WATCH VIDEO: My Mom just went home to be with the Lord – Here’s the eulogy I gave at her memorial service to honor her
Mary Jo Rosenberg loved Jesus, her family, Israel & Israel’s neighbors – I miss her dearly
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — Lynn and I just got home to Israel after more than six weeks in the United States.
We were so grateful to have the opportunity to brief Evangelical leaders on the latest developments in Israel, speak at various churches and events, meet with donors, and take some time away to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary.
And then my mom passed away.
She had been quite ill over the past year, and by God’s grace – and because of all our responsibilities in the States for The Joshua Fund and ALL ISRAEL NEWS – we were able to visit her and my dad in the Denver area six times this year.
Each time, we could see how significantly she was declining.
Mercifully, the Lord took her home to heaven on October 2.
On October 13, we gathered with family and friends to hold a memorial service for her.
My dad asked me to deliver the eulogy, and I was deeply honored to do so.
Here is the video – I hope you’ll find it encouraging.
Here, too, is an article that The Joshua Fund published on its website about my mom, with more details about her wonderful life and ministry:
Thank you so much for all the gracious, kind, and supportive messages you’ve been sending us from all over the world. Thanks, too, for your prayers. All of it is so appreciated and has been so helpful in such a challenging season.
Remembering a Mother’s Love for Jesus, Israel & Her Neighbors
“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying.” – Jesus Christ (John 11:25)
In the summer of 2006, Joel and Lynn Rosenberg founded The Joshua Fund with the strong, enthusiastic, and prayerful support of their parents.
None of them could possibly have imagined at the time that over the next two decades the Lord would use the ministry to raise and invest more than $100 million into advancing the Kingdom of Jesus Christ in the Epicenter and strengthening the Church in Israel and the Arab/Muslim world to fulfill the Great Commission.
Surely, the Lord has done “far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think,” as He promised in Ephesians 3:20 – and we believe the Lord is gearing up to do so much more.
That said, even as we rejoice in the Lord’s provision and all the fruit that is being borne, we are also praying for our founders who have experienced painful personal losses in recent months.
In December, Lynn’s beloved mother – June Elaine Meyers – went home to heaven.
Last week, my mother went home to be with the Lord, as well.
They were two of The Joshua Fund’s most faithful prayer warriors and encouragers, and we will miss them dearly.
Today, let’s take a moment to look back and remember the life and ministry of Joel’s mom.
FAITHFUL WIFE, MOTHER, AND DISCIPLE OF JESUS
Mary Joan Copia Rosenberg, of Lakewood, Colorado, went home to be with the Lord on October 2, 2025, at the age of 85.
Mary Jo, as her friends called her, was a loving and forgiving wife for 60 years, and a devoted and prayerful mother of her three children – Joel, Emily, and Katie.
Her kids knew they could always depend on their mom. She would drop anything she was doing to help them, serve them, sacrifice for them, and encourage them. And from the time the kids were little, she loved to “make memories,” planning fun family vacations, day trips, and many other adventures.
She was also an enthusiastic grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of four, and she loved seeing them whenever possible.
She was a wise servant of God, a devoted missionary, and an expert Bible teacher to both children and adults.
Mary Jo lived a life marked by love, forgiveness, and hospitality because she trusted every word of the gospel of her Savior, Jesus Christ.
She was born on December 22, 1939, in Rome, New York. She graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 1961, promptly became an English and French teacher, and married Leonard Charles Rosenberg on August 14, 1965, near Syracuse, New York.
From her beloved mother, Esther Copia, she developed a caring heart for others and a deep sense of responsibility to keep her word and be dependable. She could always be trusted.
COMING TO FAITH IN THE JESUS REVOLUTION
Mary Jo was born again in the spring of 1973, during the early years of the Jesus Revolution.
Six months later, Len – who was raised in an Orthodox Jewish home in Brooklyn – dramatically came to faith in Jesus as Messiah.
Together, they quickly developed a hunger to know the Bible and to fellowship with other believers at a local church in Fairport, New York, where they lived for about 25 years.
As her faith deepened, Mary Jo became excited about sharing and explaining the hope of the gospel with people of all ages, races, and continents.
She and Len also developed a great love for meeting missionaries, encouraging them, and donating to them — and had a special interest in supporting ministries that smuggled Bibles into Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union before the Wall fell.
