Habari Gani has spread ‘Good News’ for 14 years

By Shea Turner
Contributing writer

In 2008, the CYO Youth/Young Adult Ministry Office and the Office of Black Catholic Ministries in the Archdiocese of New Orleans brought together a team of youth ministers from the Black Catholic community to create the Habari Gani Retreat for Black Catholic youth. It was to “reignite our faith” after Hurricane Katrina left some of us trying to fill a gap in our spiritual lives.

The retreat’s purpose is to help the high school youth who attend realize that they are part of the Gospel, or “Good News,” of the Catholic Church. Dr. Ansel Augustine, the retreat’s founder, and the original retreat team chose Habari Gani as the retreat name because of its Swahili meaning – “What’s the News.”

In the past 14 years, the Habari Gani Retreat has impacted so many lives, including mine. I was a participant in the inaugural Habari Gani Retreat in 2008. I built so many long-lasting connections with other youth from across the archdiocese, including youth from the dioceses of Baton Rouge and Biloxi, and learned so much about myself and my faith.

Attending the retreat offered me leadership training to become a servant leader in my parish, St. Paul the Apostle, and in the archdiocese. I was so impacted that I wanted to attend the next year as well.

Currently, I am a member of the Habari Gani team that helps plan the retreats. Our team members work hard to create an experience for current youth that not only resembles what I experienced but also is relevant in the lives of current Habari Gani youth.

Habari Gani’s uniqueness is something that is difficult to describe but is much needed in our church. Black youth in our archdiocese need this retreat as a way to connect with others like them. It serves as a reminder of who they are and where they come from, as well as gives insight and support for where they are going.

The pandemic over the last two years hasn’t allowed the retreat to happen in its traditional form. For example, in the spring of 2021, we held a one-day gathering. This year, on June 25, we held a “Habari Gani Family Reunion” to reconnect with past retreat attendees and to gather new leadership for future retreats and other events.

For many of the reunion attendees, this was the first time they have attended a church event in several years. They said there was something special they related to during their Habari Gani experience.

Next year, our main focus will be registering youth and young adults to attend the 13th National Black Catholic Congress in the Archdiocese of Washington.

We are hopeful to have Habari Gani return in its original format in the spring of 2024 but remain grateful to all who have created and supported this retreat over the past 14 years.

Many former attendees are still involved in ministry in various capacities, even a couple who have become priests. No matter what the former attendees are doing with their lives, all are a witness to the “Good News” that they are children of a loving God.

Shea Turner is an educator, a mom and a parishioner at St. Paul the Apostle Church in New Orleans. She has been involved in various archdiocesan programs since high school, including, but not limited to, Habari Gani, the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI) and Teen Cross.