When raiders entered Uganda in 1982 and stole the cattle of the Karamojong people, they fled in search of food. Thousands stumbled and fell by the roadside. There they lay, bones bleaching in the sun.

The following year Paul Eshleman drove by on the rutted, dirt road. He couldn't take his eyes off the bones. Finally he stopped. Picking up a Karamojong skull in each hand, Paul looked at them and pondered: Did these people have the chance to hear about Jesus?

Deeply moved, he stopped in the next village and asked 18 villagers if they knew who Jesus was. Nobody knew. "Sir, I'd like to tell you about Jesus," one little boy said plaintively, "but I've never heard that name before."

It's not fair, Paul thought, that people shouldn't get at least one chance to hear about Jesus.

That thought drives Paul Eshleman, head of Campus Crusade for Christ's JESUS Film Project®. That's why he has given his life to helping spread the message of Christ via JESUS, the most translated film in history.

"My call is very specific," says Paul, 58. "Find out who isn't reached and see if I can figure out a way to get the message of Christ to them. That's why I'm so fanatical about statistics; I want to see who isn't reached yet."

And statistics tell the story. The JESUS film, translated into more than 620 languages, has been seen by 4.1 billion people in 233 countries. Within Campus Crusade for Christ alone, 2,860 film teams show the film. Some 121 million people have indicated decisions to receive Christ through the film since it premiered in 1979.

For the last 21 years, Paul has been the driving force behind the JESUS film. During production, he served as consultant, making sure it reflected first-century life and held true to the Gospel of Luke. During the '80s and '90s, he developed ever new ways to get it into the hands of nonbelievers in a language they could understand. Today he helps forge partnerships with denominations and other mission agencies—1,183 to date—in an effort to spread the influence of the film even farther.

"I believe Paul is one of the great Christian leaders of our century," says Bill Bright, founder and president of Campus Crusade. "The Lord gave me the vision for a film on the life of Christ in 1945, but it took 34 years to become reality. God was waiting for Paul Eshleman."

"Paul is a world-class Christian leader," agrees J.B. Crouse, president of OMS International. "He knows how to move at every level of life, whether meeting with villagers in India or the Pope or government leaders."

Yet Paul would consider his greatest accomplishment that of being a good husband and father. He has always tried to put family before ministry, seldom working nights while at home and scheduling travel around his son's surfing contests. "When I was surfing," says Jon, 23, "Dad was always there, sitting on the beach and reading a book."

And when Kathy, his wife of 31 years, walks in the room, Paul drops everything and beams in greeting. "Paul is quick to forgive," says Kathy. "When we have a conflict, he is open and willing to look at what part he plays. Instead of defending himself or blaming me, he wants to understand what he has done that has created the problem."

That open spirit, combined with a winsome smile and an even temper, may be one reason God has so used Paul. "Every time I see him," says Jerry Rankin, head of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, "Paul is upbeat, enthusiastic and sensitive to others, even if he's just stepped off a plane from Moscow. He's an encouragement to me."

Part of Paul's success stems from a hyper-creative mind, one that generates evangelistic strategies like popcorn. Then he jumps into action, taking risks if necessary, and makes those ideas happen.

Another reason for his success could be a strong competitive streak that keeps him persevering against all odds. He does the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle in 20 to 25 minutes, constantly trying to better his record of 16 minutes. He plays hearts on the Internet, always daring the risky strategy of "shooting the moon." And his high-school pole-vault record stood for 10 years.

That competitive streak does not extend to other organizations, however. With them he gladly offers every resource The JESUS Film Project has available, so they can better carry out their part in helping fulfill the Great Commission. "Paul doesn't feel he owns anything," says Rick Hicks, president of Operation Mobilization-USA. "It's not his video, not his organization, not his money. And if you don't care who gets the credit, it's amazing what God will do."

A large part of what Paul does care about flows from his dependence on God and a lifetime of trying to live out the Scriptures.

"We get our priorities so mixed up," he says. "We think accomplishing the task is more important than our character. The most important thing is not to use our gifts; the most important thing is to reflect the Lord.

"The one Scripture that scares me more than any other," he goes on, "is where it says, 'God is opposed to the proud.' Not disappointed. Not just a sin. He's saying that all the forces of heaven and the power of omnipotent God Himself will be arrayed against you if you're proud."

While in Rome last spring, Paul looked out the window of the restaurant where he was eating and noticed the words Solo Deo (only God) carved on the ancient windowsill. "Whatever I've been involved in," he emphasizes, "I can say, 'Only God could have done this. Not me.'"

