Review: Lilias Trotter: Daring in the Desert
Lilias Trotter is most well-known as a missionary in Africa as well as an accomplished artist. But her name was completely unknown to me until recently, when I was learning about the hymn “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” I wonder if Lilias ever knew that the words she wrote in a pamphlet traveled across the ocean and into the hands of a hymn writer, who was inspired to include them in the hymn that is still widely sung today?
That’s another story for another day, but discovering Lilias sent me on a journey to find out more about her. And so I stumbled upon Lilias Trotter: Daring in the Desert by Irene Howat. This wonderful middle-grade biography spans Lilias’s entire life, revealing all the providential moments that lead her to the decision to leave home, security, and success behind and become a missionary in Africa.
Born in 1853 to a wealthy Christian family in London, Lilias’s childhood was full of comfort and privilege. Her artistic talent emerged at a young age, as she filled sketchbooks and painted impressive landscapes with scenes of her everyday life.
While vacationing in Italy with her mother, Lilias happened to be staying at the same hotel as the famous artist and writer John Ruskin. Mrs. Trotter took the opportunity to ask Mr. Ruskin’s opinion on Lilias’s work, and a beautiful artistic friendship was born.
In 1878, when Lilias was 26 years old, Ruskin put before her a choice that would change the course of her life. In addition to her painting, Lilias worked at local missions for impoverished and destitute women. Ruskin suggested that if Lilias truly wanted to pursue her art, she would have to give up her charitable work and focus full-time on developing her artistic skill. He was certain that she would experience immense success, and he was ready to help her achieve it.
Lilias found herself at a crossroads, and she prayed fervently for God’s guidance. She later wrote: “I see clear as daylight now, I cannot give myself to painting in the way [John Ruskin] means and continue still to ‘seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.'” Lilias chose her charitable work, answering the call that would eventually take her to live and die on another continent.
On March 8, 1888, Lilias and two friends disembarked in Algiers, Algeria, to live and work as missionaries. They knew none of the local language, had no place to live, and had only their own money and the gifts of loyal supporters to provide for their ministry and themselves. They went about their work with great tenacity. They immediately found a church that held services in English and started learning Arabic. They soon found a flat that they could all share, and they got to work deciding how best to reach the Arab people. Over the years, this calling would require persistence, ingenuity, and trust in God.
Lilias never stopped painting. In fact, using her skill to reach her neighbors in Algiers seemed natural to her. Throughout her years in Algeria, she would write numerous pamphlets, write and illustrate books, create maps to keep track of where they had ministered, and even write and illustrate stories in the common Arabic language that were similar to Jesus’s parables.
By the time she died in 1928, Lilias left behind a fully functioning organization, the Algiers Mission Band, with 30 missionaries serving in 15 different parts of Algeria. She had served the Arab people for 40 years.
Lilias’s missionary work was marked by her resoluteness, persistence, and humility. Long before she was a successful missionary in Africa, she was a young woman helping the poor in London. Even then, she was confident enough of her purpose to decline a successful art life. In fact, it would be nearly 10 years between her defining conversation with Ruskin and when she set sail for Algeria. For all we know, when she declined Ruskin’s offer, she meant to spend the remainder of her days working exactly where she was.
How can we make sense of Lilias’s choice in our modern world, where everywhere we turn, a celebrity, influencer, or wanna-be influencer is vying for our–and our children’s–attention? Lilias could see shining stardom all but assured for her. In Ruskin, she had the teacher, in her own hands she had the talent, and in her family she had the position and wealth. The stars were aligned for her success. But the stars align at God’s command, and though no one would have blamed Lilias for pursuing her art career, God had other plans. What gave Lilias the confidence to pursue them?
From a young age, Lilias seemed to have a firm grasp of who the source of her talent was and who it belonged to. She placed her heart and her gifts side by side before God and found a way to use both for his service. Her artwork became an intrinsic part of her ministry, but not something that would define her to the world. Like the boy who handed Jesus his meager fish and loaves, God took Lilias’s talent and multiplied it to His own glory.
Through Lilias, I hope readers can see that God has a predetermined purpose for our gifts. Our job is to offer them back to Him as our ministry, our worship, His tools given to be wrought in our hands. Lilias Trotter may not know worldwide fame, but God is still using her story to touch lives. Her example of a faith-fueled life, bold trust in her heavenly father, and a willingness to say “yet not my will, but yours be done,” is an encouragement to me, and I hope to you, as well, to offer our creative pursuits back to God.
- Review: Lilias Trotter: Daring in the Desert - January 12, 2026
