Behind the Veils of Yemen - by Audra Grace Shelby (Paperback)

About the Book

Compelling memoir of an American woman and her family moving to Yemen, learning to live in the Islamic culture, and offering hope to Muslim women.

Book Synopsis

An Insider's Compelling View of Life in a Muslim Country

When Audra Grace Shelby and her husband felt God calling them to minister in the Middle East, she was fearful--how would she raise her children in the heart of conservative Islam?

Armed with prayers and a faith that always seemed too small, the family made the move to Yemen, enduring deadly illness, uncertainty, and the unnerving experience of being Christians in an Islamic culture.

Yet God was at work, and Audra was invited to see what few Christian women have seen: behind the veils of Muslim women. Here she shares about the friendships she forged, about the opportunities to minister when her new friends' hopes shriveled and their own religion faltered--and how the grace of God touched lives in the midst of an enemy stronghold. With humor, passion, and honesty, she shows readers glimpses of life deep in the heart of Islam and the yearning heart of our loving God.

From the Back Cover

Women began to arrive in the entry hall, peeling away their black outer coverings. I watched in amazement as shimmering bodies emerged from the black shrouds. One woman sparkled in a purple silk caftan, her arms gleaming with gold jewelry. I smiled to myself. If people only knew what was under those veils. I looked at their faces, artfully painted with makeup, not at all how they appeared in public: dark eyes in narrow black slits. They were like the beauties of Arab folklore. I was awed by the transformation.

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.

"This book is a must-read."--Avery Willis, executive director, International Orality Network; former vice president, Overseas Operations, International Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention

"A compelling tale, skillfully told, of a young family embarking upon an extraordinary adventure with God."--Karen O'Dell Bullock, Ph.D., professor of Christian heritage, B. H. Carroll Theological Institute

About the Author

Audra Grace Shelby served nine years as a Southern Baptist missionary in the Middle East, alongside her husband and four children. The daughter of career missionaries, she speaks frequently at conferences and in churches across the United States, and she has been on local and national radio talk shows and broadcasts. Audra and her husband remain actively involved in reaching unreached people in the Middle East and around the world through ministries such as Faith Comes By Hearing.