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Dawson Trotman and the World

by Betty Skinner

Navigators founder Dawson Trotman had a deep concern for the entire world, as Betty Skinner recounts in the biography Daws.

A prime illustration of this concern was forty consecutive days of morning prayer which Trotman and ministry partner Walt Stanton carried out together in California in 1931, and which Trotman came to view as a foundation for his later ministry, as Betty Skinner relates:

Riding out every morning to the "L" Canyon at the edge of town, the two walked a quarter-mile to the dead end of a dry wash with sloping sides; this was their chosen prayer spot under a big pepper tree. There they built a fire as protection from the foggy chill sweeping in from the Pacific and knelt for two hours to pray before they went on to work.

Dawson’s knees soon tired, but Walt, a plumber used to working on his knees, did not notice. They prayed for the boys in their clubs in Lomita and other towns, and soon they were praying for young men in more distant towns throughout Southern California. As their faith increased, they began to ask God to use them in the lives of young men across the U.S., naming each of the forty-eight states before the Lord.

Then toward the end of the time they took a map of the world up to their prayer hideaway and, touching Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas, they asked God to use them to reach men for Him there.

Finally they quit—perhaps because Daws felt their mission was accomplished or because his physical endurance ran out. But he did believe God had heard and would answer.…

Looking back at the forty-day marathon years later, Dawson analyzed the protracted time in prayer: "We couldn’t have prayed the first week for those little islands and countries you had to look close to see. I don’t think the amount of time you spend in prayer has much to do with whether God hears you, but I do believe time has something to do with your faith being built up as you pray and as you ask."

The motivation behind this prayer marathon was Trotman’s intense regard for prayer:

Dawson’s compelling drive to spend time in prayer might have appeared legalistic, but his journal from that period reveals his motives: the joy he found in spending time with his Lord ("Rose early to meet with Him whom my soul loveth. He thrills my heart"), and his deep conviction that God worked only in response to prayer.

He fervently wished to be a usable instrument in "the Lord’s work—that wonderful work of winning souls." With this goal in mind, prayer was power, not a ritual; he would discipline himself to pray, whether the inclination was there or not.

Another notable moment in Trotman’s life when God’s concern for the world loomed especially large in his thinking was on his way home from an extensive, heart-stirring visit to China in 1948:

Alone in Paris with a free evening, Daws decided to spend time with the Lord. Slipping up to the roof of the George V Hotel, above the gaiety and wickedness of Paris streets, he stretched out a blanket under the May sky much as he would in Southern California and enjoyed several hours of fellowship with the Lord he loved. His prayer ranged far, from his loved ones at home to the vast lands of China, India, and Europe.

The enormity of the need God had allowed him to see was frightening—it seemed one percent had been done with 99 percent left to do. Calls for follow-up help, already more than he saw how to answer, were mounting. Yet, he reflected, God loved the world and sent out twelve apparently ill-prepared disciples to the world as their parish. It could be done; by His grace it must be done.

First priority was to mobilize all resources and men around the United States and get them to think and aim toward answering these calls in many countries.

Gazing into the sky that night, Trotman reviewed the basic essentials for training men for such service overseas, and mentally hung each point on the seven stars of the Big Dipper shining down on him from the northern sky.

These points to be learned included a Christ-centered life of practical obedience, the importance of the Scriptures, evangelism, follow-up, "pace-setting," help for the ministries of others, and, finally, a heart for the world:

Reaching farthest out to the tip of the handle, the last star had to be World Vision—a vision for the whole world, the world God so loved.

Daws had heard that Napoleon’s men carried with them a map of the world to remind them their leader wished to conquer it. God’s men also must get on their hearts what is on His heart and never forget a moment the whole world: Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.… Make disciples of all nations.… in Jerusalem… Judea… the uttermost part of the earth.

From Daws by Betty Lee Skinner (Zondervan, 1974), pages 51, 62–63, and 291–293.

Discipleship Journal, Issue 3 (May/June 1981) (NavPress, 1981).

Comments/Questions

Anton Lee Huger is the founder of Commissioned Ministries, a division of Huger Consulting, LLC.  He is an ordained Christian Minister, having served as an elder of several local churches since 1985.  Anton now speaks evangelistically; teaches in the area of discipleship; supports local churches in their endeavors to build discipleship ministries within their local expression; and, dedicates himself to discipleship in this age by making disciples and disciple makers.

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