He then traveled to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, where he served as a Moravian missionary and where his wife Anna died.

Arriving in Nazareth on December 14, 1740, he helped to expand and strengthen that community until March 1741, when he and his nephew, David Nitschmann, began work on building the new community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Joining them in this endeavor were Johann Bühner, Martin Mack, Matthias Seibold, Anton Seiffert, and David Zeisberger.

[7] He died in Bethlehem on April 14, 1758, and was buried in "God's Acre" cemetery there.

[8] Nitschmann is sometimes considered the founder of Bethlehem, but that is not correct, although he was a leading figure in the early days.