NEWS PROVIDED BY
Clarke & Associates, LLC
Sept. 10, 2020

HOUSTON, Sept. 10, 2020 /Christian Newswire/ -- Juanita Campbell Rasmus will release her first highly anticipated book, "Learning to Be" Finding Your Center after the Bottom Falls Out. It will be released on September 15, 2020 by InterVarsity Press. Juanita Campbell Rasmus, is an author, speaker, spiritual director, pastor and cancer survivor.

This book explores Rasmus personal battle with depression, she describes as "the crash," to self awakening and her journey of achieving spiritual wholeness. She shares her experience with readers to express that depression and suffering are not death sentences, there is hope and there are spiritual practices that can serve as a means of support for transformation of the heart (mind, emotions, and spirit) out of the darkness. Rasmus transformed an otherwise dark time in her life into a blessing. The book is a powerful message, intended to help those who face similar challenges.

Tina Knowles Lawson, penned a very personal foreword for the book. She is a long-time friend and along with her family are some of the first members of St. John's United Methodist Church that Juanita co-pastors with her husband Rudy. "I've experienced this light in my faith walk and with powerful, resilient people like Juanita Campbell Rasmus, a woman I met in 1986 when I opened my first salon, and she became a faithful client. She set an example for the power of prayer and worship, and I later became one of the first members of St. John's Church. Over the years, I've witnessed Juanita navigate the highs and lows of marriage, motherhood, ministry, and womanhood. We are not meant to dwell in the dark, but darkness can be an indicator, helping us ask the tough questions and take one faithful step at a time towards being all God created us to be--I'm thankful that a book like this exists," states Tina Knowles Lawson.

Book Synopsis:
Learning to Be Finding Your Center after the Bottom Falls Out
"It felt as though every nerve in my body was popping. Imagine large strong hands slowly applying pressure while breaking a family-size package of uncooked, dry spaghetti. I was the spaghetti. Breaking down one piece at a time." This is how Juanita Rasmus begins the wise, frank, and witty account of what she later called "The Crash" and what her counselor labeled "a major depressive episode." This experience landed Juanita, a busy pastor, mother, and community leader, in bed. In addition to exhaustion and depression, on the spiritual front she experienced a dark night of the soul. When everything in her life finally came to a stop, she found that she had to learn to be―with herself and with God―all over again. Pastor Juanita writes from her life with kind attention to the life of the reader. She offers both practical and spiritual insights but never pat answers. If you are longing for a trustworthy companion through dark days, this book is here for you. Each chapter includes life-giving spiritual practices to help you discover your own new ways of being.

The book is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Target, eBay, Walmart, christianbook.com, and other retailers. It is available in Hardcover, Kindle and Audible AudioBook.

Book: "Learning to Be" Finding Your Center after the Bottom Falls Out
Publisher/ Imprint: InterVarsity Press (Published on Sep 15, 2020)
Pages: 176
ISBN: 9780830845873 (Hardcover; $22.00)
ISBN: 9780830843862 (Kindle; $12.99)
ISBN: 978-1545914021 (Audible Audiobook) – Unabridged --Juanita Campbell Rasmus (Author), Tina Knowles Lawson - foreword (Author), Machelle Williams (Narrator), christianaudio.com (Publisher)
Publisher:
https://www.ivpress.com/juanita-campbell-rasmus

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Be-Finding-Center-Bottom/dp/0830845879  

Press Kit: 
https://www.ivpress.com/Media/Default/Press-Kits/4587-press.pdf

Website & Blog: https://juanitarasmus.com
Twitter: @Pastor_Juanita
Instagram: @JuanitaRasmus
FaceBook: @PastorJuanitaRasmus
Ted Talk:
https://www.ted.com/talks/juanita_rasmus_learning_to_be_me_
why_is_it_so_difficult

About Juanita Rasmus
Juanita Campbell Rasmus is an author, speaker, spiritual director, and pastor. She co-pastors the St. John's United Methodist Church in downtown Houston with her husband, Rudy Rasmus. Started with nine members in 1992, thousands have joined the St. John's family, making it one of the most culturally diverse congregations in the country. Tina Knowles Lawson and her family were some of their first members. Pastor Juanita has served as a member of the board of directors of Renovaré and its ministry team founded by Richard Foster. Additionally, Juanita serves on the board of her alma mater, Houston Graduate School of Theology, and on advisory boards for Rice University's Religion and Public Life Program, re:MIND Houston and The Mind, Body, Spirit Institute of C.G.Jung Center Houston.

Juanita cofounded Bread of Life, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, with Rudy in 1992 and began serving meals to the homeless in the sanctuary at St. John's. Juanita most recently teamed up with Tina Knowles Lawson and Beyoncé to help forty thousand flood victims recover in the wake of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. In addition to addressing issues of health and disaster relief, Juanita launched the Temenos Community Development Corporation in 2006, which recently completed over thirty million dollars in housing development projects for the previously homeless in downtown Houston. She also founded The Art Project-Houston to empower the city's homeless to become hope-filled painters and artisans who craft their own livelihood and create lives filled with new possibilities.

SOURCE Clarke & Associates, LLC

CONTACT: Priscilla Clarke, 240-476-9643, priscilla@clarkepr.com