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Polk County News
‘Pink Out Weekend’ Held In Honor Of Breast Cancer Awareness
BY LATRICE SCOTT
On Saturday, October 22, 2016, Mount Olive Free Will Baptist Church kicked off their very first “Pink Out Weekend” with a Breast Cancer Aware- ness breakfast at the Village Inn in Lakeland. Mrs. Mae Farley, First Lady and event organizer, attributed the cul- mination of this event to God.
“This is a vision God placed on my heart. I want to do something every year for Breast Cancer Awareness to make women aware of the im- portance because some of
them still don’t know,” said
Mrs. Farley.
Mrs. Farley stated that
the first event was held last year during Sunday church service, but it was expanded this year to include a breakfast and “Pink Out Weekend” was officially established.
The first speaker, pharma- cist Ms. Courtney Luster, shared her expertise on the subject. She provided the par- ticipants with a variety of facts and statistics such as family history is a risk factor that can- not be changed and that breast cancer rates have increased in
Ms. Heather Thomas was the soloist for the event.
Participants in the “Pink Out Weekend” Breast Cancer Aware- ness event were from left to right: Ms. Tangela Sails, breast cancer survivor and speaker, Ms. Courtney Luster, a pharmacist, and speaker, Mrs. Mae Farley, First Lady of Mount Olive Free Will Bap- tist Church, of Lakeland, event organizer, and Ms. Stacey Mosely, breast cancer survivor.
African American women. She recommended that women get to know the family that they’re in to be aware of their risk factors, exercise moderately and vigorously on a regular basis, and ask their doctor questions. She also shared powerful scriptures such as Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” to encourage and uplift the attendees. Ms. Luster concluded by stating that “Mammograms are essen-
tial.”
The highlight of this break-
fast was guest speaker and up and coming author Ms. Tan- gela Sails. She shared her testimony and courageous breast cancer journey from di- agnosis to healing. She urged attendees to pay close atten- tion to when “The Holy Spirit was at work,” which was every step of the way.
She spoke about how the Holy Spirit filled her with an unexplainable peace and said
“I got you.” Ms. Sails exposes her deepest thoughts and feel- ings as she was diagnosed and treated for stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma. In other words, stage 2 breast cancer. Her final words to the atten- dees were, “Remember to pay attention to your body, self ex- amine your breasts, and listen to the Holy Spirit. Because when breast cancer is detected early, you have a 5 year sur- vival rate of 98%. We have the choice to take control of our health. We have the power to beat cancer early.”
Attendees, survivors, and fighters benefited greatly from this event. One participant stated, “Each year, I give my- self a special birthday present, a mammogram.”
A fighter stated, “Some days are better than others, but I make my lemons lemon- ade.”
A survivor stated, “God is the man. He bore our sick- ness. He is the one I trust.”
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