From the mission field: Sharing God’s Word through music

LCMS missionary and sacred music educator Becky Bartelt teaches a chimes class at Salvation Lutheran Church in Chiayi, Taiwan, on March 26. (Alex Wu)

LCMS missionary Becky Bartelt serves in the LCMS Asia region as a sacred music educator, based in Taiwan. In this role, she assists LCMS church partners in learning about and developing hymnody and serves local congregations and others in the region through God’s gift of music.

In a recent newsletter, Bartelt shared several updates from the mission field. First, she recently began leading a community chimes group at Salvation Lutheran Church in Chiayi, Taiwan. More than a dozen women from the community signed up and have been regularly attending, learning how to ring chimes and read notes and rhythms. “It’s a lot of new things,” Bartelt wrote, “but they say the time is going quickly and they are enjoying it.” Bartelt adds that Salvation’s pastor begins each session with a devotion on one of the hymns and that the group will be playing “The Strife Is O’er, the Battle Done” and “Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia” for the church’s Easter concert on April 25.

Second, Bartelt shared that she recently finished a month of visiting Peace Lutheran Church in Banqiao (a region of Taipei, the capital of Taiwan) to teach at the congregation’s Saturday Bible Camp. As she visited each Saturday during the month, she taught English Bible songs, as well as English words, to the children in attendance. She also spent time with Peace’s choir, teaching vocal exercises to the singers and helping them rehearse selections for Palm/Passion Sunday and Easter Sunday.

Bartelt wrote that on her last day of teaching, a man offered to take her to the high-speed rail station after rehearsal. During the drive, he shared with her that while his wife is a Christian, he is not. He said, however, that he comes with his wife to special activities like these rehearsals and that he would be attending an upcoming hymn festival. Bartelt wrote, “Please pray that all these activities will bless participants and congregation members and that God would indeed work through the Word set to music to work faith in people’s hearts.”

Learn more about Bartelt and her missionary service at lcms.org/bartelt.

Posted April 21, 2026