That was certainly true in the Soviet Union.

Back in 1989, in the shadow of the Kremlin, Paul boldly met with the Communist Party Deputy Minister of Education. He offered a free JESUS video to every school in the Soviet Union, along with a curriculum teaching how Jesus could transform society (essentially a follow-up course for children who would become Christians through the film). The education minister liked the idea and asked Paul to train 1,000 teachers three months later.

That led to the CoMission, a coalition of 85 organizations that sent 3,000 people to Russia over a five-year period. They trained 42,000 teachers in 116 cities, resulting in 10 million children hearing the gospel. "The CoMission may be more important than anything that has happened in the last 20 years," says Paul. "It has become a model of cooperation in the body of Christ."

However, when Paul first promised the Soviets 65,000 free videos and a Christian curriculum, he did not actually have that many videos. Nor did the course exist. And since he had created the whole strategy on the plane going to Russia, he hadn't had time to inform his team back in the office of his plans.

As Bob Bradberry, director of distribution at The JESUS Film Project, puts it, "Paul moves so fast, he goes into a country and makes commitments and it never occurs to him to talk to someone about it." Then an official calls Bob and expects him to deliver the goods Paul promised.

Instead of getting angry, however, Bob just chuckles. To help his boss remember the home team, he launched the "What About Bob?" campaign, printing stickers reading "What About Bob?" and putting them in strategic places like Paul's door, or desk, or briefcase.

"It's a big problem," agrees Paul wryly. "I don't communicate enough. I forget who might want to know things."

Travels Together | On a recent visit to Rome, Paul and assistant Jim Green pause outside the Colosseum to plan the next leg of their trip. "I admire that Paul always travels with someone," says Roy Peterson, president of Wycliffe Bible Translators-USA. "That's very good for moral, ethical and administrative accountability." Paul's travels often put him in touch with government and church officials, or JESUS film team members.

So two years ago, Paul asked Jim Green, another lifelong friend, to work as his assistant and help him communicate. "Jim's a great help to me," he says of the man who now travels everywhere with him. "He's always saying, 'Don't you think you ought to call so-and-so on this?'"

Jim has seen the whole spectrum of Paul's life, going back to Paul's days as a business major at Michigan State and new staff member at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. In the mid-'60s, Madison flamed with revolutionary activity. The two strategized how to reach these radicals. "During the free-speech movement," says Jim, "Paul would get on the mikes and say, 'Your solution isn't radical enough.'"

"Paul and I believe that everything we are doing with the JESUS film today had its roots back in our experience on campus," Jim adds. "We had to think about our target audience—non-Christian, secular people—and try to reach them where they were."

Jim also found Paul teachable. Once Jim noticed the new staff guy getting lazy with his language. "Jim talked to me about it," says Paul, "and I realized he was right. Sarcasm was a big part of my life; it got laughs, but it didn't build anybody up. So I asked the Lord to help me [stop]."

Several years later, when Bill Bright needed someone to organize EXPLO 72 (a week of meetings bringing 100,000 students to the Cotton Bowl in Dallas), he turned to the young campus director.

Today Paul sees his role as pushing Campus Crusade, and the body of Christ, to keep going where nobody has yet gone. "I want The JESUS Film Project to provide a healthy pressure to keep expanding our borders."

Sometimes that pressure can be seen as unhealthy, though, for tension always exists between sowing the gospel broadly and building deeply into people's lives. But it's a positive tension. "We must learn to do both," says Paul. "And while we may disagree on tactics, still we must love one another."

"Paul is one of the most passionate people for souls I have ever met," says Roy Peterson, president of Wycliffe Bible Translators-USA. "So many of us in Christian leadership can get focused on other things, be it buildings or budgets or the process itself, but I haven't seen it happen in Paul's life. His sense of urgency has challenged me."

That sense of urgency, combined with a taste for problems nobody else can solve, keeps Paul strategizing how to reach new groups of people. "What about children?" he asks, and develops a version of the film for children. "What about the blind?" he says, and launches an audio version. Or "What about Europe, so unresponsive to the gospel?", leading to a World Cup version introduced by soccer stars. The ideas go on and on, into the foreseeable future.

Bob Bradberry tells of a greyhound he once saw on a beach in Africa. The greyhound loped along with some wild dogs, looking back at them. Then he put on the afterburners and left them all in the dust. "Trying to keep up with Paul," says Bob, "is like trying to keep up with that greyhound. It's exhilarating."