Amy Lugsch
Persia, Iowa
Baha'i since 1994

'The principles of the Faith were everything I had always believed in'

I was raised Catholic and thought I was comfortable with my faith. But it always bothered me that I was taught everyone else was going to go to hell.

When I was about 4, I told my family I knew I would witness Christ's return. (After becoming a Baha'i, I learned that Baha'is believe Baha'u'llah fulfills the promises of Christ's return.) They thought I was silly.


Amy LugschWhen I was 9, I became aware of the Baha'i Faith by listening to a Seals & Crofts album that listed some of the lyrics as being "from the Baha'i Sacred Writings." I ran around the house asking, "What's this, what's this?" No one knew.

Nearly 20 years later I applied for a secretarial position at a community action agency. I felt the interview went well and was optimistic about the outcome. I received a call saying I did not get the position, but would I come in to interview for another position?
This interview went even better than the first, and I left feeling I really wanted this position. I closed my eyes and prayed, "Dear God, if it be Your will, may I please get this job?" I then immediately wrote a letter saying how much I would enjoy the job and promised they wouldn't be disappointed.

A few days later I received a call asking, "When can you start?" I was now clerical support for Iowa WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children), setting up mobile clinics for in nine Iowa counties. I used to be on the WIC program with my children and always thought I would enjoy working to help women and their families.

There was a Baha'i on the WIC staff named Janet, and I asked if she had any literature I could read. She gave me Thief in the Night: The Case of the Missing Millennium by William Sears. I couldn't put it down. I set out on a thorough investigation of the Baha'i Faith.
I discovered the principles of the Baha'i Faith were everything I had always believed in. I just hadn't known the source of my beliefs. Janet later told me our boss had decided to hire another lady, but didn't call her right away. She procrastinated, uncharacteristically, just long enough to receive my letter and then called me that night.

It still amazes me how things worked out. If I would have gotten the job I originally applied for, I would never have gotten to know Janet. It is so awe-inspiring to witness His invisible hand at work.