Rosemary Jensen felt lost. After serving as a missionary in Africa for nine years, Rosemary returned to the United States and immediately felt a lack of purpose.
Then a friend told her about BSF.
“I joined a church in San Antonio and decided to lead a Bible study. One friend mentioned having interesting Bible study materials, and after some initial hesitation, I agreed to take a look. She showed me the BSF lessons for Genesis. I was immediately captivated by the depth and insight of the material. It felt like the author of the study truly understood me.”
From there, Rosemary’s involvement with BSF grew. She served, she led, and she taught. Eventually, Rosemary would become BSF’s second Executive Director after Audrey Wetherell Johnson. Under Rosemary’s leadership, Bible Study Fellowship entered an era of scalability: establishing the San Antonio Headquarters campus, guiding an unprecedented expansion in classes around the globe—including Africa, South America, and India—and launching the School Program (now known as BSF Students).
Today, Rosemary continues to pray for and support BSF. She has used her BSF experience to start another ministry, Rafiki Foundation, which has Training Villages in ten African countries to cultivate a multitude of godly men and women through Bible study and classical Christian education.
All along her journey, God prepared Rosemary to do His work, teaching her valuable lessons about leadership.
Leaders are willing, not perfect
One of the most surprising things about Rosemary is she never considered herself to be a leader. Her willingness to serve, however, paved the way for more and more opportunities to build God’s kingdom.
“I never volunteered for anything. I was just told that this is what I should be doing. People would say, ‘You should be teaching this’ or ‘You should be doing this.’
“I was only a Teaching Leader for two years, and Miss Johnson asked me to be an area advisor. I said, ‘I don’t know how to do it or what to do.’ And she told me, ‘It’s just like being a teaching leader, only just a little bit harder.’ It took a lot of trust in the Lord to say yes. But I did what she thought I could do and therefore I could do it.”
It took a lot of trust in the Lord to say yes.
During her years of volunteering in various roles in BSF, Rosemary learned to rely on God’s promises and His character through Scripture. Her willingness to step into uncomfortable roles to serve the Lord prepared her to lead a growing ministry.
“Later, Miss Johnson said, ‘You know, I think you could be the director.‘ And I looked at her and I thought, ‘My goodness, that was the last thing I ever in this world would have thought of.’”
Rosemary Jenson became BSF’s longest-serving Executive Director, holding the position for 20 years. Her experience reminds each of us that God provides what we need to lead when we willingly answer His call. Even when we feel inadequate, He is more than enough.
Leaders learn from others
For many of us, leadership brings an added pressure to have all the answers. We struggle to stand as an expert in every situation. But Rosemary realized she would grow in her leadership skills by watching and learning from those around her, no matter their position.
As a new Teaching Leader, Rosemary especially relied on a member in her class. Though Rosemary was appointed to lead, she was always ready to learn.
“Fortunately, there was a woman there who had been a Class Administrator. She really helped me a lot. I had to ask her questions, everything to do, and she helped me to do it.”
By watching her predecessor, Rosemary was influenced by Audrey Wetherell Johnson’s unwavering commitment to God’s Word.
If you love something, you don't have to tell anybody. It'll come out in the way you do it.
“She didn’t have to say she loved the Bible—it was just evident in everything she did. She just exuded a love for what she was doing. Her love for teaching the Bible. If you love something, you don’t have to tell anybody. It’ll come out in the way you do it.”
From those experiences of asking for help and observing others, Rosemary developed her own leadership style—inspired by fellow believers and rooted in God’s Word.
Leaders find joy in struggles
While reflecting on her tenure as BSF Executive Director, Rosemary was honest about the difficulties she faced: the hard decisions, long hours, and time away from her family. But none of the hardships ever diminished the joy she experienced while serving her precious Lord.
“I loved what I learned more than anything else. You know, the teacher learns more than the student. And I think that was probably what I loved most.
“I think studying the Bible is the most important thing that you can do in your life, because it’s only in the Bible that you learn to know who God is. It’s only in the Bible that you learn to know who you are, and it’s only in the Bible that you really understand the world that you live in. So how do you know how to live if you don’t study the Bible?”
Many years have passed since Rosemary retired, and we still hold fast to her wisdom.
Studying the Bible is the most important thing that you can do in your life.
As the culture shifts around us, the world desperately needs Christian leaders like Rosemary. Our Revelation study reminds us that we live in a spiritual battlefield where God calls His people to persevere and respond in faith. We are called to stand for truth and share His grace.
We can cling to Revelation 14:12, which “calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.”
Rosemary Jensen’s story inspires us to remember that God calls us to lead at unexpected times and in unexpected ways. When we don’t feel prepared, God uses a willing heart for His glory. When we struggle for direction, we can learn from those who have gone before us. And when we face hardships, we can look amidst the struggle for the glimpses of joy God has planted.