‘A quiet, solid man of God’ - The story of Olavi Syvanto, who ran the only Christian bookstore in southern Israel and helped found Beersheva’s Nachalat Yeshua congregation
This story of Olavi’s life was written with the help of Yonatan Syvanto, Olavi’s son, and Howard Bass, the current pastor of Nachalat Yeshua, whom Olavi mentored for many years.
Olavi Syvanto was not a typical Israeli. In fact, he was not truly Israeli, despite living most of his life in Israel.
Yet, the soft-spoken, gentle man left an outsized impact on the believing community of Beersheva in southern Israel when he went to be with his Lord on July 1, 2024, in Omer, just outside Beersheva.
Olavi Syvanto was born on May 9, 1935 in Mikkeli, Finland. He was 14 years old when the Syvanto family moved from Finland and settled in the city of Tiberias, Israel in 1949. Kaarlo Syvanto, his father, had a vision from God to bring the Word of God to the Jews of Israel.
He founded a Bible ministry in the early 1950’s, supplying Bibles that contained both Old and New Testaments in Hebrew, and dozens of other languages, so that Jewish readers could find their own Messiah by reading about Him.
Over the years, Kaarlo printed Bibles in more than 40 different languages for free distribution. In the beginning he could afford to print only small amounts but as the Bible ministry expanded over the years, eventually hundreds of thousands of Bibles were distributed in Israel, the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere.
Olavi traveled to Sweden where he married his wife, Ester, before returning to Israel to live in Kibbutz Netzer Sireni. In the late 1950s, Olavi returned to Finland for his military service.
Perhaps inspired by his father’s work, Olavi and Ester felt God calling them to be involved in Bible ministry and while they were still in Finland, they received an invitation from the Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA) to open a Bible shop in the southern Israeli city of Beersheva.
Even though the job meant living in the middle of the desert, Olavi and Ester felt called to go. In 1959, the family of four moved to the city of Beersheva and for the next six years, lived in the building that housed the Bible shop, called The Bible House. It was a small structure located in the old Turkish part of the city, with only two rooms, one for the shop and one for the family.
The shop had a small store window facing the street, where Olavi would display an open Hebrew Bible turned to a different verse each day. Local residents visited the shop, asking for help or arguing about the faith, including Jewish residents, but most were very happy to be able to buy a Bible in their mother tongue.
Although there is apparent freedom of religion in Israel, believers in Yeshua/Jesus are still sometimes persecuted by Orthodox Jews who oppose anyone who shares the Gospel with Jews. The Bible House also became a target of such persecution; it was burned twice, and the windows were broken many times, however, despite the threats, Olavi faithfully served as the manager of the Bible shop for over 38 years.
Olavi resigned as manager of The Bible House in 1996 to take over his father Kaarlo's Bible distribution ministry when he could no longer manage it. In this position, he helped to bring Bibles in multiple languages to Israel just as Russian immigration from the former Soviet Union was rapidly increasing in the 1990s. In addition, there was an influx of foreign workers brought in to help in the agricultural industry and construction jobs in the early 2000s and Olavi saw an opportunity to offer Bibles in the different languages of these new immigrants and workers, languages such as Russian, Chinese, Thai, Romanian, and Filipino. He always looked for opportunities to offer free Bibles to those who requested.
Today, the work of this Bible distribution has passed on to a third generation.
However, Olavi Syvanto did not just sell spiritual literature and distribute Bibles. He loved the Word of God and wanted everyone to know and believe that Yeshua the Messiah was their personal savior.
As a founding member of the Beersheva congregation, Olavi served as an elder faithfully for more than 50 years. The congregation was a result of his conversations with a variety of people in the Bible shop.
The Bible shop was the only Christian bookstore in southern Israel. Bibles in more than 30 languages and other spiritual literature were available, and it also became a place of spiritual care. Because of the shop, many people were able to connect with local believers.
Initially, congregation meetings were held on the second floor and then the third floor of the Bible Shop, before eventually moving to another location in the city, also owned by CMA. That new location became the home of the Messianic congregation Nachalat Yeshua ("Inheritance of Yeshua").
Howard Bass, the current pastor of Nachalat Yeshua described Olavi as “a quiet man, as most Finns seem to be.” Bass says that Olavi was “steady in his faith.”
“He was a man of God,” Bass commented. “He didn't seek anything for himself, no name, no great prestige or power or anything like that. He wasn't seeking money, didn't gossip. He was just a solid man of God who helped a lot of people.”
He said that Olavi and Ester became “like a father and a mother” for himself and his wife, Randi. He described how Olavi took them to the hospital for the births of three of their four children.
Bass said Nachalat Yeshua started out as a small family Bible study in the Syvanto house. Over the next 13 years, from 1959 until 1972, Olavi and Ester slowly grew that Bible study into a congregation through their relationships with local believers.
He described Olavi as “a remarkable man, quiet-spoken, but very solid.”
“All of his four children honored, respected him, and their mother, and many others did too,” Bass said.
Olavi’s son, Yonatan agrees with this assessment.
"My father was a well-known Bible speaker in Finland and elsewhere. He was in charge of the congregation as an elder, but for us children he was always a safe, loving Father who was always ready to listen. My father was dear to all of us siblings, he created an atmosphere of peace and refuge at home,” Yonatan added.
Bass said he is thankful for Olavi’s impact on his life.
“I just thank God, though, for having such a godly example of a man of God around. We'll miss him, but we know the day will come when we will all be together with the Lord. What a great day that will be.”
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8 NIV)
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
