The Apostle of Follow-Up:

Dawson Trotman

It was a lovely summer day in 1956 and the young people at Schroon Lake, N.Y., were enjoying a full range of recreational activities. Suddenly a cry went up—a girl had fallen into the water from a speed boat. Dawson Trotman dived in and managed to hold her above the water until rescuers reached her. But he sank into the depths, ending a remarkable life and career. The caption of Time Magazine’s obituary read, “Always holding someone up.”

Trotman was born in 1906 at Bisbee, Ariz., so frail that life was a struggle. His parents divorced, but he showed a deep interest in spiritual things from an early age, becoming active in Christian Endeavor Society meetings. After graduating from high school, however, he turned away from that lifestyle to enjoy “the partying life of the roaring 1920s.”

Then, after a harrowing experience of saving a friend from drowning in a mountain lake, Trotman made a firm commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Earlier, he had memorized Scripture; now he was to establish “a pattern of evangelism and follow-up that has been used or imitated by nearly all evangelistic parachurch agencies and many churches in America” for many decades.

Trotman joined the Fishermen’s Club, a group dedicated to publicly witnessing for Christ. Twice he enrolled in Christian colleges “only to withdraw because of the urgency he felt for continuing the ministry in which he was already engaged.”

In 1932, he married Lila Clayton and they labored together, “using their home as a center for witnessing and discipleship.” Trotman founded The Navigators in 1933. His plan included memorizing Scripture for the discipline of godliness and the preparation for personal witness. He began with naval personnel in southern California, but expanded his ministry to college and university campuses nationwide. Eventually, a training center at Glen Eyrie in Colorado Springs, Colo., was founded.

The central focus of The Navigators was discipleship—the training in the Scriptures and spiritual disciplines that carry believers from conversion to a more mature walk with Christ. Trotman rightly recognized the vital importance of this process to the propagation of the Gospel message, as new believers needed training to grow into evangelists and disciple-makers themselves. His legacy lives on in the ongoing work of The Navigators and in the follow-up programs incorporated into the evangelistic crusades of Billy Graham and others because of his influence.

Today, The Navigators’ staff of over 60 nationalities works in more than 100 countries to multiply laborers for Christ. Trotman was widely used by God to influence others in ministry, including Campus Crusade for Christ, Young Life, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Operation Mobilization, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, and Wycliffe Bible Translators. These last two are the largest missionary organizations in the world.

This “Apostle of Follow-up,” who was born to reproduce, planned and prepared well. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord…and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13).

Bernard R. DeRemer chronicled the lives of dozens of heroes of the faith in more than a decade of writing for Pulpit Helps Magazine. He continues to serve in this capacity as a volunteer contributor to Disciple. He lives in West Liberty, Ohio.

Reference: “Daws”, by Mark Center, in More Than Conquerors. Excerpts used by permission of Moody Publishers.