Featured photo: Nurse Tarnesa Martin, Dr. Tiffany Quinn and LaKeisha Gates stand by photo of Late Founder of Bountiful Love Ministries Kevelin Jones
Written by Tanya Terry
Members of the community were recently invited to the Heart2Hold event at Bountiful Love Ministries Church of God in Christ, where speakers urged the public to take care of their hearts.
Yolandria Gentry came to support her first cousin Kourtney Jones. Jones died in 2019 due to heart disease. Gentry’s 39-year-old daughter, Moneeka Stanifer, suffers irregular heartbeat, as Jones did.
The pastor of Bountiful Love, Kevelin Jones Jr., asked Dr. Tiffany Quinn and Dominique Strong to come up with ways to inform the church of resources in the community. They kicked off the event in February by urging community members to take care of their hearts.
“Drink more water,” advises Strong, president of the Uma Strong Marshall Outreach.
“Laugh more,” Strong added. “Ten minutes of cardio.”
Mother Iola Jones preached a powerful sermon.
“Ask God for a heart God controls,” she advised. “When the devil controls the heart, he’ll make you eat everything and make it good.”
Jones suggested not trying to make people feel bad when talking to people about their walk with God, but instead going after their hearts. She suggested: “figure out why a person is hurting so bad.”
Nurse Tarnesa Martin, patient resource and community advocate for Hurley Medical Center, known as “Nurse T,” acts as a community liaison to educate on and identify concerns severely impacting the Black and Brown community. She shared that while educating on heart awareness, a man told her he wasn’t going to worry about that because all he was going to do is pray.
“I said I want you to pray, but I don’t want you to delay because when you don’t make it to the medical center on time that could cost your life,” warned Martin.
Martin said the man took her information on heart disease. About two month later, Martin saw him again.
“He stood up and he said, Nurse T., I had a heart attack,” stated Martin. “He said ‘but because I knew the signs and symptoms, I got to the medical center in time for them to be able to help me.”
Young Melodie Marsh said it was “inspirational” to be able to talk to the congregants about matters of the spiritual heart.
“Not a lot of times do you see youth speaking about Christ or about their spiritual lives because sometimes it can be frowned upon or you could get made fun of,” she said. “So, it’s important that we have a strong African American females speaking about God and what God has done in our lives, so we can share that with others and hopefully be a light and lead others to Christ.”
Alicea Jones got emotional when talking to the congregation.
She told the Courier she had went through some traumatic experiences.
“So, I didn’t really have a relationship with God and didn’t really know how to pray,” Jones said. “When I prayed I felt like nothing was being resolved or being handled the way I wanted it to be. But I just talked to my parents about it. When my dad was talking about bold faith, we talked about praying more and believing in God’s Word and getting closer to God, in connection with Him, instead of just pushing Him away.”
She learned and shared “God doesn’t push anyone aside.”
“During the youth presentation, the youth spoke about Miracle Mcglown. They said Mcglown became the product of local shootings, leading to a 20-year prison sentence for drug conspiracy. While incarcerated, Mcglown was able to grow closer to God and be part of a hobby craft class. This led to him designing belts, purses and more. He served at least 10 years, received clemency from Former President Barack Obama and was released in January of 2017. Besides obtaining employment with the City of Flint in street construction, Mcglown started 1Eleven Custom Design Handcraft Leather. Those who purchased his products were asked to model them during the service.
Mcglown told the Courier he appreciated the heartfelt show of support the church showed him. He also said taking care of the physical heart should also be a priority, starting at a young age.
Risk factors for heart disease include being overweight or obese, smoking, high sodium diets, consuming 2+ alcoholic drinks a day, stress, older age, high blood pressure, diabetes, inactivity, family history, sleep apnea. chronic kidney disease and thyroid/adrenal disorders.
Ask your doctor about signs and symptoms of heart attack and heart failure, or visit https://www.hurleymc.com/files/wellness/patient-resource-community-advocate/care-newsletter-volume-2-heart-disease.pdf.
