With only prayer and a faith that always seemed too small, Audra Grace Shelby departed with her husband and children on a one-way flight to Yemen…deep into the heart of conservative Islam.

With honesty and passion, she shares her harrowing journey as a Christian woman thrust into a culture dangerously different from her own. From the friendships she forged, to her gnawing doubt and fear, to her offers of hope when her new friends’ religion failed them, she gives us glimpses of a world most have never seen: behind the veils of real Muslim women–and how the grace of God touches lives in the midst of an Islamic stronghold.

I was definitely intrigued by the opportunity to read Behind the Veils of Yemen by Audra Grace Shelby, as I have heard very little about the lives of Muslim women, especially of those living in the Middle East. This book really opened by eyes to the struggles that these women face as a result of their culture, their religion, their environment and the economic situation. It was difficult to read about their trials, their pain, and their acceptance of the oppression they suffer as normative. I felt my emotions pulled at over and over again at the stories shared.

Shelby’s writing style was easy and enjoyable to read, feeling more like a beautiful descriptive tale than a factual autobiography, though the realness of the stories make it obvious that it’s no fiction creation. I’m not sure what Shelby’s goal was in writing this book, but if she desired to awaken awareness and a burden to pray for these women, then she definitely succeeded. The fact that she also only tells of the first three years out of nine that her family spent in missionary service in the Middle East, leaves you wanting to know more and to find out about the fate of these women she ministered to. Yet she may not even have that answer to share, as many times she had to trust the Lord to water and bring to maturity the simple seeds she sowed in their hearts.

I would absolutely recommend this book as an excellent read, for the person who already has a burden for the mission field, yet perhaps more for the person who is still searching for God’s heart for the lost people of the world. I found that my own heart cried out along with Shelby’s and I was challenged and inspired by the revelations that God gave to her in her own journey.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Chosen, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

As we were emailing back and forth, discussing the painting, Bethany sent me a word of encouragement for writing on this blog, sharing with me the scripture Psalm 68:11 which says,

The Lord gives the command; the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host.

In her personal study of this verse, she wrote her own paraphrase which goes like this…

The Lord speaks poetically and a great host of women shine like stars in sacred service publishing the beautiful good news.

I love this!  The Lord is speaking and there is a great host of women who are listening to hear what He is saying and are then proclaiming His message to the earth!  I am so encouraged by the many amazing women of God who are using the various platforms out there to proclaim the beautiful good news of Jesus – whether through their blog, in a 140-character tweet, a work of art, a worship song, a phone call, during coffee with a friend, in an article or book, from a pulpit, in a video on youtube – the possibilities are endless!  Daily I am challenged and inspired by this great host of women whom God has anointed and appointed to shine like stars in the darkness and declare what is on His heart towards mankind. 

So today I want to bless and encourage every woman of God who reads this and remind you that God has given His command, His Word and you are His voice in this world!

Perhaps in the comments you can share links to some of the women that inspire and challenge you through their words, their creations or their lives.

Revelation 1:1-3 (NIV)
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place…2 that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Jesus, I ask that You would give to me a desire for Your Word and a hunger in my spirit to eat the scroll and partake of these words that are the revelation of who You are.  Where my spirit is dull and where I am complacent and apathetic towards this book, I ask that You would deliver me and that You would sharpen me and cause a zeal and a tenacity to rise up within me.  Jesus, I want to eat the scroll.  Jesus, I desire Your words and I want to honor the prophetic word that You declared to Your church in order to reveal Yourself to us and to prepare Your Bride for Your return.  Stir up longing and hunger to read, hear, and take to heart this testimony of You.

Jesus, I ask that You would bless my mind to read the words of Your prophecy and anoint me with wisdom and revelation to understand them.  I ask that You would bless and open my eyes to see what You are desiring to show me and that my vision would be opened to enter into what John was seeing.  Jesus, as I read, may the words come to life and be branded upon my mind.  I ask for the grace and strength needed to read these difficult words and the discipline and perseverance to meditate upon them continually.  May I enter into the blessing that You promised for those who would read this book, by Your grace.

Jesus, I ask that You would bless my ears to hear the words of Your prophecy.  I pray that I would not be one who just hears these words and then immediately after forgets them, but that I would be one who hears and does!  I ask that I would be one who heeds Your Word and intently inclines my ear to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.  Open my ears to hear what You are saying and remove anything that is hindering my hearing.  If there be any lies of the enemy that I have listened to and believed, I ask that You would dismantle them and destroy them.  If there be any compromise or sin in my heart that prevents me from being able to hear Your words, would You set me free and cause a turning to occur within me. 

And may I not only be one who hears, but also one who speaks the words of this prophecy.  Jesus, would You bless my mouth and anoint my speech to be a messenger in these last days.  I ask that as I hear these words, that faith would be produced in my heart, leading to a boldness to proclaim the words that I am hearing You speak.  I ask that even as I speak these words in my own prayer life, that the whispering of the truths found in this book would impact me.  I ask for courage to declare Your heart as You have revealed it in this prophecy and that I would proclaim it accurately, in grace and truth.  Would You give me wisdom and grace upon my lips to speak with clarity and authority and power!

