For creative evangelist Dan Bellamy, balloons are more than decorations for a birthday party.
As he uses balloon sculpting to captivate the attention of all ages while sharing the gospel, his creations become “inflatable stories” that bring the Bible to life.
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In addition to these stories, Bellamy recently completed his first children’s book, “The Inflated Story of Noah,” which features large-scale balloon creations photographed on location in places like Alaska, the Galapagos Islands and Israel, a project 10 years in the making. He also has written, “The Twisted Tale of Adam and Eve.”
Both books involve large balloon sculptures photographed in real-life locations to tell Bible stories — and he doesn’t plan to stop there.
“I’m envisioning [a] third book as the Christmas nativity story, told with elaborate, full-page balloon scenes as the illustrations,” Bellamy explained. “The challenge is that I need large chunks of time to create something like this before the balloons begin to fade. [F]inding time to create them amid everything else is challenging.
“The other book I’m dreaming of is on the subject of loving God and loving others. Jesus marks these as the greatest commandments; yet I think they’re so easy to miss the mark on in our day-to-day lives, especially in the volatile world we live in.”
At a young age Bellamy felt God calling him into ministry, but he never expected that his favorite hobby would turn into an influential platform for teaching children about God’s love.
Today, Bellamy travels around the country performing 50–70 programs each year for churches, conferences and ministry events, sharing his inflatable stories.
“Audiences can expect to have a blast together while learning important stories and lessons from the Bible,” Bellamy said. “The balloons are incredibly versatile for different occasions.
“I think of myself a bit like Apollos watering,” he added, referring to the New Testament figure. “The church is like Paul, planting seeds year-round with faithful believers investing in their own community. While I might have the good fortune to plant a few seeds at events where I share inflatable stories, my role is generally to nurture what has been planted and help churches create a catalyst moment that creates excitement for what God is doing year-round.”
Unexpected adventures
Bellamy said he felt God calling him into full-time ministry during his senior year of high school at a Centrifuge youth camp, but he never anticipated the adventures he would encounter along the way.
“I was first introduced to balloons by a talented clown named Buddy Lamb while I was preparing for a mission trip to Jamaica with the Georgia Baptist Convention while I was in high school,” Bellamy said. “It was nearly two decades before my hobby grew into inflatable stories, but during that time, balloons were always in the background.”
After working with youth and college students for more than a decade, Bellamy felt the Lord opening doors for him to pursue ministry through creative evangelism.
“I came to a transition moment when I was praying about my next steps, and that’s when God brought my long-time hobby to the forefront,” Bellamy explained.
He eventually signed with a Christian talent agent.
Creating lasting memories
With a unique ability to inspire audiences through inflatable stories, Bellamy said his favorite part of the ministry is interacting with families and creating lasting memories.
“I love being able to invest in children and families while helping create exciting catalyst moments for churches that kids will remember,” Bellamy said. “I latch on to the energy and excitement and helping people better understand who God is. I enjoy the art and whimsy, but the people are what make it worth it.
“God has been teaching me flexibility and creativity. I think it’s really easy to hold so much Bible knowledge in our heads that we want to convey, and forget that Jesus was creative. He taught in parables and used miracles as teachable moments.
“The more I’m trusted to communicate inflatable stories,” Bellamy said, “the more I feel my communication outside improves.”
‘Blown-up stories’
He remembers accepting Christ as a child and the excitement of his new faith. That is why connecting with children is so important.
“The most important message in the world, the Good News of Jesus Christ, won’t impact anyone if no one is paying attention,” Bellamy said. “That’s why I use these ‘blown-up stories’ to share life’s biggest truths.
“I’m glad kids have as much fun seeing my work as I do creating it, but it doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t impact their lives. I carry balloon sculptures to churches because I see God using my gift to bring the Bible to life for them. It’s that simple.”
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