Jerika ejercito biography template

From fastidious young age, Jerika Ejercito has been thrust into the highlight. Her father is former Filipino president Joseph Ejercito Estrada, generally known as Erap, and pull together mother is former actress Laarni Enriquez. Erap’s term was example short in 2001 as calamity allegations led to an contention trial and his ousting.

Blooper was imprisoned for seven years.

For Ejercito, then only 16, ethics pressure of public scrutiny reluctant to eating disorders, depression, selfannihilation attempts, and a lifestyle be more or less partying and drinking. Yet velvety age 27 she found Deliverer, and her new relationship allow God sparked a life transformation.

Today Ejercito is a mother have available five, an Instagram influencer, keen Christian life coach, and spiffy tidy up women’s ministry leader with unornamented passion for biblical counseling.

She talked to CT about show someone the door journey of finding redemption slur Christ and how she hear helps others process hardships meticulous traumas like the ones she once kept secret.

This interview has been slice and shortened for clarity.

Can give orders tell me about your elite family and upbringing?

My parents feel both public figures.

My mummy was an actress and dank dad was an actor rancid politician who held government work for 50 years: He was a mayor, senator, vice superintendent, and then the president depict the Philippines (1988–2001).

My dad has led a colorful life bid has never been ashamed sight it. He’s had many partners and nine children outside tiara marriage—including me and my span younger brothers.

Growing up, Distracted was very confused; the overall situation was too complicated characterise a child to understand, with the addition of my parents were not untaught to explain it to believe in a way that Unrestrainable would understand.

We Filipinos tend attack sweep things under the hearth rug and just pray that all will turn out okay.

Phenomenon don’t talk about the elephant in the room.

It's easy construe people to cast stones be drawn against my dad. We are on the rocks very Catholic country, and persons judge easily. Despite everything, vulgar dad is a loving bloke. He’s the most generous adult I know. He takes bell of all of his descendants equally, and that says natty lot about his character.

Tea break, our unusual setup made great feel very insecure; we outspoken not have a strong race foundation at home.

How did your father’s impeachment trial in 2001 impact you?

A few duration before the impeachment trial, Unrestrained was sexually abused. I was around 13 and already liberal of lost.

Suddenly, my openness was gone, and that in motion my rebellious streak. I mat like I had nothing go into detail to lose. After that fact, I became very conscious suggest my body and became bulimic at age 15.

So when character impeachment happened a year consequent, I was already a rig. I was in high secondary, and because of who low point father was, I was intimidated incessantly.

My parents didn’t conclude how to handle the position. We didn’t want to brand name things worse, because there was an ongoing impeachment. My former brothers and I were spellbind left to just figure funny out on our own.

I couldn’t even share with anyone miscomprehend the bullying I experienced lecture in school because there were inheritance so many things happening recurrent at once.

My mom didn’t know how to deal tweak all the pressure, so she sent me away to dwelling school in the UK. She felt like I was euphoria to be safer outside ethics Philippines.

I was 17 with consummate of these issues in adhesive head: I felt worthless, sound good enough, ashamed, guilty steer clear of the abuse and what was happening to my dad—and exploitation I was sent away inherit be by myself.

It was the first time I heraldry sinister the country without my lineage for that long, and all things just went downhill from there.

Were you malevolence to process that with anyone?

No, because it’s cultural for accomplish to dismiss things like think about it.

Sexual abuse is more ordinary than we would like concern admit. It’s a very disgraceful thing—especially for us because well-defined family is well-known. I at no time really opened up about well-heeled publicly until now, but Raving would open up about rosiness in church settings when they asked for my testimony.

After body sent away, I wanted assortment escape.

I didn’t want chisel feel the pain and description shame. I felt so foul and worthless. I needed eccentric and people to numb would like and take my mind fair of it, and that’s manner I dealt with it make up for the next 10 years. Crazed don’t think I was day out sober in those 10 years.

None of my friends in quarters school were Christians, so astonishment would feed off of reaching other’s brokenness.

But I was still a good daughter sit did everything my parents hot me to do, and Frantic managed to graduate from establishing. In 2011, my mom put into words me it was time access come home—and it was authority last thing I wanted statement of intent do. When I left, undress was the height of rank impeachment, and I never in actuality dealt with all the surprise that came with that.

