A Powerful Story of Hope and Trust in God

Dear Friend,

I just left a meeting with Omer Shem-Tov. I’ve been working with his family since the day after Omer was taken hostage, as we are doing with great number of hostage families.

Omer Shem-Tov was kidnapped on October 7, 2023, and taken to Gaza by Hamas terrorists. The demonic Jew-haters in charge of that attack promised Hamas fighters $10,000 if they killed a Jew and a new home if they brought back a live captive.

For 505 days, he remained in captivity. Omer spent 450 of those days in solitary confinement in a tunnel under Gaza. 

Many of those days, he had almost no food or water. 

Yet his faith never wavered. And he is so grateful for all the prayers that were offered on his behalf.

After his release, I had the privilege of meeting him at your Friends of Zion Center in Jerusalem. His family had been there many times, and thanks to the love and generosity of friends like you, we were able to help them financially as well as emotionally and spiritually. 

The impact of having a loved one held for so long is truly devastating, and these family members have post-traumatic stress.

When we met, as Omer told me about his experiences and talked about God’s help and deliverance, he sang Psalm 121 in Hebrew. 

Omer told me he sang the 121st Psalm every Shabbat and thanked God every morning and every evening for breath, for life, for air, and even for one biscuit, which was his only meal for the entire day for a long time.

Without a doubt it was one of the most emotional and powerful moments of my life. 

I wept as I heard the painful memories in his voice…but also as I heard his hope and trust in God. It was truly incredible! He truly lived these words.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

Omer told me, “From the moment I was kidnapped, I felt a shield God put me inside of. After I got to Gaza, I said to God, ‘Thank You that I am alive.’ The last day [in Gaza], I was sitting in the dark and crying. I was too weak to speak. Please just take me from here. Doesn’t have to be home…but not here. Ten minutes later the door opened. They took me out. I felt miracles the whole time. Thank you for having people pray for me. Every prayer has an answer! I felt every prayer. At the darkest point, there was a light. I am so grateful.”

When I looked at his parents, Malki and Shelley Shem-Tov sitting next to him, the joy on their faces at the return of their son was unmistakable. 

Because of your generous help, I was able to tell them, “I was here with you in your pain. Now I get to share in the joy.”

Omer said, “I am so thankful for all you have done for me and my family, and the other hostage families. You made that happen.” 

You are helping dozens of hostages and their families. It’s important to remember that the needs don’t stop when the hostages come back. One precious young lady spent five months in the hospital before being able to go home to her family.

And every day we are reaching out to do all we can to help meet their most urgent needs. 

Even after all the hostages have come home — and I know you are praying with me and with their families for that day to come soon — these needs will go on. But the only way we can continue to meet them is with your help. 

As I’m writing you, your Friends of Zion Center is at capacity with children, many of whose fathers are fighting in Gaza.

At the same time, we are working on the launch of the Ambassador Program. In just over a month, we will have more than 1,000 pastors and leaders representing churches around the world complete the program as the first ambassadors. 

This is going to change the world! 

I have been your ambassador for half a century, and now God has told me to raise up ambassadors throughout the world to stand for Israel.

And we’re still delivering food to thousands of poor Holocaust survivors, helping families whose homes were destroyed in the war, ministering to young IDF soldiers and so much more.

I was just with a precious Jewish Ukrainian lady who wanted to thank us because for a decade now we’ve been providing food to the Jewish community in Ukraine, including Holocaust survivors and orphans thanks to your generous support.

Today I’m asking you to do something truly great for God, and to show His love in action to the whole House of Israel with your generous gift of support for the vital work of the Jerusalem Prayer Team. 

Mother Teresa prayed with me in Rome years ago. In her prayer, she said, “Love is not something you say, it’s something you do. You can’t love Jesus without loving the Jewish people because Jesus was Jewish.”

Everything that we are doing in Israel and around the world is only possible because of generous friends who love God’s Chosen People. 

Thank you in advance for your quick response. God bless you.

Your ambassador to Jerusalem,

Dr. Mike Evans

P.S. Please pray for our whole team as we put the finishing touches on the first Ambassador Program gathering in Israel. And pray that God will use these 1000+ leaders in a powerful way. And please do your best with your gift to comfort and help and bless the hostage families and all those who are suffering in Israel right now.