On her wedding day, Emmy Josefson was given a Bible. Two months later, when she moved with her husband from Texas to Qatar, Emmy left her Bible behind.
“It just wasn’t something I was interested in,” she said.
At the time, Emmy would describe herself as “spiritual.” She had served with the Peace Corps in Morocco and practiced meditation and yoga. She had a persistent longing for something more, and the move to Qatar felt like an adventure on the way to seeking a higher purpose. In Qatar, Emmy and her husband were teachers at an English-speaking school. They made friends and started a family. Qatar felt like home.
Five years later, Emmy and her husband returned to the United States. With three boys under the age of 4, Emmy decided to stay home and focus on parenting. She traded her life of adventure for long days of diapers and laundry.
“It was a huge transition for me,” Emmy said. “When I was teaching, I got to talk about politics and history. As a mom, I felt like I lost that.”
A friend’s persistence
During that time, Emmy’s friend invited her to try BSF.
“I saw her every week at a play date and every single week she asked me to come,” Emmy shared. “She was relentless in inviting people to BSF.”
Emmy always turned her down until her friend mentioned one important fact: “I realized they had free childcare.”
Preparing for her first week in BSF, Emmy needed a Bible. The one she abandoned years before was left in a box labeled “donate.”
“I walked into my garage, pulled it off the top of the box, and brought it in. I got into that BSF chair reluctantly, but it became my favorite day of the week.”
BSF offered a break from Emmy’s daily routine, but it quickly became much more.
“I got into that BSF chair reluctantly, but it became my favorite day of the week.”
“I came with a million questions. The women I met on that journey shepherded me. They became my community. It was a really intimate group. That was what I was yearning for.”
In God’s Word, Emmy discovered the higher purpose she had been missing. A year after joining BSF, Emmy gave her life to Jesus and got baptized.
“I wanted the four women there from BSF who shepherded me in my relationship with Jesus. These were the women who would sit and answer my questions. The instant I made the decision to be baptized I felt different. I had been meditating before, but now I was praying, using my Bible. I felt completely different after my baptism. Through BSF, I’m completely changed.”
Four years ago, Emmy was searching for spirituality. Today, she is filled with the Holy Spirit. Emmy and her family have moved back to Qatar, where they live in an expatriate compound. She still has plenty of questions. To dive deeper into God’s Word, she enrolled in online seminary.
“I always tell people that God brought me back to America so I could find Jesus, then He sent me back into the world.”
God’s relentless pursuit
God led Emmy on a path toward salvation and used His people to show her the way.
“Christians have a light, and I always thought, ‘I want that, how do I get that?’ That is something I’ve been chasing. I can look back now and see that God was always there.”
The simple gift of a Bible grew into a lifetime love of God’s Word. A friend’s persistent invitation to BSF gave Emmy the courage to ask God her questions. Faithful BSF group members and leaders walked alongside Emmy as she approached the cross and surrendered her life to Jesus.
“I can look back now and see that God was always there.”
In our study, People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided, we see God’s relentless pursuit of His people. We meet the prophets He used along the way. We may not know much about their personal lives, but we do know that Amos, Joel, Obadiah, and the rest of the prophets were just ordinary men. They were brothers, sons, and friends. They struggled with sin and longed to serve the Lord. God used their obedience to deliver His extraordinary message. And He still uses His people to do that today.
We may not be called to deliver prophecy to a nation, but we are clearly called to share the gospel. Through God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, we can light the path toward salvation. But are we willing to take that first step toward leading others to Christ? Where is God calling you to declare His truth? Who will you pursue?
“I will forever be grateful for BSF,” Emmy shared. “If I could say anything, I would say keep inviting your friends. There is no greater gift that I’ve ever been given. BSF changed my life, it gave me Jesus.”
“BSF changed my life, it gave me Jesus.”