A local man has written and released his first book, “Divine Guidance,” and it required a little of that guidance to get it printed.

Howard Eugene Green said that he wanted to write this book because he wanted to give people direction in life when facing hard times.

“There are times when we get to crossroads in our lives and some of those times we don’t know where to go or what direction to take,” he said. “That’s when we will ask for guidance from above. To me this book is a very sentimental piece, and, even though I wrote the poem about ‘Divine Guidance’ in 1972, it’s still relevant today and speaks to me, as I am sure that it will speak to other people.”

As a pastor and a teacher, Green knows a thing or two about divine guidance.

He pastors Friendship Pentecostal Holiness Church and has been employed as an art teacher for 31 years at John F. Kennedy Middle School. Prior to his employment with the Suffolk school system, he was employed in Isle of Wight as a bus driver and substitute teacher.

Green is a native of Isle of Wight County and a 1970 graduate of Windsor High School. After graduating from high school, he attended Virginia State University in Petersburg, Scarritt College in Nashville, Tenn., and Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

According to Green, his book developed from the Art Teachers’ Workshop that he took at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Va., more than 10 years ago. At that workshop they learned to design a variety of books, including the accordion style and other types of books.

Therefore, he designed “Divine Guidance” in accordion style, making the book very easy to open and to close.

He said he had very little time to look for a publisher, but God gave him divine guidance through the wife of a past student, who located a publisher that ended up bringing his dream into reality. That publisher is Maximilian Press Publishers from Chesapeake.

“Now my prayers have been answered, and I will be conducting a book signing for my very first book” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Christian Bookstore, he said.

The bookstore is located at 892 North Main St.

For more information about the book, call Green at 757-334-6110 or e-mail him at hgreen5055@aol.com.