CEBU, Philippines - "The road to brokenness leads to Jesus Christ, our Savior. He is extending His hand to offer you the comfort and peace and wisdom and everything else you need to go through your struggle and experience victory."
This was what Luisa Reyes-Ampil had in mind when she wrote the book "What Women Can Do When Life Falls Apart." She had come to realize that all those heartaches and pains she had gone through was actually an invitation for her to know Jesus Christ better. The bad time did not mean the end of her world, instead it marked the beginning of a wonderful and unconditional relationship.
In her book, Luisa shares stories of more than 30 women including her own stories of struggles to help women understand the purpose of their pains. Stories of women facing debilitating illnesses, infidelities of husbands, careers, relationships as a mother, wife, daughter or sibling. Stories of tragedies in the family, and how they faced it all when everything seemed broken beyond repair.
The stories of the women are not really unlike the stories that other people go through in life. What makes their stories special is how these women embraced the adversities and learned to live with it. Their faith and the grace of having Jesus Christ in their lives made them triumph.
"What Women Can Do When Life Falls Apart" is the first book of author Luisa Reyes-Ampil, who got her communication arts degree from St. Scholastica's College in 1985. She has been writing since high school; she would write poems and short stories as writer of their school paper. Her first published work was a romance short story which came out in Female magazine as an internship project in college. She got the highest grade for it.
She is currently working as the Assistant Director of International Ministry at Guidelines International. Before joining and leading a mission with Guidelines International, she has had a successful career with The Peninsula Manila and Shangri-La Hotel Makati as Banquet Manager. She has also worked at Rustan's as Marketing and Promotions officer.
Luisa has been living in US for 15 years already, together with twin daughters Christiane and Christelle. She has been a single mom since 1998, when her marriage was annulled. She, however, continues to use her husband's last name for the sake of her twins.
When she's not writing or travelling to do ministry work, she is doing Zumba or visiting her mother who lives close to her home. She loves Japanese food and her favorite color is blue.
The book "What Women Can Do When Life Falls Apart" is available in all OMF stores nationwide. (FREEMAN)