“On an ordinary day in June 2017, in a restaurant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, everything was about to change. Suddenly, phones starting beeping and ringing. We read, in disbelief, the messages that were streaming in. Shrieks of celebration drowned out conversation. Outside, we heard cars honking their horns. It would take a full year for the ban to actually be lifted, but for women, the unexpected news that they were to be given the right to drive was one of the most remarkable moments in the history of Saudi Arabia.”

While it is still often considered slow progress by the international community, in the past few years Saudi Arabia has seen remarkable changes that promote women’s rights and empowerment. Not so long ago, women in Saudi Arabia were not permitted to drive, vote, attend college, or work in a public place. Recently, all of that has changed. In August 2019 it was even announced that Saudi women over the age of 21 would be allowed to hold passports and travel abroad without the consent of a male guardian.

Extraordinary progress for women is being made in the desert kingdom. While there is still a long way to go, women are no longer held back by the law, and these changes to ordinary life are literally changing the world.

IDEAS FOR PRAYER

1. PRAY FOR national support to continue reforms that allow women equal rights and freedom in Saudi Arabia, including freedom of religion.

2. THIS SHIFT in recent policies regarding women has come about as a direct result of the reforms initiated by the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Vision 2030. Pray for Saudi authorities to pursue the well-being and development of all Saudi Arabians.

3. WOMEN WERE the first to recognize the risen Christ. Pray that it will be so in Saudi Arabia. (Luke 24)