Born in Loganville, Pennsylvania, Plymire studied at the Missionary Training Institute at Nyack, New York, and received ordination from the Christian and Missionary Alliance. He traveled in 1908 to northwest China in order to gain access for ministry in Tibet. He waited 16 years to baptize his first Tibetan convert. After returning to the United States in 1920, he identified with the Pentecostal movement and returned to Tibet as an Assemblies of God missionary in 1922. During his long ministry, Plymire faced enormous hardships in preaching the gospel on his treks across Tibet, and he endured several deaths in his immediate family. He continued as a missionary until forced to leave in 1949 when the door for mission closed.
Attribution
This article is reprinted from Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan Reference USA, copyright (c) 1998 Gerald H. Anderson, by permission of The Gale Group; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan. All rights reserved.
Sources
- David V. Plymire, High Adventure in Tibet (1959). An autobiographical account of his early ministry can be found in Pioneering in Tibet (c. 1931) and is available, along with his diary, letters, and papers at the Assemblies of God archives, Springfield, Mo.