The church coffee bar created by the quartet. Left to right: Wendy Christiansen, Shelly Hansen, Shelley DeJong, Christiana Ostrem.
Mosaic Quartet Unites Others in Faith
vBy Julie Eickhoff
Four women with a passion for singing and a dedication
to faith were brought together to spread the rewarding joy of
music and worship with others.
Wendy Christiansen, Shelley DeJong, Shelly Hansen and
Christiana Ostrem found the power in their music when
they first sang together at a funeral in 2014. Though not
yet formally considered a quartet, all four sang for DeJong’s
mom, DeJong bravely singing with them. She later told the
group that the moment carried her through the rest of that
difficult day. They didn’t sing together again until a church
service in 2016 and another funeral in early 2017. After
this last appearance, word spread about the harmonious group and
they soon received requests to sing at events together: anniversaries,
women’s retreats, funerals, senior banquets, worship nights, harvest
festivals and even made an appearance at the Turner County Fair. They
presented Christmas music during the holiday at the beautiful new
Danish Museum in Viborg, sharing their love of holiday music with
others.
Their quartet name wasn’t considered until later. “We were told
that we needed a name,” Wendy said as they all laugh. The four found
themselves sitting in the corner of the peaceful First Baptist Church
in Viborg, throwing out several possible names. As they prayed for
assistance for a fitting name, the perfect acronym came to them –
Mosaic, or “Making our Souls Alive in Christ.”
6vHERVOICEvMAY/JUNE 2019
The quartet practices together. Left to Right: Christiana Ostrem, Shelley DeJong,
Wendy Christiansen, Shelly Hansen.
Christiansen recalls how she thought the name was fitting as she
gazed up at the colorful stained-glass windows. “Our voices are all so
different individually. I was shocked the first time I sang with these
gals, everything just fit, just like those different colors of glass.”
Though the ladies all now live in the close-knit community of
Viborg and all have similar musical and religious backgrounds, each
personal story and music preference varies. Music genres of jazz,
worship, acoustic, country, 80’s, classical, contemporary and rock were
mentioned. They laugh, explaining that not everyone in the group likes
country.
Christiansen grew up in Clear Lake, SD and remembers her first