Jim Petersen (1932 – 2022)
Known around the world for his dedication to advancing the Gospel among those distant from Christ, Jim Petersen (89) died in his Colorado Springs home on February 14 with the close support of his family.
Jim served as an international vice president of The Navigators alongside Jerry White for about 17 years. Prior to that role, he and his friend Ken Lottis pioneered the Navigator work in Brazil and, more broadly, in Latin America.
“I could never have led the Navigator worldwide ministry without him,” said Jerry White. “He brought personal godliness, relational integrity, and scriptural depth to us all. . . . He was an encourager of our staff who ministered ‘on the edges,’ creating new avenues of outreach. . . . Jim left a legacy for eternity with me personally and with The Navigators.”
His relational qualities were perhaps most experienced within his family. A dedicated husband, father, and grandfather, he was married to his wife, Marge, for 58 years. Together they moved to Brazil in 1963 during a military coup when their daughter, Michelle, was age two and when Marge was six months pregnant with their son, Todd. Their twin daughters, Raquel and Rochelle, were also born in Brazil.
Jim and Marge never separated family life from their involvement with Brazilians. They made their house and family the platform for serving hundreds of people. They all engrossed themselves in the Brazilian culture—Jim spoke flawless Portuguese—and built lasting personal relationships with nonbelievers. Jim, Marge, and their children thus demonstrated a family-based expression of what it means to be “church.” This approach resonated with Brazilians who were interested in God, but allergic to evangelical and catholic churches.
In the early days of their ministry, Jim and Ken forged relationships primarily with university students who had a wide array of philosophical and religious backgrounds. (The book titled One Another: A Memoir of Faith and Friendship by Ken Lottis is a beautiful portrait of their work.) They soon gained support from close Brazilian friends, such as Osvaldo Simões and Aldo Berndt—to name a few. These men and their families helped to expand the work beyond what Jim and Ken could have done alone. This highly relational movement spread throughout Brazil and is now in its fourth generation.
“Jim was the person who God most used to help me understand my calling and to walk in it,” said Aldo shortly after Jim’s death. “He became one of my best friends, a true brother in the faith. We traveled together throughout southern Brazil to make disciples. His attitude toward the Scriptures and his faith in the unlimited power of prayer helped to establish strong foundations for my own faith. Jim’s influence in my life continues to this day.”
The lessons Jim learned from God and his Brazilian friends proved to be pivotal for pioneering Navigators throughout the world. While serving as a member of the Navigator International Executive Team, Jim traveled extensively around the world to mentor many people with whom he formed authentic and lasting friendships.
Jim also wrote numerous books that have helped thousands of people be influential for Christ among their friends, colleagues, and family networks. They include Living Proof, The Insider, and Church Without Walls. He also authored several scriptural studies published by Global Commerce Network designed to help business professionals integrate daily life with God’s purposes.
As Jim’s international influence expanded, he and his family moved from Brazil to Colorado Springs in 1985. Despite his frequent international trips, he and Marge continued to build friendships with neighbors and friends. He did this by integrating friendships with his own passions for long-distance running, cooking, dancing, and jazz.
An avid hunter and fisherman who grew up in Minnesota, Jim led annual salmon fishing trips with close friends to Alaska. These trips proved to be great opportunities to move men toward Christ while hauling king salmon out of the river and while keeping a watchful eye on nearby grizzly bears. He and his younger brother, Tom Petersen, had a deep and profound love for one another. They often returned from hunting trips with a massive bull elk. His barbecue grill was, therefore, constantly aflame, including in blizzards, as he served incredible meals to neighbors, friends, international visitors, and family.
Music, especially jazz, filled his home all the time, morning to night. He and his close friend, Jake Barnett, author of Wealth and Wisdom, would often hunt for abstract art in places like Santa Fe, New Mexico. For Jim and his family, aesthetic beauty in music and art was spiritually meaningful, a reflection of how God glorified himself through his creation.
After Marge died in 2012, Jim married Georgette Smith, also an international Navigator, in 2015. They served many people in Colorado Springs together right until Jim’s death.
“Jim lived what he taught,” said International President Mutua Mahiaini. “His influence was all the more powerful because the evidence followed him everywhere—to the very end of his earthly life. There is no part of the Navigator Worldwide Partnership where the impact of this remarkable man has not been felt.”
During his last weeks, Jim would shuffle as best he could to his home office, where he had mentored people from around the world. He would sit in his chair, open his well-worn Bible, and read. On one such occasion, he said with a smile, “I’m still learning new things about God.”
Jim is survived by Georgette (Smith) Petersen and his four children, Michelle McMahan, Todd Petersen, Raquel Petersen-Seal, and Rochelle Raimao. He has ten grandchildren: Connor and Thomas McMahan; Nicolas and David Petersen; Nadja De Sá and Matias Raimao; Vienna Petersen-Seal, and her triplet brothers, Ben, Bodi, and Beck Petersen-Seal. His living siblings are Ruth Valesano, Esther Otto, Lois Winslow, and Tom Petersen. He is also survived by Georgette’s children, Michelle, Melody, and Asher, along with their children.
The Petersen family will be holding a small private funeral. The family will hold a public memorial service at a later date. An announcement will be sent out when the date has been finalized.
