Michael Evans has seen the horrors of war before. He’s been in the middle of the Gaza Strip conflict in Israel while rockets and missiles exploded in the areas where he has ministered for the Friends of Zion.
But this week has been a much different experience for Evans. While in the Ukraine to deliver food, warm clothes and medical supplies to poor Jews in that country, he found himself in the trenches on the Russian border ministering to Ukrainian soldiers who are faced with overwhelming odds and the possibility of being overrun by more than 100,000 Russian troops.
And at 6 feet, 5 inches, Evans realizes he presents himself as an enticing target for the Russians.
“This might be the only time in my life that I’ve regretted my height,” says Evans, who has been in the Ukraine since Saturday and spoke to Charisma News at 5:30 p.m. local time, just as the sun was setting. “I have been on the edge of no-man’s land and in the trenches with Ukrainian soldiers, and the trenches are not too big.
“On a conscious level, yes, it’s a bit scary,” Evans says. “But on a subconscious level, no, because I prayed about it before I went out there and I had a peace about it. I sheltered in my heart what the Holy Spirit was speaking to me, and it was Jeremiah 29:11, about the Lord having plans and a hope and a future. I felt the Lord speak that to my heart, and it comforted me.
Evans, the son of Nobel Peace Prize candidate Mike Evans, says it’s been an honor to put himself in such a danger zone in order to minister to the soldiers.
“These guys are very brave and very tough individuals,” Evans says. “There are more than 130,000 Russian troops, so there is no doubt that the Ukraine is outnumbered in this fight. It’s a David versus Goliath thing, for sure. I didn’t see any tanks or big artillery, but the Russian soldiers were armed with much more heavy artillery than the Ukrainians.
“I went in and prayed, through an interpreter, for peace and for God’s protection over them,” he adds. “They were very receptive to what I was telling them. I don’t know of many here that wouldn’t be receptive to the gospel in peacetime, much less wartime.
“If they were apprehensive, they didn’t share that with me,” Evans says. “Yes, you can feel the tension here, and not just on the border, but in all of Ukraine. Yes, most of the people here are scared of what can happen. However, they have an escape plan. Most of them have their bags packed with food and medical supplies and other things. They can escape to family in Europe or go to other places like the mountains.”
The Ukraine, Evans says, is home to the poorest Jewish people in the world. The Friends of Zion has been ministering in the Ukraine for more than 10 years, and Evans himself has made multiple visits there.
“These people have suffered the horrors of the Holocaust, and often times they are forgotten, living in poverty,” Evans says. “It is an honor and a joy to serve these individuals as well as orphans in this country. These are special people and we must love on them the way Jesus would love on them.” {eoa}
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