This is a season of our lives when the wonder of the gospel has broken into our hearts afresh. The Lord opened an opportunity for us to join a group from Covenant Theological Seminary on a trip to Israel in March.

Over the years, God has graciously enabled us to see much of His world. This journey turned out to be the most meaningful and inspiring of all our travels. From the northern boundary at Tel Dan, where Abraham traveled from Hebron to Dan to rescue his nephew Lot (Gen. 14:13–16) and King Jeroboam set up the golden calf (1 Kings 12:28–30), we toured south to see Petra. We saw Mt. Nebo, from where Moses viewed the Promised Land that he was not permitted to enter; and Bethany Beyond the Jordan, where many believe Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.

We spent four days in Jerusalem. To my surprise, all over the city I ran into Ethiopians who are Israeli citizens. To my utter astonishment, I discovered that one of the families we met at a store had immigrated from the same tribe I (Fikre) come from; I am still trying to process that encounter. Most of the biblical locations we visited were owned by either the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church. I was born and raised in the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia.

The festival of Purim was being celebrated on our free day in Jerusalem. From our hotel we took a long walk down King David Street, Shlomo ha Market Street, and on to Jaffa Street toward City Hall. The streets were teeming with people—families with children dressed in festive clothes, bands entertaining the crowds, street-side cafes jammed, and even parades trying to make it through the throngs!

As we turned onto Jaffa Street, we noticed a store with the inscription “Bible Society in Israel.” We stepped in to check it out. The young man at the front desk was busy on the phone while we looked for DVDs and maps. After he was done, as we exchanged greetings, he noticed our accent and asked, “Where are you from?” When he heard that Ritva was born in Finland and I in Ethiopia, he wanted to know how we met. For a while, it was only the three of us in the bookstore, so we had the leisure to share how we had met while serving on one of the ships of Operation Mobilization (OM) during 1983–87. That bit of information turned out to be a second point of deeper contact with the store manager. He was quick to point to some of the Bibles and Christian literature that OM supplies to the store. Then he gently said, “My mother is from Finland!” She had come as a volunteer to help in the kibbutz settlements, then fell in love and married the man who would become his father. He shared with us how his father had given his life to Jesus after a long search for truth and God. The store manager had come to faith at a young age. We were so blessed to share what happens when the wonder of the gospel breaks into our lives.

The years leading up to the time when God opened the privilege for Ritva and me to receive discipleship and evangelism training with OM were filled with major, life-transforming moments.

I (Ritva) was raised in northern Finland, number seven in a family of nine children. We lost our father when I was seven years old. My mother worked tirelessly to provide for us. Her devotion to the things of the Lord, especially how she demonstrated reverence for God by honoring the Lord’s Day, has always been an anchor for my own devotion to the Lord Jesus. As I was completing high school, the Lord began to stir in my heart a deep awareness of my wayward lifestyle. I was 17 when I read an evangelist booklet, The Four Spiritual Laws. After my period of soul searching, the Lord Jesus finally brought me to Himself, gloriously setting me free from a heavy burden of guilt and fear, on Nov. 3, 1977.

After graduating from high school, I attended horticulture school. Then I went to Norway to work at a nursery. While there, I had the opportunity to visit one of the ships of OM, the MV Logos, and meet some of the young people on board. As a young believer I was so moved with their love and dedication to Christ that I began to earnestly ask the Lord to open a way for me to serve with OM. He graciously provided for me, and I served for three-and-a-half years on the MV Doulos.

Jerusalem was mentioned in endearing terms in my (Fikre’s) family. The knowledge of God and His law was instilled in my heart at the Catholic schools my parents made sure my siblings and I attended through high school. I am the oldest of five in my family. My father had passed away a year before I completed high school. In Aug. 1974, I came to the U.S. for higher education at Franklin College in Franklin, Ind. During that time, Ethiopia went through a major social and political upheaval. By God’s grace, I managed to earn a degree in chemistry and started to work.

The season of my life from 1974 and well into 1981 was wrought with turmoil. A fellow employee, Bob Koch, introduced me to his pastor, Rev. Keith Magill, then the pastor of Southside Reformed Presbyterian Church (SRPC) in Southport, Ind. On Nov. 21, 1981, Keith explained the gospel to me using the bridge illustration. I am so thankful the Lord prompted him to lead me through the sinner’s prayer. I was converted that day. The saints at SRPC received me graciously and began to disciple me.

In 1985, the Lord’s people provided the support so I could serve in OM. The MV Doulos was planning her first voyage around Africa, and I served on the ship from 1985 to 1987. A month before Ritva completed her term, I received permission to talk to her privately. Six months later in Nov. 1987, I flew to Kuhmo, Finland. The Lord enabled us to work out all the details so we could get married in December that year.

When we returned to Indianapolis, we were warmly received by my home church, SRPC. Our apartment was not ready. So, Dr. and Mrs. Roy Blackwood opened their home for us, and we lived with them for two weeks. Beyond that blessing, 2nd Reformed Presbyterian Church graciously granted me a six-month fully funded training period under Dr. Blackwood. He encouraged me to pursue the desire the Lord had placed on my heart—the hope to gain seminary-level training. The Lord again provided through SRPC and employment, and we moved to Vernon Hills, Ill., to learn and serve my old friend, elder Bob Koch, and Rev. Harry Metzger, then the pastor of Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church in Prairie View, Ill.

God richly blessed our time in Illinois: He gave us our first son, Joshua (1993); called me to serve on session as one of the elders; enabled me to complete the MDiv program at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; allowed us to host Bible studies in our apartment; and opened the door so I could get back in the flavor chemistry business.

Providentially, the opportunity to serve in a new church plant effort the Great Lakes–Gulf Presbytery was nurturing, and a job offer at a flavor house in South Bend, Ind., opened up simultaneously. So, in fall 1995, we moved to Elkhart, Ind. We were glad to join the two families that had started to meet at Bill and Claudia Landow’s home in Goshen, Ind. Rev. Andy McCracken took on the challenge to be our founding pastor and plant Elkhart Reformed Presbyterian Church (ERPC). It is such a privilege to be among those who testify that the Lord Jesus Christ has been pleased to plant and nurture an RP Church in Elkhart, Ind.

After Andy was called to Columbus, Ind., Rev. Keith Magill served as our pastor for 10 years. Since fall 2016, Wade Mann has been our pastor. We at ERPC are greatly blessed by the love and ministry of Wade and Barb Mann. The Lord has blessed us with a strong ministry leadership comprised of four elders and four deacons.

The Lord blessed us with our second son, Johannes, in 1999. He has now completed his second year at Purdue Mechanical Engineering Technology School. In July 2016, we were blessed to attend the wedding of our oldest son to his beloved, April. We are beginning to adjust to this new stage of life as empty nesters!

Worshiping God as we seek His favor and guidance while reading His Word is so much more “in-time” and “in real-life” since our tour of the Land of the Scriptures. Praise be to our Father in heaven for drawing us ever closer to our Lord and good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

Fikre and Ritva Menbere live in Elkhart, Ind. They have two sons, Joshua and Johannes. Ritva is a homemaker and heavily involved at Elkhart, Ind., RPC, where Fikre served as an elder. Fikre is the senior flavor chemist at a flavor house in South Bend, Ind.