After living abroad for 35 years, a prominent Vincentian pastor in Brooklyn has published his first book as he prepares to return to his homeland to spend his “Golden Years.”
The Rev. A. Nelson Samuel, pastor and founder of Love Tabernacle Fellowship International, Inc., a nondenominational church in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, has published “The Goodness of God: Principles of Living Victoriously.”
The former school teacher in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and ex-police officer in both the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Anguilla Police Forces – told Caribbean Life that the book, published less than two months before he returns home, is written for readers to discover “God’s unlimited, eternal and unconditional love for His creation.
“That God loves the unsaved, un-churched, as much as He loves His own children, is evident,” said Rev. Samuel, who became a Born-Again Christian shortly after migrating to Anguilla in 1978.
“It’s my prayer that the discovery of God’s love will encourage His people to trust Him to meet all their needs,” he added. “This is primarily why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die for all.”
Rev. Samuel, who retired as a New York City public school teacher in June this year, said the inspiration to write the book came aboard a flight to his native land on July 5, 2012.
He said being aboard an airplane – flying above the clouds and oceans to any destination – is “a real good place to understand the goodness of God.
“Many people are afraid to set foot in an airplane because of fear, but God’s goodness assures us that, if we trust Him, He will take care of us in every area of our lives,” Rev. Samuel said.
Rev. Samuel said he will expand on that message when he takes up residence in Penniston in the Buccament Valley in St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Dec. 6 and will, shortly afterwards, open a branch of Love Tabernacle Fellowship International, Inc. in that valley.
He said he and his wife – the former Eliza Vernetha Sylvester, also an erstwhile member of the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force and retired staff analyst with the Bureau of Vital Statistics in New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene – will leave their six children in New York.
Their eldest son, Nelvern, will take over the leadership of the ministry in New York when they depart.
Pastor Samuel, who was also a soccer coach in the Central Brooklyn Soccer League and the Spanish Soccer Leagues in New York, during the 1980s and 1990s, plans, along with his wife, to assist the youth in the Buccament Valley area “holistically – spiritually, educationally, emotionally, socially and physically.”
He said they have already organized an all-male soccer team, Dunamis, which has 35 members, and plan to form a female soccer team soon.
In 1986, Rev. Samuel founded Love Tabernacle Fellowship International, Inc., and served as the pastor, while owning a trucking business, working in Loss Prevention and pursuing further education.
Rev. Samuel holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of New Rochelle, New York and a Master of Science degree in education from Brooklyn College, City University of New York.
