“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).
Have you ever considered how complicated it is to put together a hymnal? Take your Lutheran Service Book, for example, which contains many beautiful hymns originally written in German and later translated into English.
Now imagine you had to create a hymnal for Iranians and Afghans. You would have to translate those German or English hymns into Farsi. German is read from left to right, as are all Western languages.
But Farsi is read from right to left. In which direction would you write the musical notation for your new hymnal? Tricky business, to say the least.
LCMS Eurasia is so blessed to have an extremely talented deaconess in Leipzig, Germany. Kim Bueltmann is not only a musical whiz but speaks Farsi and German, has a great love for music, and has successfully tackled such linguistic and musical head-scratchers for years.
Accompanying our FORO visitors from Illinois, Iowa, and the South Wisconsin District, we were thrilled to visit her and our partner missionary Rev. Hugo Gevers at St. Lukaskirche (SELK) in Leipzig this past Friday to experience first-hand their amazing ministry to immigrants from Iran and Afghanistan—through music.
Over the years, Kim has translated over thirty classic Lutheran hymns and much of our Lutheran liturgy into Farsi—often using the traditional Lutheran melodies. In addition, she helps St. Luke’s Persian parishioners navigate the German bureaucratic system, find apartments, and much more.
The Lord has blessed Kim with a rare blend of musical and linguistic talents but also with an abundant measure of love for her neighbors. We praise God for her, as she richly teaches through her translations, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in her heart to God!
(By the way, in Kim’s Farsi translations, she actually writes the musical notation of the hymns from right to left!)
Check out the video here
