Gundula Christiansen and Bernd Ebert

When Laurie was a junior in high school she formed a close friendship with Gundula Christiansen, an exchange student from Germany one year older than Laurie.  They both played violin in the orchestra.  Ed and I adored Gundula as well.   

Gundula loved her host family very much and was in close contact with them through the years.  Her host father, Walt, was near death so Gundula and her husband Bernd decided to visit Walt before he passed.  Truly beautiful.

They flew into DFW and stayed with Laurie.

After attending Walt's visitation in Goshen, Indiana, they drove here.  Oh how we enjoyed seeing Gundula after 25+ years and meeting her handsome husband.  They were here overnight and left this morning after Ed made his famous waffles which they devoured.  They left this morning to drive to Houston and on to Corpus Christi for a much needed rest.  Then back to Laurie's and home to Germany.  They live way north close to Denmark!

We learned they have traveled all over the world including a lengthy trip to Australia and New Zealand!  

Bernd and Gundula instruct teachers how to work with special needs children.  Gundula was a student in one of Bernd's classes when Gundula was at university so there is a 10 year age difference between the two.

Ugandan Milele Childrens' Choir

This group was in B-N for the week.  I had the honor of attending one of their performances at Westminster Village, a large retirement community.  Having been to Uganda coupled with the support our UU Church is providing to New Life School made their performance particularly significant.  See my post of January 12, 2012.  Their CD and DVD displays their brilliant talent. Some learned the Choirs local performance schedule in order to see them perform a second time!

The picture and the article below appeared on the front page of our newspaper. 

NORMAL — Life looked pretty grim for Eric Jjombwe, 7, of Kampala, Uganda, whose mother was jobless and whose father died of HIV/AIDS. That was before the boy became part of Imani Milele Children, a Christian ministry for orphans that gave him a place to live and an education. The group’s name is Swahili for “believe always” or “faith everlasting.”ow 17, Jjombwe is part of the 25-member Imani Milele Children’s Choir that is on a nine-month tour of the United States to raise money and awareness for the organization. The choir of 10 boys and 15 girls, ages 9 to 17, danced and sang jubilant African songs Wednesday at Olympia High School and Middle School in rural Stanford.

The Rev. Moses Ssemanda Mbuga, 
founder of Imani Milele Children, a ministry in Uganda

“It’s a great experience. I enjoy the roads, the food and the cars,” said Jjombwe, who hopes to be a lawyer someday. “We work a lot and balance school and choir,” said choir member Debbie Opaki, 16, who hopes to be a physician one day. “The best part is to have a chance to go to school and to travel in America.” Opaki, who joined Imani Milele when she was 8 years old, called it “life-changing.”The choir, hosted by Calvary United Methodist Church in Normal, will be in Central Illinois until Saturday, said Jennifer Bauersfeld, a member of the host church. Other performance stops include: the church; The Baby Fold and Parkside Junior High School, both in Normal; Westminster Village in Bloomington; and tonight at Decatur New Vision Church. The children travel with five Ugandan adults, including a teacher who helps them continue their education on the road, said Stephanie Graham, a nurse from Sebastian, Fla., who is traveling with the choir. Her church, Crossroad Christian Fellowship Church in Sebastian is sponsoring the tour, which will run until December.

The choir’s performances raise money for children at education centers in Uganda.
“Our target is $100,000. It’s not easy to get there,” said Sam Straxy, the choir director.
When the current 25 members of the choir return to Uganda, another 25