As a child, Eileen loved writing and telling stories. Walking to school every morning, she created characters, then talked to them as she ambled down the road, which was often her way of dealing with grief and loss. After the death of her brother, Eileen learned to empathize with the underdog. Many of Eileen's stories revolve around issues that many find difficult to talk about--death, homosexuality, sex trafficking. Through her characters, she offers readers an opportunity to draw close, peel back the layers of their own hearts, and examine what lies within.
And added to the mix--romance, always a romance around one corner or another!
About the book: One brother's dark secret. Another brother's scorn.
Newlyweds Gavin and Maggie Munsfield return to care for the
sick and wounded at The Oasis Compound in Chennai, India, which is still
suffering from the recent tsunami. Gavin's brother, Tim, a successful landscape
architect, joins them for the clean-up and rebuilding of the Compound. But Tim
harbors a dark past that threatens to destroy his relationship with his
brother...and a promising new love. Will family ties be strong enough to bind
two wounded hearts, once the secret is revealed
Author's links: www.eileenrife.com
And now . . . Behind the book:
I’ve often wondered what secrets lay in the heart of the
person sitting in the pew next to me. Is she grieving a lost love? Is he
mourning the death of a spouse? Has she recently endured a serious illness or a
divorce?
When my counselor husband asked me to write a pamphlet on homosexuality
for his office several years ago, I reluctantly agreed. However, after I delved
into research I realized I couldn’t do it. What I learned was simply too
upsetting and depressing to continue. I wanted to help since five percent of
his client case load struggled with this issue, but I couldn’t. So I dropped
the project and wished him the best.
A few years passed and I endured some struggles of my own in
which God had to reach deep within my heart and rescue me. When I began brainstorming characters and
plot line for book two, Restored Hearts, in the Born for India trilogy,
seemingly out of nowhere the idea struck me that a character I’d introduced at
the end of book one, Journey to Judah, would resurface in Restored Hearts as a
young man who struggled with homosexuality.
I wondered why God would create a desire in me to tackle
this topic. Intrigued, I jumped into research, but this time I didn’t give up,
even when I thought I couldn’t go on. Even when I worried that my writing would
not do justice to the topic.
The more I wrote, the more I began to identify with my
central character Tim who desperately wanted to flee homosexuality once and for
all. While I have not struggled with this issue, I have been held captive by
other equally-destructive habits. My heart softened for this young man. I found
myself rooting for him, praying for him, agonizing for him.
By the end of the novel, I celebrated with him. And my life
was changed. I began to wonder if someone in the pew next to me suffered in
silence with this sin.
Since writing this novel, God has allowed me to encourage
several who’ve either struggled themselves or watched a family member struggle.
I no longer view one sin as worse than another. I no longer laugh at homosexual
jokes. I no longer wince when I’m in the presence of a homosexual.
Instead,
I offer the love of Jesus, praying that the same God who redeemed me from all
my sin will do the same for this individual.
2 comments:
Thanks for hosting me, Darlene!
Great post with Eileen! I am a regular follower of Eileen's blog and I simply love it. She is such an inspiration and truly shows that she has a heart for God.
God bless!
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