Students come from all over the world to prepare for ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. 

For Ogola Kange, her journey from Nigeria to New Orleans began when the letters NOBTS appeared to her in a dream.  

Kange, a graduate student pursuing a degree in ministry to women, said the experience of attending NOBTS has been life-changing.  

“My time at NOBTS has been amazing,” Kange said. “The moment I came here, I just knew why God brought me here. There was this peace of knowing this is where I was meant to be. I can’t really describe it, but just this sense of knowing gave me rest. 

“It was a very difficult journey getting here because at every point there were challenges, but at every one of these points I would go back to what I was certain of: God had told me to come here.” 

Kange’s journey is one of overcoming heartbreak, finding purpose and seeing the faithfulness of God.  

Born to Christian parents in Nigeria, Kange came to know Christ at an early age and her faith was “transformed and deepened” during high school.  

She met her husband while in graduate school and the couple would go on to have three children.  

After finishing graduate school, Kange became an assistant university lecturer while also running a small business focused on food delivery. 

All was well until tragedy struck.  

One day on his commute home from work, Kange’s husband was in a car accident and suffered a severe spinal injury. He died just days later. 

“I got that call that nobody ever wants to have, it was life-altering,” Kange said.  

“The pain when I saw him pass away was like the worst pain anybody could ever experience. It’s not something I would wish on my worst enemy. I felt like I had been punched with a sledgehammer in my gut.” 

Everything changed for Kange in that moment, but she chose to have faith.  

“At that point, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life,” she said. “I really didn’t know what was going to happen. During that period, I just keep praying to God, ‘show me what to do.’ This was a crossroad in my life where I just didn’t know what to do, and God spoke peace and comfort to my heart.” 

Kange eventually decided to quit her job as a lecturer and put her full attention towards her business, which she named Smiley'z MobileKitchen.  

Originally started as a food delivery service, the business expanded to include food preparation, processing and other agricultural skills.  

Kange explained a major priority of Smiley'z MobileKitchen is educating and empowering women to learn these agricultural skills for themselves so they can cook for their own families or earn an income.  

Although Smiley’z was experiencing great success, Kange knew something was missing.  

“What I found during this period was God telling me that I shouldn’t just be concerned with the economic lives of these women but their spiritual lives as well,” Kange said.  

“As much as I was doing these things with my business for God’s glory, I knew that I wasn’t fully equipped. I wasn’t trained in ministry, and I knew that there was so much more that God wanted me to do. This desire that God was putting in my heart just kept growing.” 

Soon after beginning to feel these desires, Kange woke in the middle of the night from a dream in which she saw a series of letters, either ‘nobts’ or ‘nobdts.’   

Kange explained she often senses God speaking to her in dreams and subsequently began to search for some meaning in these letters. She started by googling NOBTS. 

“I typed NOBTS and realized it’s an institution in the United States,” she said. “I started scrolling through the courses on the seminary website and I see ministry to women. I had never heard of any course like that. I didn’t even know there was a course like that.   

“It just grabbed me, and I was like ‘this is what I need to do.’”   

Kange immediately started an application in what she called a “spur of the moment decision.” She soon began online classes. 

After traveling to the United States for a trade fair her business was involved with in late 2023, she decided to take the leap and move onto the NOBTS campus that next March.  

During her time at the seminary, Kange said the in-person experience of interacting with students and faculty has aided her understanding of ministry and the Scriptures.  

“I’ve learned so much about how to study the Word of God in context and do proper exegesis,” Kange said. “I believe that all that I have learned is transforming the way I read the Bible and teach the Word of God. I feel like I have been equipped to minister to women anywhere in the world.” 

Kange never wanted her time at seminary to be a purely academic experience. She quickly became involved with community activities on and off campus including the seminary’s weekly chapel services, Together Women’s Life events and involvement with First Baptist Church New Orleans.  

“Being able to connect with other women, share my story, pray with them and cry with them created a sense of community for me at NOBTS,” Kange said.  

“God gave me people to hold my hand on this journey, especially because I have been separated from my children for so long. This time has also been a season of healing for me after my loss. I felt like I found family here. These are going to be life-long relationships.” 

One of these women Kange met was Rebekah Callahan, the first person at the seminary that she talked to.  

Callahan serves as assistant dean of students for the office of spiritual formation and student life.  

God’s providence continued to be a theme in Kange’s story, as Callahan does not normally work at the front desk in the student life office, but just so happened to be doing so when Kange came in to get her student ID.  

“I just felt a sense in this situation to offer her whatever was needed,” Callahan said. “I took Ogola to get her phone fixed that afternoon and got to hear her story from day one. We got to connect and bond over her story and what the Lord had done in her life. The genuineness of her story was evident.” 

She invited Kange to attend First Baptist with her, which was the start of a deep friendship. 

“I was in awe of this faithful woman who was so obedient to come here just because the Lord called her to come here,” Callahan said. “There was a lot of her life testimony that spoke deeply to me and encouraged me. I learned a lot from our time together.” 

Callahan emphasized Kange truly got the most out of her short time at NOBTS, and her story perfectly represents the mission of the seminary. 

“It was incredible what she did in the time she was here,” Callahan said. “It was such an example of being all-in somewhere because you never know when that time is going to end. I think she was faithful to get trained here while also not neglecting anything she was called to back home. 

“We say ‘prepare here, serve anywhere,’ so we have to mean that. I miss her, but we have to be willing to let our people that we’ve trained really go and serve anywhere.”  

Now back in Nigeria, Kange said the most important thing throughout her entire journey has been trusting God. 

“For me, it’s about trusting God and having faith in his Word,” Kange said. “It’s scary to step out in faith, and if God had showed me all of the challenges that I would have to go through on this journey, I would probably not have come. But He just kept leading me and I just held on one step at a time. There were times when these challenges made my faith waiver, but all in all, God has been faithful on this journey. 

“Many times we are afraid to take a leap of faith because none of us have the whole picture. You just take the next step in faith believing that God is leading you down this path. You may not have the full picture but trust Him. As you are faithful in the next right thing, He opens the way.”