Getting Back to Christian Basics is the title of local author Dr. Juanita Furbert-Guishard's newest book, which is being launched with a book signing at City Hall on Saturday.

Illustrated by US citizen and colleague Dr. Edna Vivian-Forbey Smith, the book is described as "a call for people to look into the word of God for the solution to their problems''.

"It's about getting back to Christian basics, which will help people to solve many of the social problems that we have today,'' Dr. Furbert-Guishard explained.

Dr. Furbert-Guishard and Dr. Smith first met through their work as counsellors in the Bermuda school system, and were drawn to collaborate on the book as a result of surviving similar personal difficulties.

"We used spiritual responses to be overcomers,'' Dr. Furbert-Guishard said of their shared experiences. "Subsequently Dr. Smith returned to the United States to live, but the original notes that we began to compile before she left remained with me. After seven years, I began to feel that I should do some further research, and I decided that I would bring the book to a conclusion here in Bermuda.'' When Dr. Smith visited the Island last year the duo compiled their notes, and the project went ahead.

"She is an artist and I am a nurse, but we are both counsellors, which is why the book has to do with Christian counsellors,'' Dr. Furbert-Guishard explained. "The book is a collaborative effort. Dr. Smith did the illustrations and also helped with some of the chapters.'' Dr. Furbert-Guishard is also the author of The Legend of St. Brendan's, which she describes as "from the time Bermuda was discovered until 1987''.

Dr. Smith is now a counsellor in a secondary school in Baltimore, while Dr.

Furbert-Guishard has returned to nursing, and works in a rest home.

The book signing for Getting Back to Christian Values will take place in City Hall foyer on Saturday between 9 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. Pre-purchased copies can also be collected and signed at that time. The book, which retails here for $15, will also be sold at The Christian Bookstore, the Bookmart, the Bermuda Bookstore, and other similar bookstores around the Island. It is also being sold in the US. For further information telephone 293-0153.