and many faithful friends.
Over the past decade, I’ve
made numerous trips with Folmer
to facilitate trainings and work with him on training
center projects. These trips allowed me to observe
how his leadership has been used to meet the needs
of God’s people in Asia through water wells, motorcy-
cles, Bibles, bicycles, and sewing machines. Folmer
served as a pastor to leaders when they faced chal-
lenges with their families or worked through grief in
the loss of a loved one. God used his experience as a
pastor to prepare him for fulfilling productivity in this
season of life. The result of his impact is thousands of
new followers of Jesus, new worshiping groups, and
new ministry leaders.
I joyfully accompanied Folmer and his long-time
prayer partner, Van Sisco, on his last trip to Myanmar
and Singapore in July 2017. Everyone knew this
was his last visit because he decided to retire from
OMS at the age of 78. He fin-
ished strong as we trained lead-
ers in basic coaching skills, using
Train & Multiply. Ministry leaders
testified to the impact of his minis-
try while they offered gifts of appreciation, thanking
him for his love and commitment to them and their
countries. Watching a tall, white-haired pastor give
his final sermons to these leaders and seeing tears
shed by all was a divine moment to cherish.
My journey with Folmer began as a neophyte in
church planting, but along the way, he became my
mentor, a peer coach, and, most of all, someone I
call a spiritual brother and close friend.
If you want to explore how God could use you as
a chess piece in his plan, contact me at mdragon
@onemissionsociety.org.
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