In Heaven is Real, But So is Hell: An Eyewitness of What is to Come, internationally reknowned speaker, author and mystic Vassula Ryden takes the reader into the supernatural world where she has experienced the hidden forces that affect every moment of our lives.

It features her amazing encounters with both good and evil forces and reveals profoundly important messages for all humanity, largely hidden until now. Sometimes harrowing, but filled with hope, it answers many of the questions that people have been asking for thousands of years and at the same time offers a glimpse into God's love and justice, and of what is soon to come. Ryden, who is based in Greece, has spoken in 79 countries to millions of people. Heaven is Real But So is Hell is her first book release in America.

Vassula Ryden, author of ?Heaven is Real But So is Hell: An Eyewitness Account of What is to Come,? is a Greek Orthodox Christian speaker and author who is known worldwide.

Born of Greek parents, Ryden grew up in Egypt, until her family moved to Switzerland when she was a teenager. Then in 1985, while she was living in Bangladesh, she had a spiritual encounter that changed her life, as well as many others.

Ryden was working on a grocery list when she felt the presence of an angel. ?My hand was taken as if by an invisible hand, and I let it go because I felt he wanted me to write something,? she says.

At the time of the encounter, she had no relationship with God and hadn?t received any religious training. Soon after that encounter, God allowed Ryden to experience a painful purification process. After experiencing this dark and lonely time when she did not hear from God, she made the decision to fully surrender to Him and put God first in her life.

Since then, she has had thousands of similar experiences, transcribing ?messages? from God in a different style than her normal handwriting. The messages have been compiled in books, videos and other materials, which are promoted and distributed under the title, 'True Life in God' after Vassula was told by God in 1987, I have chosen you as a blank canvas to fill it up only with My Work which I will name: "True Life in God.?

Ryden also has what she calls ?interior visions? of heaven and the future and has foreseen three important events, which came to fruition:

* the destruction of the World Trade Center towers on September 11, 2001;

* the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004; and

? the fall of Communism in the former Soviet Union.

But such ?doomsday? prophecies are not the focus of her ministry. God?s messages to Ryden emphasize His love and desire that all people have an intimate relationship with Him. They also stress the need for unity among Christian denominations.

Although she is Greek Orthodox, Ryden has a large Catholic following. She has cordial relations with many Vatican officials and presented a copy of ?True Life in God? to Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.