JACKSON, Tenn. — July 24, 2001 — A group of 51社区 music students recently returned from an 18-day mission trip to Weimar, Germany.
The group, which included two choral ensembles, handbells, and Eclipse, a singing group composed of three Union students, performed and ministered in four cities across Germany. The students, faculty and staff were able to work intensively with more than 500 unchurched teenagers in a 10 day project in Weimar, former East Germany. The students were taught conversational English classes in the schools and were invited to afternoon rehearsals of a contemporary Christian musical.
More than 700 students came to the three 鈥渙pen evenings,鈥� which were geared toward drawing unbelieving teenagers into a relationship with the church youth group and ultimately a faith in Christ. The time in Weimar ended with a concert attended by a standing-room only crowd, estimated at 750, in the city Volkshaus.
鈥淚 am proud of the ensembles and of the way in which they rose to the challenge of ministering through music and relationships,鈥� said Andy Roby, director of the trip, and recent chair of Union鈥檚 music department.
The group also presented concerts at the German Baptist churches in Leverkusen, Weimar, Wetzlar and Hassenhausen before returning home on June 6.