Lily in the Desert: The Missionary Example of Lilias Trotter

As a promising young artist, Lilias Trotter was offered the opportunity to go viral in Victorian England. Her exceptional talent caught the eye of a leading art critic who offered to catalyze her career. But Trotter rejected the proffered fame and instead moved to impoverished Algeria. There, the delicate English Lily served in a literal and spiritual desert for almost 40 years.

I was first introduced to Trotter as a young college graduate through the documentary Many Beautiful Things. Her zest for life, pursuit of excellence in all things, and phenomenal work ethic captivated me. This woman saw the world as a place of wonder ruled by the marvelous Creator she ardently loved.

Now, seven years into my overseas ministry, I continue to learn from Trotter’s life. I’ve been challenged to endure in faithful ministry through Miriam Huffman Rockness’s biography, A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter. Rockness vividly paints the image of a missionary woman who saw the world in vibrant hues and whose life and ministry chart a course for contemporary cross-cultural workers.

Faithful in Singleness

One of Trotter’s enduring legacies is her courage in setting out as a single woman to North Africa at the end of the 19th century. Serving as a foreign single woman in a culture that viewed women as dispensable objects wasn’t only difficult—it was dangerous. At times, she was forced to hire bodyguards to protect herself and the other female missionaries.

But Trotter didn’t see singleness as an obstacle to ministry. Instead, she found ways to capitalize on her status, using her position to reach forgotten people, especially Muslim women. Trotter went door to door visiting these women who were often not allowed to leave their houses, talking her way into their homes and hearts. She embraced the opportunity to deepen her reliance on Christ and maximize her singleness for the glory of God.

Respecting Locals

Throughout her ministry, Trotter remained a humble learner and lover of Algerian culture, repeatedly adjusting her ministry to the context of the people she was serving. When a local colleague rightly insisted that costly color printing was necessary for Algerian evangelistic materials, Trotter made the unorthodox decision to invest in that expense. She helped local women learn traditional Algerian embroidery skills that gave them a measure of stability and self-sufficiency in the male-dominated Islamic world.

In a time when some missionaries mixed imperialism with evangelism, this Victorian woman abandoned her cultural preferences to become “Lalla Lili” (as the Algerians affectionately called her) and serve the needs of her adopted people.

Abide in Christ

Rockness repeatedly brings us back to the secret of Trotter’s unbelievable endurance: “Quite simply, Lilias put the highest priority on spending time completely alone with God, studying His Word with a heart open and receptive to His voice” (187). Despite her frequent struggles with illness and a grueling schedule, Trotter consistently made time for delighting in God and enjoying his presence.

Trotter’s sustainability in 40 years of difficult ministry grew from her daily investment in her relationship with God.

One way she did this was by slowing down to enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and to record it in sketches and paintings. Although Trotter sacrificed the opportunity to profit from her artistic talents, she continued to use those skills as an act of worship while she reflected on God’s goodness and creation. Rockness stresses that Trotter’s sustainability in 40 years of difficult ministry grew from her daily investment in her relationship with God.

Count It All Joy

Rockness records the many heartaches Trotter experienced: rejection by missions agencies, frequent illnesses, deaths of friends, betrayal, closed doors, persecution, and moral failures of converts and teammates. Yet nothing seemed to extinguish the light filling her. She walked in the joy of the Lord to the extent that when she spent one of the last years of her life bedridden, her summary was this: “I think it has been quite the happiest year of life!” (309).

Trotter’s ability to abide allowed her to rejoice even in the worst situations. She saw barriers to ministry—including her own frailty—as platforms for the work of God. Trotter counted it a joy to serve as a jar of clay because the cracks in her life were outlets for the Living Water.

Timeless Reminder

To the end, Trotter was full of joy, bubbling with Christ’s presence and a vivacity in ministry that can only come from an intimate walk with him. She was a woman who endured faithfully, clinging relentlessly to God.

Rockness’s biography unveils how this delicate English woman established a thriving ministry in a spiritual wasteland: Christ was the greatest love of Trotter’s life. He was the One who drew her to himself and drove her outward to serve others. Everything Trotter did sprouted from what Christ was continually doing in her.

Everything Trotter did sprouted from what Christ was continually doing in her.

A Passion for the Impossible reminds us that all our missions work must be an outpouring of what God is doing in us. Those of us in cross-cultural work face deserts: health challenges, cultural barriers, spiritual warfare, loss, and hardened hearts. But missions has always been the story of what our good God can do in the most barren fields through the most fragile vessels.

Sometimes the hardships that seem likely to shatter us are the means God uses to serve and strengthen others. Trotter teaches us that our first task as missionaries is to draw near to God and be filled with Christ so he overflows from us, even when we suffer.

May God raise up more lilies: more men and women so delighted by the beauty and glory of God that they become springs in the desert of hard-to-reach places.

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