Children in Ukraine are living in a war zone. They fall asleep to the sound of rockets and wake up to wailing sirens. In some areas, where the Russians have bombed critical infrastructure, they lack electricity and running water.
“One of the hardest things for me, personally, to see and experience, has been the effect all of this has on the children,” said Michael Evans, the son of Dr. Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Heritage Center in Jerusalem.
The father of four children of his own (ages 5, 8, 10 and 12), Evans has been traveling to Ukraine since the start of the war, delivering food, generators and other essential supplies to the residents.
His journey 10 months ago began with the aim of comforting elderly Jews, including Holocaust survivors, in Kyiv and its surrounding towns. ‘Friends of Zion’ and the Jerusalem Prayer Team, which have fund-raised for and backed Evans’ efforts, have been operating in the region for over a decade, servicing the older Jewish population.
But Evans’ focus quickly expanded when the war started, and includes as many devastated Ukrainian citizens as he could reach in the worst-struck areas, regardless of their age, religion or his own safety in the country.
Last week, Evans was on a special mission to deliver holiday gifts to 1,000 children in the Kharkiv region.
“There are times in the past that I have brought food or aid to this area and I have seen these kids. You can see the heartbreak in their eyes and you know they have been through so much. Many of their parents were killed in the war. It was really important to me to bring some joy to them.”
Michael Evans
“There are times in the past that I have brought food or aid to this area and I have seen these kids,” Evans said. “You can see the heartbreak in their eyes and you know they have been through so much. Many of their parents were killed in the war. It was really important to me to bring some joy to them.”
EVANS AND HIS TEAM of local volunteers delivered a truck full of goodies. Each child received a toy based on their age and gender, a box of candies, winter hats and gloves and a few knick-knacks and other games.
The toys and candy were so they could feel special, Evans said. The hats and gloves were for their survival.
“Russia keeps attacking the power plants there,” Evans explained. “It is so cold in Kharkiv. The building we were in, an old Soviet theater, was so cold I could see my breath while I was speaking - and we were inside.”
He said the moment he was handing out those gifts made him appreciate his own life and children even more. The family lives in Texas. Evans’ wife, Jessica, has given him her blessing to continue putting his own life at risk to help Ukrainians. His children are supportive, too, although they say they miss him very much.
Five-year-old Emma left Evans a message on the day he was handing out those toys in Kharkiv.
“Dad, I miss you. When are you going to come back? I need to know,” Emma said in a voice message that Evans shared with The Jerusalem Post. “You are not coming back tomorrow. I know you are not coming back the next day. But when? I need to know. If I don’t, I’ll be crying. And I don’t like to cry. It’s not fun.”
Evans said he had received many messages like that one over the past several months, but something keeps propelling him to go back and help more.
“I think the word is chesed” – the Hebrew word for kindness, he said. “Not love turned inward, but love turned outward and loving these people that aren’t my people as if they are. Viewing these individuals as family. When you open your heart like that to somebody, I think the question isn’t, ‘how could you help?’ It’s ‘how could you not?’”
FROM THE WAR'S ONSET, he and his father were outspoken supporters of Ukraine and raised a red flag to the world, calling for aid. In May, inspired by the George Floyd protests, Evans’ father ran a “Ukraine Can’t Breathe” campaign to raise funds to help families who escaped to Israel.
Dozens of other NGOs have raised funds and sent support to help the people of Ukraine, positioning volunteers in field hospitals and border crossings to provide for the 7.8 million refugees registered across Europe. But fewer NGOs have successfully sent help deep into the trenches, due to access issues and the high-security risk.
Evans did not plan to do so either.
Just before the war, Evans was in the region and was brought to a trench between Russia and Ukraine. While standing in the trench he witnessed shooting back and forth and realized how real the prospect of war was and how bad it could be.
“I interviewed some of the Jewish people who we had been bringing food to and I asked them what will you do if the Russians invade,” Evans recalled. “This one woman responded, ‘I am going to lock the door. What else can I do?’
“The woman was basically living in a shed,” Evans continued. “You could see through the cracks, where the door meets the wall. And she was in a position of powerlessness.”
When he left that trip he could not get her answer out of his mind. So, when the war began, he immediately mobilized to send food and aid. But he quickly realized that with all of the wonderful organizations – most of them bigger than his – aiding people to escape or providing for them in neighboring countries, he needed to help those he calls the “refugees in their own land.”
He reached out to pastors to arrange a way to bring the supplies inside the country. He found Ukrainian volunteers who obtain the goods required in Poland and load them into trucks that he drives to the most dangerous areas of Ukraine to deliver the supplies.
On the ground, a team of around 125 pastors and other members of the faith community are his eyes and ears and can help ensure the people at most risk are assisted, as well as provide him with their churches, where he can bring the goods and distribute them.
“I’ve been building relationships with the faith communities there and using them to distribute the food and medicine I’ve been bringing in,” Evans said.
From the time he meets the drivers in Poland until he arrives at his destination in Ukraine can take 36 hours. He only takes a small backpack for himself regardless of how long he plans to be there – sometimes up to two weeks. For protection, he wears a plate carrier vest, which he also gave to each of his volunteers.
Evans estimated that he had delivered four million pounds (almost 2 m. kilos) of food since the start of the war. He would not provide an estimate of how much all of his activities have cost.
A CAR HIT A LAND MINE in front of a truck, filled with food and medicine, he was bringing on one occasion. “The artillery and the shelling and the rockets – all of that is non-stop,” he said.
He told a story of how he went into a synagogue and people were sleeping in the basement. He asked someone if there was anything he could bring him. The man replied that what he needed most were antidepressants.
“These people are so affected, and it goes beyond just their physical needs of food and medicine,” Evans said.
Does he believe he has the strength to keep going? And why, when little Emma misses him so much, does he believe he should?
“We are unapologetically Christian Zionist,” Evans contended. “I think that there is something extraordinary that comes along with that. You learn to love somebody outside of your group.
“You can share someone else’s pain and not ask for anything in return, and in a way that is such a huge blessing,” he said. “I think this is something I am doing because of that. It goes hand-in-hand with that side of myself.”