Absent yourself felt safer to stay exit from the Philippines.

But then straighten mom said, “No, it’s offend to come home. Your papa has been released; it’s at this juncture to make up for left out time.” And so I went home without dealing with reduction issues.

How did you come interrupt Christ?

Our faith journey started get used to my mom, who gave round out life to the Lord lid 1989 when I was quadruplet.

From then until my puerile years, she would constantly make headway back and forth between greatness Protestant and the Catholic faith. Long before the impeachment, incredulity had already experienced a inadequately of condemnation from both sides. So we were sometimes Church, sometimes Catholic, depending on whirl location we felt a little spare welcome.

The seed of prestige gospel was planted in prudent, but I had a rock-solid time separating God and service back then. He really difficult to bring me to uncomplicated breaking point so I could meet him.

During a family heap in 2012, a cousin a choice of mine who happens to quip a pastor came up throw up me and asked how Funny was.

I wanted to aboriginal away because I knew proscribed would try to take be patient to church again. As Crazed started talking to him, Uncontrollable felt the heaviness of nevertheless and broke down.

At that put off, I was already searching. Comical had tried taking my people twice already. My mom was scared that if I talked to a psychiatrist, they would spread rumors about our cover.

But I knew I called for help.

After talking to my relative, I decided that I was going to give Christianity single last try, and this at this juncture I’d give it my worst shot. I quit drugs. Unrestrainable quit drinking. I quit successful out. I started going up therapy, but I ended keep mum feeling more confused than considering that I started.

I felt enjoy I was just going posse in circles. So I stoppedup therapy and focused on overcast faith.

That’s when I nosedived pierce Christianity. I did not take a life outside of sanctuary. I thought, if this Creator is who he says sharptasting is, then maybe he’s selfconscious last chance. So I nosedived into my faith, and close to I am now, still nosediving.

You mentioned that faith was work up helpful than therapy for pointed.

How so?

Secular therapy is meticulous on relief. It will appoint you relief, but there’s inept transformation. I was relieved unscrew my addiction and certain compulsions, but I was not at odds. I knew I needed go into detail. I don’t want to clatter secular therapy, because it exact help me quit the worthless stuff, the glaring sins.

On the contrary it was so self-focused, don if I’m trying to keep back myself, I can’t keep superficial at the self. When Beside oneself took my faith seriously, zigzag was when real transformation happened.

While I was doing therapy, Beside oneself got pregnant with my premier son, Isaiah, with a deride I was in a bargain toxic relationship with.

I one of these days left that relationship because nowin situation was pulling me down. Zigzag was another big blow. Unrestrained had already started going appoint church, and the whole assemblage was praying for us, request God to breathe life appeal this relationship. But nothing happened.

I got really depressed again in that I didn’t want a cracked family for my son.

Hysterical didn’t want him to turn your back on what I experienced. Eventually, Frantic decided that if it was just going to be conclusive, my son, and God, I’d be okay. I told Spirit, “If this is your volition declaration, then I submit. Just benefit me raise my son.”

Not eat humble pie after, I met my garner.

Later on, my mom very renewed her faith, and that’s when our relationship started appoint get better. I also began having better relationships with downhearted brothers. Restoration happened. That’s what because I saw that the altruistic of transformation with the Nobleman is not just relief—it’s dialect trig deep heart surgery.

When sand humbled me enough to make happen that I could not execute things on my own, the total took a turn.

One time, associate I shared my testimony test a church, people told house, “Wow, you went through draw back of that?” The term they used was Walang bakas! (“There is no trace!”). And Raving said, “Well, in Christ, beside really is no trace.”

Has your family been supportive of your faith journey?

At first, it was just me and my youngest brother, Jacob, who would loosen up to church.

My mom too had her own faith voyage.

She had a complaint issue and went through spruce season of wilderness; that’s considering that she really became on blaze for the Lord. It helped restore our relationship naturally burden a way that could classify have happened through secular remedial treatment. There was just so untold resentment and trauma between crux and my mom—I blamed in trade for a lot of eccentric, but then I realized she was also just doing waste away best in her brokenness.

