“Forgive me, Mr. Ruskin, but I cannot give myself to painting the way you desire and continue to keep God at the center of my life.” Lilias Trotter looked imploringly into her tutor’s eyes.
After three years of instruction from John Ruskin, the well-known artist, author, and art critic, twenty-five-year-old Lilias had prayerfully made the difficult choice. She would forego the opportunity to become “the greatest living painter in England” (as Ruskin predicted she would be) [1], and devote more time to her mission work.
(Self-portrait of John Ruskin)
“Ah, my dear Lilias, he sighed. “I was afraid our efforts would come to this. Goodness knows how many times I’ve complained that you needed to spend more time with your brushes and less time with the women of ill-repute around Victoria Station. However, I do admire your dedication, and regretfully wish you well.”
From this crossroads, a new path began to open before Lilias Trotter.
For a while she continued her work with women at the lowest rung of society, bringing them to the newly-established YWCA for training in various employable skills and introducing them to Jesus.
But in 1887 Lilias found her heart drawn to Algeria, after hearing a plea for more missionaries to the region. She applied to the North African Mission board but was denied because of her frail health.
(Algiers, Algeria circa 1880)
Undeterred, Lilias and two friends chose to go on their own. A generous endowment from her wealthy father (upon his death in 1865) provided the financial support necessary.
The three women settled in the French Quarter of Algiers and immediately began learning the Arabic language and Muslim culture. Because of the male-dominated society, they chose to engage women and children.
(watercolor sketches from Lilias’ journals)
Lilias put her artistic abilities to work creating leaflets. The charming illustrations drew attention to the spiritual truths she wrote. Her inspiration came from the hours she spent in Bible study, meditation, and prayer.
But inroads into Algerian society didn’t come easily. Nearly everyone was suspicious of them. They were women after all, European and Christian. Opposition came from the French authorities as well as Muslim leaders. Lilias wrote in one of her journals that she and her friends felt like they were knocking their heads against stone walls [2].
In addition, the Muslim women were difficult to reach since they were seldom allowed in public. But after several years one woman accepted Jesus into her life. Sometime later another woman and then another expressed their faith, until they could count their little band of believers on two hands.
Lilias also traveled into Morocco on the west and Tunisia on the west, into the far regions of the Sahara Desert where no European woman had been before. There too she sought out the isolated Arab women as well as the Sufi mystics who resided in the desert.
Lilias shared her pamphlets and booklets that included depictions of Arab life, always praying that her writings and drawings would help these Muslims understand who Jesus is and why he came.
Of course, persecution came to those who chose Jesus. Two of the new Arab Christians were slowly poisoned to death, others were drugged, and still more were punished in additional ways.
After twenty years of struggle, the missionaries still had little to show for their effort. And yet Lilias wrote:
I am full of hope that when God delays in fulfilling our little thoughts, it is to leave Himself room to work out His great ones. And, more and more as time goes on, I feel that the longer He waits the more we can expect, . . . and the greater will be the band of those who will come forth free from their prison walls. When one gets hold of that vision, one can throw back in the devil’s face his taunts over the seemingly wasted years that lie behind us.
Lilias Trotter
Perhaps even more productive than her conversations with people was the impact of her writings. Lilias’ appealing parables, “creatively illustrated in Eastern style” were widely circulated [3].
She felt confident that the Arabs would more seriously consider written material in the privacy of their homes, than in public conversation where opposition was likely. With her knowledge of the culture, language, and arguments of challengers, she was perfectly-suited for the task of producing these materials.
Lilias returned to Europe a number of times because of her health, each time in dire need of rest as well as relief from Africa’s oppressive heat. But Lilias often used these trips to garner interest and support for the organization she founded: the Algerian Mission Band.
A number of people responded, joining Lilias in her work. However she never asked for financial backing. “God’s wealth is boundless,” she said [4].
For forty years Lilias Trotter lived out her passion for the Algerian people. Before her death in 1928, she’d established twelve mission stations. And instead of three workers, a team of thirty had joined them, bringing the joy-filled, abundant life of Christ to the Muslims of Algeria [5].
[1] https://ililiastrotter.wordpress.com/about/
[2] https://ishshahsstory.com/2016/08/10/celebrating-lilias-trotter-of-algeria/
[3] https://www.imb.org/2019/06/12/missionaries-you-should-know-lilias-trotter/
[4] https://thiseternalmoment.com/the-life-and-legacy-of-lilias-trotter/
[5] https://pioneers.org/2021/03/15/the-legacy-of-lilias-trotter
Other sources:
https://liliastrotter.com/about/
Photos of Lilias Trotter and her paintings as well as John Ruskin’s self-portrait, courtesy of Lilias Trotter Legacy at http://www.liliastrotter.com and their Facebook page. Street scene of Algiers: http://www.commons.wikimedia.org.