Another Dent In the Universe

Jim Bowman, communication visionary and founder of Scriptures in Use, has put another dent in the universe.

Jim was a successful advertising executive with Tucson Newspapers. His wife Carla was a tenured teacher in the Tucson school system. They retired from their careers in 1987 and went as missionaries to serve the native peoples of Latin America.

Communicating the Scriptures:

Soon after Jim arrived in Mexico, he recognized that communication was difficult. It wasn’t the language – Jim is fluent in Spanish – but most of the men, women, and young people whom he was trying to reach either could not or did not read.

So Jim began to communicate the Scriptures through storytelling, drama, and music. The response was immediate and dramatic. He developed a program that helps grassroots people to effectively plant churches through communicating the Scriptures in their mother tongue among traditional “oral” cultures.

Another Dent in the Universe

Later Jim launched Scriptures in Use (SIU), a ministry dedicated to reaching people for Christ through telling biblical stories. Today SIU’s footprint is in over thirty nations. The native peoples with whom SIU works have planted tens of thousands of churches.

The dent Jim Bowman has made is historic. He leads a humble, modest life. As the SIU staff and supporters gather next month for Jim’s retirement dinner, I have shared his story because Jim would probably never tell it himself.

We need more innovators like Jim, those who cooperate with God with patient persistence to shape the future they seek.