Lastly, Jesus, I ask that You would bless and anoint me to take these words to heart.  I ask for You to soften my heart and tenderize it so that the soil of my heart would be open and ready to receive the seed of Your Word.  Would You till the soil and break up the areas of my heart that are hardened by sin and compromise.  I ask that You would enable me to take Your words to heart, allowing them to impact me and transform me.  I ask that this book would begin to pierce me, strike me, and wound me with the urgency of the hour and the reality that the time is indeed near.  I ask that I would not be able to simply glaze over the words without them entering into my heart and changing the way I think, feel, and live my life.  I ask that my heart would be ruined by the corrections You give Your church, by the promises You offer to those who overcome, by the images and events I see portrayed in Your judgments, by the glory of the coming age and the unimaginable beauty and rapture of the fellowship with God that is ours to enjoy in that day.  I ask that it would absolutely wreck me for an average, ordinary life and that I would have these words so burned and seared upon my soul that I could do nothing less than agree with them fully and enter into partnership with You in seeing them fulfilled.

So be it.  Amen.

One day, Horton the elephant hears a cry for help coming from a speck of dust. Even though he can’t see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who refuse to believe that anything could survive on the speck. Still, Horton stands by the motto that, “After all, a person is a person, no matter how small.”

In recent years, Horton’s motto has become a popular phrase adopted by pro-life groups to support their message that even the unborn have a voice, if you would only listen. Even though we cannot see them or hear them, they are alive and need people who, like Horton, are willing to protect them, even when others refuse to believe in their right to life. In some circles, there have also been some prophetic words linked to the release of this movie and it’s significance for the fight against abortion.

Now to go back several months to July 7, 2007, there was an event titled “The Call” where thousands of people gathered to fast and pray. Just one of the many issues they touched on that day was about praying for the ending of abortion and Lou Engle gave a riveting talk on the parallels between “Horton Hears A Who” and our call to stand for life. This was followed by an introduction of two young women who God called to be prophetic messengers by writing another children’s book that would teach this upcoming generation about praying for the unborn. Their book is titled “Justice Loves Babies” and they went on to describe how the Lord led and equipped them to write this book about a little boy named Justice who was praying for the safe entry of his sister Destiny into this world.

This event occurred just a few days before my husband and I discovered that we were pregnant, but it wasn’t until almost two months later that I was reminded of this story and I had the thought that Justice could be a good name for our coming baby. I mentioned it to my husband, who wasn’t convinced at first, but over the next few days, we both couldn’t shake the idea and separately, we were both being prompted by the Lord that this was the name we were supposed to give to our child, whether it was a girl or a boy. So, ever since then, we have been praying for our baby Justice and the destiny that God has given this little life, believing that he or she will be one who will be a prophetic messenger of their generation, standing up for those who cannot fight for themselves and speaking up for those who do not have a voice of their own. We believe there is much significance to this name of Justice, as there are many profound scriptures on this topic in the Bible, yet it will remain to be seen exactly how God unfolds this theme in the life of our child. However, here are 3 keys verses that God has highlighted to me…

“The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” Psalm 33:5

“In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.” Isaiah 42:4

“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.” Luke 18:7-8

As you can see, Jesus loves justice and is very committed to establishing justice on the earth, yet he has ordained it to be connected to the unceasing prayers of the saints. This is just one of the many reasons why my husband and I have chosen to give our lives to worship and intercession at the house of prayer in our city that one day hopes to go 24/7.

But to go back to how I started this blog entry, with “Horton Hears A Who” – it was only this week that I found out the release date of this movie would be on March 14th, the same day our baby Justice is due to arrive! Some may find this a coincidence, but I believe it is only confirmation of our baby’s name and destiny, as well as an encouragement that the Lord will bring forth justice and defend the cause of the oppressed, including the unborn who are at risk of being killed before ever having a chance at life.

I believe that there are people whom God is calling to be prophetic messengers, both those who are already alive on this earth and those who are living in the womb. I desire to be used of God in this way and I hope our child will answer this call as well. Yet, I also have the conviction that these messengers will find themselves in much the same predicament as Horton, who was mocked, ridiculed, persecuted, and even imprisoned for his beliefs and his message. Answering this call will not come without a cost. Choosing to give yourself to a life of prayer and proclamation of God’s Word is not an easy one – there are risks, obstacles, and opposition in both the spiritual and natural realms. Yet I believe that the reward in the age to come will be more than worth the price we may pay now! As Paul put it…

“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:8-11

At the same time, ever since I began to seek to write with purpose and ask God what message He would have me proclaim, I have had the constant reminder of what Shawn mentioned in a post about the necessity for a life of encounter with God in order to have an apostolic blog.

…you have to fight for that secret place with God. You have to fight for time with God. Time in the Word. Time in Prayer. This is your only hope for so much more than just a good weblog. You have to live a life of encounter.

This has really challenged me as a writer and a blogger because if I truly desire to be a prophetic messenger through the medium of the Internet, then I cannot rely on clever words and posts while having a shallow relationship with God and no depth in the Word. This has propelled me to seek God in a new way, to seek after His heart and find out what He is saying and what He is doing. Over the last couple weeks, He has been speaking to me on several different topics as I’ve been studying and praying, yet I’ve been reluctant to write about any of it yet. I want to allow Him to place a burning within me and I want to be able to write with authority that can only come from long hours of meditation and communion with Him. Allow me to quote Shawn once more…

Call me logical, but you can’t say something without first having something to say. And if you really want to touch people then you have to have more than just words. You need a reality. You need sincerity and anointing. You need a genuine encounter with God…Remember, intimacy with God comes above everything else. If you have a burden to use your site to touch deeper things in God, then you need to have an even higher vision for your own heart.

So while I feel the itch to write and it sort of bugs me to go for longer periods without posting, these words ring true with me – intimacy with Him must come first. I’ve been enjoying the revelation He’s been touching my heart with more than ever and I truly hope it will be worth the wait. I desire His anointing to be a messenger in this age, whether it’s through blogging, through singing at our house of prayer, or through coffee with a friend – I want to be a voice that is more than a “clanging gong” and actually has substance that comes from time spent in the secret place.