Building the Road to Recovery

Dear Friend,

It would be decades before it had an official name and diagnosis, but I lived with it every single day of my life. I didn’t just read about the effects, I endured them. I knew the pain, the fear, the sense of loss, the uncertainty about the future.

I’m talking about post-traumatic stress. I had it because of the horrible abuse that I endured at the hands of my Jew-hating father when I was growing up. Even though he hated Jews, he married one, but then he became convinced my mother had an affair, and I was not really his son. 

He was wrong, but my mother and I both paid the price.

Having a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress gives a name to the problem, but it doesn’t fix it. And it doesn’t go away just because no one else sees it. I’ve been reading the heartbreaking stories from Israel about what is happening to precious people there dealing with post-traumatic stress. 

• The young soldier held hostage for more than a year who can’t sleep at night unless every light in the house is on…and even then, he’s lucky to get four hours sleep.
• The mother who prayed beside a picture for months and finally was able to bury the body of her only child…and whose tears never end.
• The man who feels deep shame and guilt — that aren’t really his to bear — because he survived while his sister did not.
• The child who hears sirens every time she goes to bed…even though the sirens haven’t sounded for weeks.

The list goes on and on. And the need for help is enormous, but many people don’t even recognize it is there.

If someone is hungry, we can deliver food and solve the problem. If an elderly Holocaust survivor is cold, we can bring them a blanket, a warm coat, and a hat. If kids can’t safely play at their school, we can install a bomb shelter.

But what do you do with an invisible but still very real threat like post-traumatic stress?

The first step is to identify the problem. There are clear clinical signs of post-traumatic stress, but since they often present as part of other problems, the symptoms can be missed in the overall picture.

We have made contact with a team of professionals in Israel who can provide thorough assessments. This is the vital start of the process of treatment. Until post-traumatic stress has been diagnosed and identified, nothing else can happen.

We can’t give someone a pill and have the problem go away. We can’t talk to them once and have all the issues be resolved. This isn’t something where there is a quick fix or an instant solution. 

What we can do is put them at the start of the road to healing and recovery.

I am living proof that it is possible to move past the effects of post-traumatic stress. And I want the Jewish people who are suffering with it right now to have that same release and freedom. But we can’t do that without your help. I am praying that God will touch your heart to respond.

We can’t stop delivering food to poor Holocaust survivors. We can’t stop calling Believers to prayer, including the massive Global Prayer Meeting that is coming up on October 7. We can’t stop helping those who have lost so much to the war.

But we need to do all we can to help those dealing with post-traumatic stress as well. Will you rush your Holy Spirit-led offering so that we can start scheduling appointments and getting people the help they need? I pray that your answer will be yes.

Your ambassador to Jerusalem,

Dr. Mike Evans

P.S. I’ve been friends with the mayor of Sderot, near the Gaza border, for a number of years. He told me that virtually everyone in his town, including his own daughter is dealing with the impacts of post-traumatic stress. I would love to offer him help for anyone in his town who needs it. Will you help make that possible with your generous gift today?