TRANSFORMING GRACE – Life of Melvin Ernest Trotter

The power of gospel, to transform a person is truly amazing. No wonder John Newton wrote the hymn, “Amazing Grace that Saved a Wretch Like Me.” God works in mysterious and in amazing ways, to bring about a visible transformation in people. Such grace turned the persecuting Saul into a saintly Paul.

Life of Melvin Ernest Trotter is nothing short of such an amazing transformation. He was born in Orangeville, Illinois, USA in 1870 to a devote and God fearing mother, and a father addicted to alcohol. Melvin left his home when he turned 17, to work as a barber. He got married in April 1891, but was by then, already addicted to alcohol. He could never hold a job, nor keep a promise.

On 19 January 1897 Mel Trotter, sells his shoes to buy alcohol. Then, fully drunk, he accidentally stumbles that night, into the Pacific Garden Rescue Mission in Chicago. Trotter then listens to the sermon by Harry Monroe, the superintendent of the mission, and commits his life to Jesus Christ that very night.

Jesus made possible what no one could in Mel Trotter’s life. Trotter began to transform. He left his alcohol, and never touched it ever again, and started following the LORD Jesus faithfully. He later entered into full-time the ministry, and was ordained a Presbyterian minister.

Melvin Ernest Trotter’s progress did not stop there. He went on to become the superintendent of a rescue mission in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His deep and passionate burden for the spiritual needs of people like him, and those on the streets, compelled him to do something about the problem. 

Melvin Ernest Trotter’s love for Jesus was such that, he was also called as the man who “raved about Jesus.” A former hopeless and hopeless drunkard, who couldn’t keep a promise, nor a job, was transformed by the LORD Jesus. In his forty plus years of walking with the LORD, Totter could establish 67 other rescue missions, and helped scores of young people to not only leave a life of emptiness and self-destruction, but much more than that, be transformed by Jesus Christ into a useful blessing. Such is the transforming power of the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ.