Lilias Trotter, One Of My Heroes Of The Faith

In the writing of my most recent book, I decided to include the story of Lilias Trotter. I became acquainted with her first when I read Noel Piper’s book, Faithful Women & Their Extraordinary God. Our women leaders read through this book together and had a wonderful discussion about Lilias Trotter. She is truly one of the great heroes of the faith. Here is a woman who could have been a master artist in England, but instead chose to take the gospel to Algiers and live there for forty years. I think what stands out to me the most about Lilias is that she continued to paint, draw, and sketch in her journals. Her art was first and foremost for God and done daily in the audience of God. She did illustrate and write devotionals and booklets mostly for the Arab world to reach others with the message of Christ. When I first read about Lilias and discovered that her art was filed away in some archives in the UK, I thought “Wouldn’t it be amazing just to look at her artwork!” All the women who shared in the discussion agreed that we would love to see her art. Well, guess what! Now you can. Miriam Huffman Rockness has compiled some of her watercolors and other drawings, many which were in her diaries, into a devotional book, A Blossom In The Desert. If you want to read what Noel Piper has to say about Lilias and this book, check out her blog post. I also highly recommend A Passion For The Impossible - The Life Of Lilias Trotter by Miriam Huffman Rockness. Both are published by Discovery House Publishers.

I love what Lilias did in her diaries - she wrote, she painted, she sketched. There is so much you can do with your journaling and she is the perfect example. I know from her biography that she spent quiet time with the Lord every day in a quiet place out in the woods from 7:15-8:30. You see the results of her quiet time in her life - she was faithful to the Lord. And though she may be an unknown to many, she reminds me that fame does not equal importance, significance, or value. It’s not about fame, it’s about faithfulness. Lilias Trotter was faithful and today she is my great encouragement to run my race in the audience of One, my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.