Ballymena woman, Jayne Dunlop has just published a new book entitled: ‘Faith, Hope and Reality – My Cancer Journey.’
In her compelling manuscript, Jayne reflects on being diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2012, her surgery, subsequent chemo and radiotherapy and recovery. Remarkably, she has now been cancer-free for over five years and decided to mark the milestone by panning this book.
Though it does not shy away from the reality of cancer, what sets ‘Faith Hope and Reality’ apart from other books of this type is that it tells the bigger story of a life well lived for the Lord.
Jayne talks about ‘making Jesus her special friend’ as a young child and later living out her faith as a student at University in Aberystwyth before moving to London where she became the youngest librarian and the history of the Royal Geographical Society and the first woman to hold the post.
On returning home in 1994, Jayne became frustrated by Northern Ireland’s political divide. After much thought and prayer, she became involved with the Alliance Party and was elected to serve on Ballymena Borough Council from 1997 to 2001 and again in 2011-15. There, she became an active and compassionate voice for people who didn’t want to vote along the lines of ‘orange’ or green.’
The book pulls no punches about the difficulties Jayne faced as a cross-community worker during the Harryville Chapel demonstrations and later, the flag protests. However, as Jayne says in her text: ‘I am a Christian first and that is my allegiance, and my flag is not a national flag but is Jehovah Nissi “the Lord is my banner”.
Arguably however, the most poignant words in ‘Faith, Hope and Reality’ are found toward the end of the book where Jayne writes:
‘Cancer is often referred to as the “big c” but I believe that there is a bigger letter C, that is the Christ Jesus and through Him we can walk through and conquer cancer.’
A remarkable page turner, Jayne finishes off volume by describing her life now as a Academic Librarian and ‘mum’ to two beautiful dogs.
‘Faith, Hope and Reality – My Cancer Journey’ by Jayne Dunlop is available to buy now from the Timeless Publications website here at a price of £4.99.
