Evangelical Leader Mike Evans to co-lead this year's "March of the Living" together with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion in Auschwitz on Thursday, April 28.
According to Jewish Press, the Jerusalem Mayor had asked Evans, the founder of Friends of Zion Museum, to march along with him, making him the first evangelical to co-lead the "March of the Living."
After its two-year hiatus, the annual event would resume its annual processional in person, bringing eight Holocaust survivors, their descendants, and other individuals from around the world to Poland in remembrance of the Holocaust and raising awareness about anti-Semitism.
Evans, who came from a Christian-Jewish household, could relate to the abuse that Jewish people had experienced. He recalled, "When I became conscious after my father strangled me and left me for dead and I had vomited all over myself at the age of 11, I shook my fist at God in anger and screamed in the dark, 'Why was I born?' I was angry because I was alive."
"In my mind, my mother was being abused because of me. My father would always call her a Jewish whore when he would beat her and say that I was not his son. He believed she had an affair with a Jewish man and my father never called me son, never said he loved me, and never affirmed me. He only abused me violently from the age of four," he continued.
Despite his tragic childhood experience, he still believed that Jesus had great plans for him. He said, "But when I asked why was I born, I knew the answer. I couldn't defend one Jew against a Jew-hater. My life's call was to defend all the Jews and that gave me great hope."
Now at the age of 74, Evans has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his lifetime efforts to combat anti-Semitism recently. He has been also a New York Times bestselling author with 108 published books.
Evans and his son, Michael David Evans, went to Ukraine for the last few weeks to help Holocaust survivors and other Jewish refugees ensure their safety and resettle in Israel, CBN News reported. He had also transmitted 60 tons of food to local Ukrainian Jewish and Christian communities.
Evans acknowledged how the Jewish community and Christians went through "unspeakable agony" amidst the war. He said, "The relentless shelling lights up the sky as soldiers go house to house terrifying and even killing innocent civilians. Families live underground in the cold and filth, surviving on dried pasta and raw grains. Even venturing out to find water could mean death for many. When they go out into the streets they can see and smell death and view buildings on fire, knowing that a lot of their dear friends are dead."
"We will go back in two more weeks and bring more Jewish Holocaust survivors out. Then we will go back two weeks later with another 40 to 60 tons of food, making it into these bombed cities," he said.
"I consider it an honor to be one of the leaders of the March of the Living and I proudly say 'never again' as I stand with the Jewish people, especially with the Jewish people of Ukraine in their time of need," he continued.
