Rosemary McEachern Jensen, born July 20, 1929, is the fourth of six children born to Don and Mayhoward McEachern. Raised in a log house on the banks of the St. John’s River near Jacksonville, Florida, Rosemary knew at an early age that she wanted to tell others about God. In the summer of 1946 when a pastor challenged a group of youth to give their lives to the foreign mission field, Rosemary felt compelled to step forward and answer the call. That one step began a seven-decade journey in God’s service, first as a missionary to Tanzania, then as the executive director of Bible Study Fellowship International, and most recently as the president of the Rafiki Foundation, Inc.
The Rafiki Foundation was founded in 1985 by Rosemary and others who desired to help Africans to know God by caring for and educating orphans and giving economic opportunities to widows. “I do believe that Rafiki is the thing that God had me born to do,” Mrs. Jensen concludes.
Rosemary currently lives in Umatilla, Florida, with her husband, Dr. Robert T. Jensen. She is a graduate of the University of Florida and holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Concordia University.
She is the author of two books: Praying the Attributes of God: A Guide to Personal Worship Through Prayer and Living the Words of Jesus: Meditations on 96 Crucial Topics of the Christian Life.