Email: Andy Greenhow

Dear Friends,

February has been an up and down month. The month began with the unbridled joy that is Mardi Gras day. Because Easter falls so early this year, Mardi Gras season is somewhat abbreviated, so the time between Epiphany and Mardi Gras day, February 5, was extra-concentrated with parades. Between January 6 and February 5, I went to more than a dozen parades.

Especially in the aftermath of the storm, when people return to town from all over the Katrina diaspora, Mardi Gras has added significance. I saw a band called Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars the week before Mardi Gras day. They were formed in refugee camps in Guinea after fleeing the civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. Their lead singer was talking about how music and entertainment provided hope for them when they were so far from home and feeling so low and neglected. He was talking about Sierra Leone but I think it’s a perfect analogy to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The body of the city is broken, but Mardi Gras feeds the soul of the city with music and parades. The overwhelmingly benign revelry gives the city a chance to remind itself that it is home, that it’s worth fighting for, and that it will return.

I was blessed to have a group of young adults working with me from France, Switzerland, Holland, Mexico, and Quebec for three weeks this month. We got a chance to really get to know each other, which was new for me. Usually, I only have a week with my volunteers. It was good to get the chance to connect. I think they sensed my falling into the winter doldrums, so they functioned as a support system for me, when I'm used to being the encourager and supporter of my volunteers.

The Mardi Gras season and the chance to show my international group around really gave me a new appreciation for this city. As February comes to a close, my anxiety is about what to do next year. This city is increasingly becoming a home, and I'm struggling with the decision to stay or to return to the northeast. Pray for me as I start to make these decisions in the springtime, and pray that we all emerge from the winter doldrums.

Yours,