learn the song instantly.
Then I sing a Kenyan “thank you” song to God. It’s too strange for the ladies to learn. I suggest they create their own “thank you” song to God in Wolof. In a minute, they have a new song of gratitude to God!
Marilyn reads and dramatizes the Adam and Eve story in Wolof. The women are entranced by it. They discuss it. Another new song is born.
Amazing! Non-Christian women hear and respond to Scripture stories by creating
new songs. Praise the Lord! God is answering my prayers and the prayers of my supporters. I must let them know that in two sessions three new songs have been created
for use in evangelizing the Wolof people. We need prayer for the salvation of these géwél
women whom God could use to communicate His love via their musical language to unreached Wolof.
--------------------
Roberta King, PhD, is Associate Professor of Communication and Ethnomusicology at
Fuller Theological Seminary. She directs the program in Global Christian worship.
* Géwél is a musician caste within Wolof culture.
** A griot (gree’-o) is a West African musician or storyteller who recounts the oral history of a
village or family.
*** CBFMS is the Conservative Baptist Foreign Mission Society, now called WorldVenture.