By Dr. Tony Evans, Chrystal Evans Hurst, Priscilla Shirer, Anthony Evans, Jonathan Evans Janice Rhodes Casey / Marben Bland
November 2019: Despite the prayers of the Evans family and the worldwide church, Lois Evans’ cancer keeps growing. She is getting sicker; she is dying.
Dr. Evans’s father who lives in Baltimore is dying. Making the difficult choice to leave his sick wife behind in Dallas, Dr Evans goes to be with his father in his final hours.
A growth is found in Priscilla’s lung. Surgery is recommended and scheduled.
December 2019: Lois is getting weaker. She asks God to allow her to make it to her 70th birthday the family gathers for a party where she is honored. Lois loved Christmas and God allows her to see that day as well. Lois Evans dies in the early morning of Monday December 30, 2019. Her husband and four children are at her side.
The day after his mother’s death Anthony flies to London for a performance.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 (New Century Version) says: “Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about those Christians who have died so you will not be sad, as others who have no hope.”
1. Tony Evans was faced with a choice to spend time with his wife as her health was failing or spend time with his father as his health was now declining. What would you do?
2. As believers, how should we act and react in times of sickness, difficulties, and death?
3. What do you make of Anthony going to London for a performance a day after his mother’s death?
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil Hebrews 6:19 New King James Version
January 2020: Family, friends pack Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship for the homecoming celebration of Dr. Lois Evans. With Dr. Tony Evans on the front row, his son Anthony sings “Victory Belongs to Jesus” assisted by Kirk Franklin.
First Corinthians 15:57 says that even in this day, we can still be thankful to God who has given us victory in Jesus. I know that my mother was foreknown and predestined to be conformed into the image of the Son because we have victory in Christ Jesus. If God is for you, not even death can be against you because we have victory in Jesus. In this world we will have loss and trouble, but we have victory in Christ because Christ has already overcome the world. (pp. 72-73)
1. If we prayed for a loved one’s recovery and they died, did God give us a victory?
2. How do you define victory in Jesus?
3. Is death a victory?
Jonathan continued: Joshua chapter 4 talks about the stones of remembrance. He gave them to twelve men to keep in their homes so that any time their children asked about the stones, they would have an opportunity to tell the stories of God’s provision, every step of the way. Our family—the Evanses, the Hursts, the Shirers—we have stones of remembrance. We gave Mom and Dad a set of these stones, each inscribed with a virtue of belief, values they instilled in each of us, the principles we pass down to our children and that we pray will continue to roll on through every generation until Jesus returns to take us all home. These stones were placed near Mom’s casket. I asked my siblings to choose one stone and testify to the impact it had in their lives.
1. What would you like for your legacy to be? Is your vision of legacy the same as your actual legacy?
2 Describe your faith. How does it playout in your life? Is your faith tied to your legacy?
3. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 as high) how is your family tied to your faith? What part will your faith play into the legacy you leave for your family?
4. In looking at the Evans family, how is your salvation tied to your legacy, faith, and family?
Summary Chapter 8 – Tomorrow Has Been Canceled
Note: This chapter reflects conditions at the start of the pandemic.
Priscilla’s Surgery
January 2020. A week after her mother’s homecoming, a lob of Priscilla’s lung is removed.
Cancer is found, but it has not spread. She is in the hospital for five days.
The World Stops March 2020. Priscilla has recovered and is ready to resume her schedule of travel. Her first event, a conference in Seattle, ground zero for COVID in the early days, is canceled. Soon, all her dates for 2020 are canceled. At last, when she was off lockdown, she was put back on lockdown.
The Family’s Reaction to the Lockdown In the remaining pages of the chapter, Dr. Evans and each of his children speak. They thank God for delivering Priscilla, and they see the lockdown as the Lord leading them to still waters--a divine disruption of healing.
Exodus 14:13-14
New International Version 13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
1. Describe how the Lord has helped calm your fears.
2. Specifically, what has the Lord delivered you from?
3. How did the Lord fight for you during the lockdown phase of the pandemic?
In the Spring of 2020, just before the lockdown, Jonathan preaches at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). It was at the previous year’s NRB where the family learned the news of Lois’s illness. The family resisted attending NRB because of the remembrances of the previous year. However, when they were told the NRB was to present an award to Lois, in honor of her service on the NRB board, the family changes course and attends.
At 38, Jonathan was a year older than when his father first preached at NRB. Some of what he said follows:
I talked to the audience about all the tragedy our family had been through, about my father’s induction the year before, how we had gathered in our parents’ hotel room after the event for the terrible news. I told them how much that moment hurt, how we all broke down and cried. Then
I told them how my mother had called us in close to deliver a message. She told us that her illness should not stop the ministry from going forward, that the Enemy would take too much pleasure in our discouragement and defeat. She talked about trusting God and moving ahead. Mom assured us that this attack was spiritual warfare and that the Evans family would not turn tail and run. “Hold up your heads and be strong,” she told us. “Continue the work of God.” Mom’s words carried a different weight a year later. I am able to process them better now. I believe her words were prophetic, not just for our family and the NRB, but for your family too. I think my mother would want me to deliver the same message to you because everyone reading these words is facing a mountain.
Small or large, a mountain is still a mountain, and you need to hear a word to remind you that no matter what you are going through, no matter what challenges you face in your family, your ministry, your career, or your personal life, you are here to serve the purposes of God. In Deuteronomy 5:32, God told Joshua not to turn aside to the left or the right, because the promised land was right before him. My mother was letting us know that God is allowing things to be shaken because that keeps us moving and clinging to God. Do not quit. Cross your river Jordan. The promised land is too close to turn away now.
1. The night she told her children that her cancer was terminal, Lois Evans challenged her children. She told
them to continue to do the work of God, because the Enemy would take too much pleasure in your discouragement and defeat. Name three things that the Enemy would take pleasure in your discouragement and defeat.
2. In Deuteronomy 5:32, God told Joshua not to turn aside to the left or the right, because the promised land was right before him. What promise lands are in right before you?
3. What are somethings you have done or are doing for the kingdom that you have considered quitting?
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua 24:15 New International Version
The question of who God is, especially when setbacks like the ones the Evans family faced, is a natural question to ask. Below are summaries of how the Evans family answered:
Anthony: Can we take God at His Word? Does He know what He is talking about or not? Because life can be a lot like a roller coaster. It moves fast and whips you every which way, and none of us want to fall out when everything turns upside down. When you feel like your life has shut down and you have to wait, do you trust the God? When the roller coaster ride that is life has been disrupted, are you going to have faith that God is still in control? But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Priscilla: Jesus knows hurt, He knows our tears, He knows disappointment. And our beautiful Savior empathizes with us.
Chrystal: The God who allows sorrows is the God of sweet new seasons too.
Dr Evans: I firmly believe that serving others is a key to enduring in difficult times.
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 New International Version
Dr. Lois Evans was the wife of one of the nation’s leading preachers and a distinguished leader in her own right.
Lois was the Senior Vice President of The Urban Alternative and the founder of Pastors’ Wives Ministry.
Lois was married to her favorite pastor, teacher and best friend, Dr. Tony Evans, for nearly 50 years. life and legacy live on in her four children: Chrystal, Priscilla, Anthony, Jr., and Jonathan, five granddaughters, eight grandsons, one great granddaughter, and one greatgrandson.
