Sister Gertrud was born in 1951, in a small village in the far west of Germany. She felt privileged to be able to attend Secondary School, then go on to further studies in math and history. "The university and the early '70s with their emphasis on social justice kindled my interest in, and concern for, those countries and peoples who were less advantaged than I," she recalls. "I rediscovered my faith, and recommitted myself to the God of the prophets." She discovered in Medical Mission Sisters a worldview and values similar to her own, and decided to join the Society.

"Community life with its ups and downs, its enriching and challenging days, has been a concrete school of love for me," she says. After studying social work, she was assigned to a Nairobi parish with large slum areas. "Sharing life, joys, and sorrows with these people, finding myself surprised and enriched by their generosity and depth of faith, was one of the most formative times of my life," she remembers. After a year of study at the Institute for Spiritual Leadership in Chicago, she returned to East Africa to work in formation, and also became involved in the Medical Mission Sisters' response to AIDS in the area.

Returning to Germany in late 1990, Sister Gertrud experienced the re-unification of her country at the same time she was being re-acquainted with fellow citizens after 10 years. "What helped me most was contact with people whom I encountered in my new work as a member of the pastoral team of a hospital," she explains. She went on to serve as Sector Coordinator for Europe, and most recently as Assistant Coordinator for the entire Society. "Engaging in dialogue, and trying to help create space for dialogue and life-giving search of truth, is only possible because I am convinced that we are called to and sustained in this process by the one in whom 'we live and move and have our being.'"