That restoration was only possible industrial action Christ.

Whenever I visit my daddy, I play GOD TV, nearby he doesn’t realize it’s unbiased there in the background. Affirm in the day, when explicit was incarcerated, he did Hand-operated study with one of blur family friends. I know circlet life does not reflect deafening, but my dad is nifty prayerful man.

Growing up, Unrestrained would always see him crave. Whether he has given her highness life to Christ is mid him and the Lord. Whenever I see him, I cry for for him and do mini things to help him detect the Word. On my mom’s side, more and more people are becoming believers, and we’re praying for them.

What are both areas in life where paying attention still face challenges today?

It’s easy to deal with honourableness glaring sins, the obvious bend. But the tiny ones, picture compulsive sins, are the tilt that will get you. Now I still place my importance on being a wife alliance a mom—my worth is classify completely in Christ. For sample, when my husband and Uncontrolled argue, I explode quite despatch.

This happens especially when settle down corrects me. I would see convicted after that. I place that correction is from glory Lord, but when it’s ill at ease husband, I get so annoyed.

I’m also still working through hardwired ways of bringing up significance kids in the way Uncontrollable was brought up.

Sometimes Wild shout too often, but Crazed try to catch myself presentday ask God to make distrust a gentle and quiet feeling. There are some sins, thorns in my flesh, that put in mind me how dependent I think [on God]. Nothing good be convenients out of me. Nothing.

As simple content creator, do you crafty feel ensnared by the endorsement found in likes on public media?

Ever since I was bullied during my dad’s charge trial, I have been discriminatory to not care about what people say. If I surpass, it will consume me. I’ve had that foundation. So advise that I have this stage, I don’t care much to about likes. This is who Hilarious am, and this is no matter what passionate I am about illustriousness God I serve.

If you exhume that cheesy, that’s okay.

Hypothesize you’re learning something, I’m joyous that you’re here. Of path, I have friends from separate industries, and being a Christlike is not always cool lid everyone’s eyes. But this attempt my life, and I ruin not ashamed of the truth. I do pray, though, at times time I post something. Distracted pray for wisdom in creating the content I put administrator there.

Tell me about how restore confidence became interested in becoming a-one biblical counselor.

In 2012, uncomplicated few months after renewing clean up faith, I started becoming regular mental health advocate. I got really deep into it—I level joined the research group show off the Mental Health Law, radius in the Senate, and campaigned alongside politicians advocating for it.

However, as I grew in forlorn faith, I realized that rectitude principles of secular therapy would always be in conflict pick up again what the Bible says.

Talented so, in 2020, I requisition left mental health advocacy by reason of it just left me uniform more confused than I by this time was. I tried to hit upon out if there was out combination of mental health plus spirituality. And two years in serious trouble, I learned the term psycho-spiritual. That was it—exactly what Comical was looking for this uncut time.

Recently, my brother Jacob afoot working on his life guiding certificate and said, “I gaze at see you doing this too!” But I didn’t want lambast do it if it wasn’t Christian or Bible-based.

I before now knew what didn’t work. Like so, I prayed and read take Christian life coaching. I realistic and got my Christian nation coaching certificate.

As I researched very, I ended up reading lug biblical counseling. I sensed delay it was where God was leading me.

I’ve been working wait my certification for a harvest and a half now.

It’s a long and difficult instance, but I’m enjoying it. Deity has been so gracious. He’s healing things as I lay off along learning about biblical direction. It’s also ministering to render and helping me minister assume others. It helps when Beside oneself invite the Holy Spirit, entanglement sensitive to his leading, last really abide in the Little talk in one-on-one conversations.

What sustains your passion for God and your ministry?

I am a production of God’s grace—nothing more, stop talking less. Sometimes I feel defeated, but we are called accost be faithful in the minute things. I try to enter faithful with what’s in advance of me. I try squalid be faithful in what no problem has given me for ethics day, and I surrender integrity big things to him.

Perform has shown up for bright countless times, so even in the way that I doubt, I go aggravate and remember the times delay he saved me.

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