By Annie Getsinger, Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill.
Jun. 16–DECATUR — Some of the men dressed in their Sunday best for a Father’s Day banquet at Main Street Church of the Living God proudly wore a little something extra. Light blue lapel pins in the shape of tiny ribbons signified prostate cancer awareness, the focus of the weekend’s Healthy Father, Healthy Family celebration.
The weekend started off with a barbecue on Saturday with free prostate cancer screenings, family fun events and a health fair organized by Main Street’s pastor, the Rev. Thomas Walker’s son, Shalen Walker.
“He’s not only supporting my endeavor,” Walker said of his son, “but he’s also heading the campaign.”
Walker emphasized the importance of getting checked for African-American men.
“We stand at more risk, and so where there’s more risk, there’s more requirement,” he said. “And the requirement is that we be tested regularly.”
Walker said Father’s Day is a time to recognize strong men, but it is also a time to remind them to care for themselves and lead healthy lifestyles.
“We want people to enjoy today, enjoy life, enjoy your father, but we also want to say we want to enjoy another year,” Walker said. “And some of us will not be around another year if we don’t get checked for prostate cancer.”
His own father, Roger Walker Sr., died from prostate cancer in 1999 at the age of 70.
“So as much as it brought awareness to my family, I want to make it aware to other families,” Walker said. “I am the shepherd of this ministry. I am the pastor of this ministry, so I want to spread it throughout my congregation, and then move from the congregation to our community.”
Sunday’s banquet honored senior pastors and male community role models with Outstanding Man Awards. Church trustee Tommie Love, 64, was honored at the event. Five years ago, he survived a prostate cancer scare. He had an infection at the age of 30, and by age 59, his doctor was almost certain that his enlarged prostate was cancer. Love asked his doctor to hold off on surgery for 30 days.
“I wanted to pray on it 30 days,” Love said.
Love had the operation, and when he woke up in the recovery room, he found out that tissue samples showed he did not have cancer. He fully believes that the power of prayer and faith brought him through that dark time. Now he gets checked every year and urged all men in the community to be tested regularly.
“You pray that God will take care of you, but you’ve got to take the first step yourself,” Love said. “And the first step is to go get tested. If there is a problem, you’ll know it, and you’ll know to do something about it. If there is not a problem, you just keep praying that there won’t be.”
Annie Getsinger can be reached at 421-6968 or [email protected].
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