“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 three 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, 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 (not her real name) served nine years as a missionary in the Middle East alongside her husband and their three children. They remain actively involved in reaching the unreached people in the Middle East and around the world. She lives in New Mexico.