Monday, March 30, 2020 05:05pm – our friend, brother, comrade and co-worker DONALD DWIGHT PALMQUIST was “called home” terminating his almost FIFTY years of ministry here in the Philippines. Locals call him Kuya Dwight, Lolo Dwight etc. and numerous people can recall how the man has impacted their lives – praying for them, bravely telling them that God is preparing them for ministry. It was indeed a privilege to know the person and minister together with him in various ways.
For most of us Filipinos – Dwight is one of the most admirable and compassionate person we ever know. He chose to stay single until the Lord called him home and preferred to use his resources to financially assist churches in any way and capacity he can.
Dwight has visited, ministered and lived in every PGCAG Districts, and when he does, he stays at the church or in a friend’s house, ate what his hosts were eating and at times, he will just sleep on a straw mat laid on a concrete floor in the church. Back then when I was still the National Youth Director, I visited a district during their Convention, and he was there too and invited to stay with him – it was in his van – he took the second seat while I was at the passenger seat. He always do that and reasons “so I can leave some money to the district for their programs”.
That made him a passionate and powerful communicator – he speaks almost fluently the major dialects in the country – and his very simple approach in preaching made him a very powerful evangelist as well wherever he goes. Ministering in areas that others have considered terrorists hot spots and fearlessly trek for hours through jungles to get to an area.
In my life, I met and chatted with people whose lives, business/ministry and walk with the Lord have been strongly impacted by this man’s life. Indeed, he came to the Philippines not just to serve his “Tour of Duty” but he lived, adapted and identified fully with the culture and people he learned to love. Later last year, when we learned that he was diagnosed with brain cancer – I sent him an email for I thought I won’t see him again – but in his reply he ‘says’ – “I am getting to go back there … and I told my superiors here that if I die, I will die and be buried in the Philippines which has been my home for so long.”
In my conversation with my General Superintendent, this he said about Dwight: “I first met Dwight in 1970 when he was a young missionary and in 1972, I traveled and preached with him throughout Mindanao as an evangelistic team. Those were very meaningful years in my life and of all the missionaries I have known who came and served in the Philippines, Dwight Palmquist is a breed apart…”
Dwight, you might not be with us physically anymore but in our hearts – you are part of us and you will always be remembered as such.
