Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

The 2^nd Time I Fell in Love With Jesus: A Testimony of a Pastor’s Daughter tells the story of 24-year-old Nodia Samuels’ journey to regain her faith. Samuels will be launching the book in Tobago and Trinidad on July 19 and 20 respectively.

T&T is the final stop on a book tour that has touched on several cities in the US and Canada. Samuels’ parents are both from T&T and she has travelled between the US and T&T frequently. “We figured we should stop here because this is our home and it makes sense to have the grand finale of the tour here where we’re from. The book is all about healing, why would you not want to heal where you’re from? We’re trying to get everyone from every community because while I’m Spiritual Baptist and I’m in my Spiritual clothing on the book cover, it has nothing to do with the reader and what’s going to be told in the book. It’s just me saying to own who you are, so that’s what the launch is going to be reflecting, that it’s for all communities, not only Christian but secular communities, all backgrounds, all races, because sometimes we divide ourselves over things that don’t matter, and it doesn’t make sense.”

Samuels said the book was initially written as a form of catharsis following her experiences growing up. “One of the biggest topics I talk about is my relationship with my mother, who is a pastor. Being a pastor’s daughter isn’t easy so I fell out of love, not only because of the pressures of what it is to be a pastor’s daughter in the church, but also because I felt overwhelmed with being estranged from my mom, as there was a time when we weren’t talking, so that caused me to walk out the door, and the book describes what it meant to come back in. It talks about how that relationship caused my Christian connection with Christ to dwindle and how community, love, and self-motivation and things like that caused me to get closer to Christ, so it basically highlights that journey.”

Samuels is currently studying for a Masters in Divinity and another in Mental Health Counselling. “I work at a shelter for abused women and victims of human trafficking but I’m actually a housing counsellor in a Mental Health Association in Nassau County, Long Island, New York. I run a group at my church called Raising Royalty, which began as a group for parents focusing on topics around their kids, but has now morphed into a safe haven where they can share how they feel, and talk about all kinds of things from men to church to relationships to everything. My mom and I have a YouTube series called Momma and Me where we talk about both Christian and secular issues.”

She said the book tour is about spreading the message of healing. “I noticed a lot of times we get a lot of response with sexual abuse because it’s one of the biggest things I highlight in my book, so we have a lot of women and men coming forward, talking about their abuse and the people close to them. I also talk about your relationship with your parents, how you should find out the root of your parents’ experiences and that’s how you can nurture the relationships. That’s the part where most of the men felt they could relate, because a lot of men have some sort of parental conflict. I want to promote healing, self-motivation, I want to give insight, I want to not only educate but encourage, increase self-esteem and decrease anxiety, so it’s going to create this atmosphere of transparency where ultimately l want everyone who’s in the room to experience some sort of healing. The book is for healing so that’s the ultimate goal. People can’t get help if they don’t know help exists, people can’t know they have a problem if they’ve never heard of the problem before, so my efforts to help them include making myself vulnerable and I’m OK with that.”

In Tobago, the book launch takes place at the Calder Hall Multi Purpose Facility in Scarborough, beginning at 5:30 on July 19. For tickets, contact 868-5581. The Trinidad book launch takes place at Preysal High School at 3 pm on July 20. For tickets, contact 681-7317 and email hilarynedd@yahoo.com. Books cost $100 for the soft cover and $160 for the hardcover.