ISIS was spray-painting the letter “N” on
the front of Christian homes in Mosul,
shorthand for Nasrani, the Arabic term for
Christian. “Christians had to pay a huge
tax, convert, get out, or face death,” Evans
related.
The U.S. conducted airstrikes near one
of the areas where Evans flew in and out of
the country. “That was several weeks after
we left that city,” he said. “I was never in any
danger, but I’m realizing I wasn’t as safe as
I thought.”
Evans received a flood of text, Facebook,
and Twitter messages making sure he was
OK. “Everybody was very supportive, but
they also expected me to get out of the
country,” he said. “None of that came from
my family, which was very helpful.”
Evans wasn’t surprised. His family fully
backed his decision. “Other interns had
people break down crying, saying, ‘You’re
going to die over there,’” he said. “That
would be difficult. But in my case, I had
total support.”
In the midst of the crisis, Evans and the other
interns communicated constantly on social
media assuring donors that PLC’s work was
moving forward, especially a Remedy Mission
in Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.
“They were planning surgeries for 30-plus
kids in a couple weeks (after the ISIS offensive
started),” he offered. “We were afraid the fighting
would shut down the surgeries, but they went off
as planned thanks to our donors.”
Now It’s Personal
Bad news from the Middle East can
overwhelm many in the United States. But for
Evans it’s more than a distant, depressing news
cycle. “I pay attention when I see headlines,” he
said. “I’ve experienced a little sliver of the fear
they’re dealing with. It helps me remember these
aren’t numbers, but real people in danger.”
Despite the conflict, Evans found times of joy.
During the FIFAWorld Cup soccer tournament,
he grabbed several other interns and headed to a
local cafe at 1 a.m. to see the U.S. play. “We were
surrounded by Kurdish and Iraqi fans and the whole broadcast was
in Arabic, so you couldn’t understand,” he noted. “But hanging out
with my Kurdish friends was fun.”
This internship also challenged his faith. “I had a lot of really
deep conversations about my core beliefs,” Evans said. “It caused
me to dig deep in Scripture to see what I truly believed about God.
“The culture is beautiful, but it’s so dark at the same time. There
was no Jesus to give light to this.”
The Right Preparation
Evans credits classes on world missions and urban ministry for
stoking his interest to travel overseas. But a course dealing with the
minor prophets set his direction. “As I studied Micah and Hosea,
idolatry was only half the problem,” he recalled. “They treated the
least of these horribly, and God said, ‘I will not hear your prayers
until you fix that.’”
Jim Leightenheimer, Associate Professor of Communications
and Resound Radio advisor, has been a mentor and friend, Evans
said. “He taught me the things I needed to succeed, both at home
and abroad,” he added. “And that’s how I findmyself the Community
Impact Coordinator atWAY-FM inWest PalmBeach, Florida, now.”
Despite the potential danger, Evans would return to Iraq. “It’s
not a monolithic story of war, brokenness, and terror,” he offered.
“This country is not beyond redemption — in a spiritual, political,
or social sense. It’s easy to look at Iraq and only see what is now.
You have to look past that and see the Iraq of the future.”
Clem Boyd
is the Managing Editor of
Cedarville Magazine
and
Communications Specialist in Marketing.
“I pay attention when I see headlines,” he said.
“I’ve experienced a little sliver of the fear they’re
dealing with. It helps me remember these aren’t
numbers, but real people in danger.”
L-R: PLC intern Nate Miller, Kurdish friend Reber, intern Dane Barnett ’14, and Josh Evans ’14.
Cedarville Magazine
|
15
