George Muller and Charles Dickens: A Tale of Great Love

Originally published by Anthony Barbera; revised and updated July 30, 2026.

One of my favorite writers is Charles Dickens. One of the people I most admire is George Müller. Nearly everyone knows the name Charles Dickens. George Müller, though greatly respected among Christians, is less familiar to many readers. At first, these two men might seem to have little in common. One was among the most celebrated novelists in the world. The other was a man of extraordinary faith who devoted his life to caring for orphaned children.

Yet Dickens and Müller were contemporaries in Victorian England, and both were deeply concerned about the suffering of poor and neglected children.

George Müller: A Life Transformed

George Müller was born on September 27, 1805, in Kroppenstedt, in what was then the Kingdom of Prussia. His early life gave little indication of the man he would eventually become. As a young man, he lied, stole, cheated others, and was eventually imprisoned.

His life began to change while he was studying at the University of Halle. A friend named Beta invited him to a small Bible gathering. There Müller encountered something he had never seriously considered before: people who genuinely believed in God, prayed together, and attempted to live according to their faith.

That Evening Became a Turning Point.

Müller eventually moved to England and settled in Bristol. In 1836, he and his wife, Mary, began caring for orphaned children. What started modestly eventually grew into the great orphan homes at Ashley Down. During his lifetime, Müller cared for more than 10,000 orphans. He also established or supported 117 schools that provided Christian education to more than 120,000 children.

Müller wanted the children to receive more than food and shelter. They were educated, taught practical skills, and prepared to earn a living when they left the orphan homes. At a time when many impoverished children were condemned to harsh workhouses or dangerous labor, this was remarkable.

Charles Dickens: Giving the Poor a Voice

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812. He rose to fame with the serial publication of The Pickwick Papers in 1836—the same year Müller began his first orphan work.

Dickens created some of the most memorable characters in English literature: Oliver Twist, Ebenezer Scrooge, David Copperfield, Pip, Betsy Trotwood, and Tiny Tim. Through their stories, he exposed poverty, injustice, child neglect, abusive schools, debtors’ prisons, and the cruelty of the workhouse system.

Dickens possessed an extraordinary understanding of human behavior. He could be humorous, sentimental, satirical, and severe—sometimes within the same chapter. His novels entertained millions, but they also made comfortable readers confront suffering they might otherwise have ignored.

In many of Dickens’s stories, a person is rescued through the kindness, courage, or generosity of another human being. Consider Betsy Trotwood in David Copperfield. She first appears severe, overbearing, and difficult. Yet she becomes one of the most loyal, perceptive, and compassionate people in the novel.

Dickens believed that human beings could change. Again and again, he called upon his readers to show mercy to the poor, especially to suffering children.

Two Men Confronting the Same Sorrow

Dickens and Müller approached the plight of England’s children in very different ways. Dickens used his pen. Through unforgettable characters and powerful stories, he stirred the conscience of the nation. Müller opened his doors. He housed, fed, clothed, educated, and loved children who had nowhere else to go.

Müller also followed an unusual principle: he did not publicly solicit money for the orphan homes. He prayed about each need and trusted God to provide through willing donors. He refused to go into debt for the work. To Müller, every meal, building, book, bed, and article of clothing was evidence of God’s provision.

Dickens seldom made theological doctrine the center of his novels. Nevertheless, he wrote a simplified account of the Gospels for his children. He did not intend it for publication during his lifetime; it was eventually published in 1934 as The Life of Our Lord.

We need not attempt to judge the full nature of Charles Dickens’s faith. That matter belongs to God. What we can observe is that Dickens repeatedly urged his readers toward compassion, generosity, forgiveness, and concern for the oppressed.

Dickens Learns About Müller’s Orphan Work

In 1857, Charles Dickens visited the orphan homes at Ashley Down after hearing troubling reports about the treatment of the children. What he discovered was not an institution filled with starving, neglected orphans, but a well-organized home in which children were fed, educated, and cared for.

On November 7, 1857, Dickens’s weekly journal, Household Words, published an extensive article titled “Brother Müller and His Orphan-Work.”

The article was written by Henry Morley, one of Dickens’s regular contributors. It described Müller’s life, his reliance upon prayer, and the remarkable growth of the orphan work. Its appearance in Dickens’s widely read publication introduced Müller’s work to an enormous audience and treated his accomplishments with unmistakable respect.

You may read the original article on this website under the title “Brother Müller and His Orphan-Work.”

A Tale of Great Love

Charles Dickens and George Müller were very different men. Dickens revealed suffering through stories. Müller answered suffering through a lifetime of prayer and practical service. Dickens placed neglected children before the eyes of the public. Müller gathered neglected children into his homes and gave them food, education, protection, and hope.

One worked primarily through the power of the written word. The other worked through faith expressed in daily action. Yet both refused to look away from the misery of children whom society had forgotten.

That is why their connection remains so meaningful.

It is a tale of two remarkable men—and of their great love for children who desperately needed someone to care.

With affectionate regards,

Anthony Barbera