In the late 1980s, she joined the ministry staff of International Students, Inc., welcoming scholars from around the world into her home, cooking them meals, taking them on fun outings, sharing the love of Jesus with them, teaching them the Bible, and helping them become faithful disciples.
STARTING A MINISTRY FROM SCRATCH
Then, in the late 1990s – as they were approaching the age when many people are looking forward to retiring – Mary Jo and Len were drawn to a whole new chapter in life in which they would not only serve the Lord full-time but would actually start a nonprofit ministry.
Mary Jo loved and trusted the words of Isaiah 46:4:
“Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am He; I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
These words became her guide.
In 2000, as a couple, they founded Ministry Architecture, Incorporated, to design missionary training centers, orphanages, medical missionary hospitals, and other facilities – free of charge – for Evangelical Christian ministries operating in the developing world.
For his entire professional life, Len has been an architect. Mary Jo served as the Director of Operations and loved traveling with Len to encourage missionaries and nationals, pray with persecuted women, and share the gospel.
Over the next quarter of a century, they served in 23 developing countries, including those in Africa, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, the former Soviet republics, Israel, and the broader Middle East.
Mary Jo loved crossing cultures and borders, serving Jesus and the Church until she physically could not leave the house anymore. She trusted God’s promise through the prophet Isaiah:
“And even to your gray hairs I will carry you.”
She trained Americans in cross-cultural friendship evangelism. Her ministry was notable for her ability to adapt and understand the deepest needs of people. With humility, patience, and grace, she eagerly served in jungles, deserts, and mountains, leaving a spiritual blessing that inspired many who knew her.
A SPECIAL LOVE FOR ISRAEL & HER NEIGHBORS
Mary Jo had a special love for Israel and the Jewish people, as well as Israel’s Arab, Iranian, and Muslim neighbors.
She strongly encouraged Joel to study in Israel at Tel Aviv University and return to the Jewish state to serve the Lord.
She and Len first visited Israel in the fall of 2003 with Joel, his wife Lynn, and their sons.
They returned as often as they could – both to do ministry with Israelis and Palestinians and to walk where Jesus and the apostles walked – and to meet and learn from all kinds of people.
(In a recent episode of the “Inside The Epicenter” podcast, Joel and Lynn share some wonderful personal reflections and memories of Mary Jo’s love for Israel, which we hope you’ll find encouraging.)
MAKING FAMILY MEMORIES
Back home – whether in Syracuse, Fairport, or the Denver area – Mary Jo had great joy in hosting many gatherings of her family around the dinner table or in outings that she planned. She loved sharing stories with her kids and grandkids, as well as listening to their adventures and encouraging them to walk closely with Jesus.
She loved days and evenings filled with laughter and making special memories together. She especially loved having family devotions with all the children, with Len leading Bible studies and Mary Jo asking the kids what they needed prayer for.
The Apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:10 were profound to her. She believed – and taught – that “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
She always sought to find the work that God had prepared for her – and then to do it with zeal.
Her kids remember her loving to do “pool evangelism” – she loved taking her children to beaches and pools and often found someone to talk to about the Lord.
Whether supporting her community or reaching out to strangers abroad, she embodied kindness. Many souls will remember her hospitality and personal concern for them.
In recent days, friends have written to Len and the kids from all over the world that Mary Jo “was dedicated to teaching the biblical basis for marriage,” “she was brave and happy,” “she was a great blessing to us,” and “we are sad to lose her but also very happy for her being with Jesus.”
SETTING AN EXAMPLE THAT LED TO THE FOUNDING OF THE JOSHUA FUND
The example that Len and Mary Jo set in devoting themselves wholly to Christ, loving and ministering to people of all nations and backgrounds, and even starting an Evangelical ministry from scratch, has had a great impact on their children and grandchildren.
For example, the founding of Ministry Architecture in 2000 inspired me and Lynn to start a nonprofit ministry in 2006 called The Joshua Fund.
The mission of TJF is to educate and mobilize Christians to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus according to Genesis 12:1–3, and to invest in and equip the Church in the Middle East – the region they call the Epicenter – to preach the gospel, make disciples, care for the poor and needy, and fulfill the Great Commission.
In her will, Mary Jo requested that upon her homecoming to heaven – in lieu of flowers – financial gifts be made to The Joshua Fund.
Tax-deductible gifts can be made securely online at www.JoshuaFund.com.
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
You might also like to read this:
