[ShBride 15] Milk of the Word

Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word,
that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
I Peter 2:2-3, NASB

I am a wife and mother who lives and works among Shiites.
I would like to tell you about a dream God has been giving me recently,
and share a story that I believe is a cry of God's Spirit for our people loved by Him, the Shiites.

For months God has been giving me the same dream several times a week. 
In my dream I see a helpless newborn baby whose mother has forgotten to feed him.
The baby is desperate, needing food and comfort from his mother.
It isn't until the infant cries that the mother remembers to feed her baby,
and then she satisfies his tears by embracing him in her arms and giving him her milk.

A few days ago my husband and children stumbled upon a kitten abandoned by its mother. 
The kitten's umbilical cord was still attached,
so we knew the kitten was only a day or two old. 
With great compassion, my husband scooped the cold,
hungry kitten into one of his hands and rushed home. 
As a family in response to the abandoned kitten's needs,
we gave it warm milk in a dropper and placed heated bottles all around it,
and now we are nursing it back to health.

May I make a parallel? 
Just as the newborn child in my dream is completely dependent on his mother's milk,
and the abandoned kitten is completely dependent on our family's care,
there are many Shiites who have chosen to follow Christ
but are still babes in Him, hungering for the milk of His Word.

They need our prayers. 
Shiites who have decided to follow Christ are facing persecution,
fear of rejection, confusion about their identity,
loss of joy, lack of fruit, and lack of discipleship. 
We, as mature believers, have the wonderful privilege,
mandate and responsibility to respond to their needs through prayer and by giving them His Word.

As you pray for Shiites who are followers of Jesus,
remember the picture of an infant crying for the arms of his mother
and a newborn kitten abandoned on the side of the road.
Together, let's pray that more Shiite followers of Jesus will be fed the milk of God's Word
and will grow into mature Shiite followers of Jesus.