The 2022 March of the Living is taking place on April 28, after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Evangelical leader Mike Evans has been asked to join in leading the march with Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.
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Evans, who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in January for his lifetime of work combating antisemitism, is the first Evangelical asked to lead the March of the Living.
Evans has been working to help Holocaust survivors get out of Ukraine and to Israel. He said he received a phone call from MK Sharren Haskel asking him if he could get a Holocaust survivor family of seven out of the Russian-controlled town.
Evans has gone into Ukraine three times in the last five weeks with more than 60 tons of food, bringing it to the Jewish community and to churches.
"The Jewish community and Christians are going through unspeakable agony," said Evans. "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, taking it into these bombed cities," Evans said
The Evangelical leader is working with a Ukrainian man named Viktor, himself a refugee. According to Evans, the "only place Viktor could find a home to run our operation after the war began was Auschwitz, which makes leading The March of the Living even more meaningful."
Evans' son, Michael David Evans, just came out of Kharkiv, delivering food into that war zone and other cities in the east. Michael will join his father in the March of the Living.
When asked why, at age 74, he was putting his life and his son's life at risk, Evan said, "Our lives are not our own. The key to happiness is committing your life to a cause greater than yourself. I have such a cause.
"God created me to combat antisemitism and to comfort his people. I'm only doing what I was created to do. And so it is with my son. The life of every Jewish person is just as precious in God's eyes as my life and in my opinion, more precious are the children of the Holocaust. Love is not something you say. It's something you do," he said.
Evans said he considered it an honor to co-lead the March of the Living.
"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 said.
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