Outpouring of the Spirit on Trasher's Orphanage
Lillian in 1910.
TEN DAYS before she was to marry, Lillian Trasher heard a missionary speak. She sensed God’s Spirit telling her she was to break her engagement and become a missionary. Sobbing bitterly, she obeyed.
Years earlier in Georgia, as a girl, she believed the words of a neighbor who told her she could have a relationship with Christ. She had gone into the woods and prayed, “Lord, I want to be your little girl.” Then she added, “Lord, if ever I can do anything for You, just let me know and I’ll do it.”
As a young woman, she worked in an orphanage and suffered hunger. It was there she met her prospective husband, a minister. When the Lord told her to become a missionary, she knew she had to keep her childhood promise. The church she attended could not support her so she sold her meager belongings and placed the money in a drawer. A sister thought the money was for orphanage bills and used it, leaving Lillian only $18. This was enough for her to travel to Washington, DC. She set out, confident the Lord would provide. She had the impression she should go to Africa, but nothing more definite.
Along the way, she encountered a missionary couple. Impressed with her faith, they invited her to accompany them to Egypt. Delegates to a mission conference raised the money for her fare:
We were having prayer in my cabin just before sailing and someone asked me to open my Bible and ask God to give me a verse. This I did, and noted the first verse that caught my eyes. It was Acts 7:34, a verse that I had never noticed before: ‘I have seen, I have seen the affliction of My people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.’ In this unmistakable way God set His seal upon my call.
Once in Egypt, she took in a dying orphan baby. The infant girl cried constantly. The missionaries said Lillian must give it back. However, she could not abandon the girl to the neglect that had almost killed the child in the first place, so with what little money she had she rented an apartment, and trusted that God would provide. The Lord sent more orphans to her.
Years of discouragement followed. She ate Besara, a coarse grain that she detested. While traveling she slept in jails. Finally she declared that God was going to build a great Christian orphanage, operating on faith principles. Before she could begin to realize that dream, the British expelled her from Egypt because of political turmoil. Visiting America she became acquainted with the newly-formed Assemblies of God churches, which promised to sponsor her work.
When she was allowed to return to Egypt in 1920, she promised the Lord she would take whomever he sent to her orphanage if he would provide the food and funds. The orphanage grew to house over a thousand orphans and widows. Lillian became famous world-wide and acquired the nickname “Mother of the Nile.”
While caring for the physical needs of the orphans, Trasher did not forget their spiritual needs. For years she prayed for revival. On this day, 7 April 1927, she wrote her sponsors with good news:
“Today I witnessed the greatest revival I have ever seen in my life. Three days ago we started a revival meeting among the children. The Spirit was with us from the very first meeting, dozens getting saved and dozens seeking the Baptism [of the Holy Spirit]. This afternoon I thought the children had better not have a night meeting as they had been praying and crying for hours; so I said that everyone was to go to bed early. I went to my room early also, but soon I heard such a noise coming from all sides that I sent a girl to see if there was a funeral passing by. She returned and said it was the children praying everywhere. I went first over to the widows and blind girls’ department and found they were crying and praying. I went to the kitchen; they were praying, crying, and talking in tongues. I went to the big girls’ room; they were all on their faces crying to God or shouting.
“But the most wonderful sight I ever saw in my life was when I followed the noise up to the housetop. There were dozens and dozens of little girls shouting, crying, talking in tongues, rejoicing, preaching, singing—well, just everything you can think of, praising God....”
The revival lasted for months and broke out again in successive years. The orphanage, now government-operated, is the largest in Egypt.
—Dan Graves
----- ----- -----
Robber of the Cruel Streets is the story of another friend of orphans: George Müller. And, like Trasher, Lilias Trotter left friends and home to work in North Africa as a missionary.
Robber of the Cruel Streets: The Prayerful Life of George Muller and Many Beautiful Things: The Life and Vision of Lilias Trotter can be purchased at Vision Video.