SCAM ALERT:
We all want peace in the Mideast, but beware of solicitations from bogus Mideast charities arriving in your mailbox, email inbox or on your phone.
Thumbs down on Jerusalem Prayer Team:
I’ve just received a thick mailing from this so-called prayer charity, which wants my money and yours so it can pray for peace in a fancy church it wants to build with your money and mine.
Jerusalem Prayer Team sent me a stack of colorful and glossy mailing labels, a four-page letter explaining why only this global prayer movement can actually bring peace to the Mideast, and asked to buy their embroidered wall hanging about peace, a Bible Promise Box, and a book written by the prayer movement’s founder, entitled Why Christians Should Support Israel.
Jerusalem Prayer Team fails charity watchdog standards
I refuse to donate to charities which do not pass muster by charity monitoring and rating groups such as Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau.
See Also
Legitimate, Approved, Vetted Charities
Providing Humanitarian Aid
In Israel and the Mideast
Jerusalem Prayer Team got a one star rating – the lowest rating – for its lack of “accountability and trransparency” from Charity Navigator in 2019
Jerusalem Prayer Team does not pass muster with either charity watchdog. To me, it looks like a personal piggybank for its main promoter, Mike Evans.
Plus, I prefer not to support charities which waste donation funds by sending unsolicited mailing labels, notepads and such to prospective donors.
2024 update
This low-rated group now is now soliciting for Holocaust survivors in Ukraine and Israel, sending thick, fancy, expensive brochures requesting $100 to provide a Jewish family with non-perishable food supplies for a week, or if possible $1,000 for a generator.
There are legitimate charities supporting Holocaust survivors in Israel and in Ukraine. This is not one of them.
Most importantly, I refuse to donate to a group that does not have a 501 (c) non-profit designation as a legitimate, registered charity, as yours seems not to be.
There’s no mention of being a legally registered charity on any of the fancy, expensive literature sent me, none on the alleged charity website, and none I could find on the charity watchdog agencies I checked.
Granted, large international charities such as Red Cross and Sierra Club don’t usually include their registered non-profit status in mailings, but they are so large and so reputable that they don’t have to.
Smaller and lesser known charities always do – and should do – so you know they are legit, and that your donation is indeed tax-deductible.
Tax deductible or not?
So I also will politely refuse your kind invitation to achieve “substantial tax liability savings” by “blessing” your questionable ministry with a donation of stocks, jewelry, real estate, art, or other valuable personal possessions that my children are expecting to inherit.
That’s even though this questionable sender promises my donation also will be deposited in my own personal Kingdom of Heaven account.
Exactly what is a Kingdom of Heaven account? I have no idea, and the Jerusalem Prayer Team does not explain.
See Also
Legitimate, Approved, Vetted Charities
Providing Humanitarian Aid
In Israel and the Mideast
What exactly is Jerusalem Prayer Team, and where does the money go?
According to the watchdog magazine Charisma, it is primarily an extensive mailing list that solicits donations and sells books by its founder, Mike Evans.
And/or for a $15 million Jerusalem World Center for Christian Bible study, which has little or nothing to do with supporting peace between Muslims and Jews in Israel and Palestine.
On the so-called charity’s own blog, the building is described as a museum to Christian love, and a ministry of Christian outreach to Jews.
For whatever reasons, Muslims are not mentioned, even though they are a significant presence in the Mideast.
Also according to Charisma, Mike Evans appears to lead multiple nonprofit organizations in the U.S., Netherlands and Israel, and his wife is on the payroll of at least one.
There are so many legitimate and worthy charities in need of funds, including those trying to promote peace in the Mideast, feed the homeless victims of Syria’s brutal civil war, and save the historical artifacts of ancient civilizations from the lunatic destructive barbarism of ISIS thugs and hoodlums.
Do not waste your hard-earned money on bogus charities
Check the sender’s reputation and rating thoroughly before you give to anybody soliciting money from you.
Do not donate to any group or self-proclaimed charity that does not have a 501 (c) non-profit designation as a legitimate, registered charity
Do not donate to any charity which does not meet the minimum standards of the top charity monitoring and rating services.
This article was published originally in 2014 and is updated periodically with more current information.
See Also
Legitimate, Approved, Vetted Charities
Providing Humanitarian Aid
In Israel and the Mideast
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 25+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter currently serves as President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA).
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter also is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA) and the North American Snowsports Journalists Assn. (NASJA).
Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter
Candy says
You say that Jerusalem Prayer Team received a one star rating from Charity Navigator. However, I checked Charity Navigator, and they have no information on Jerusalem Prayer Team. I now think that this article is a scam.
Teresa Hopper says
I think Mike Evans mentioned that they’re going to have a section in the Friends of Zion Center that has services to surviving Holocaust victims such as food, temporary shelter and medical care. Also there are some Ethiopian homeless in a section of Israel that he is trying to help.
Nancy Stephens says
I watched a live interview with Mike Evens and Prime Minister Netanyahu and mr. Evans did not lie. I also googled the Jerusalem Prayer team and they are listed as a dba under the corrie ten boom nonprofit and 501 (c) (3) charitable organization and registered with the IRS Fed Tax ID # is 75-267293 and if you check .them out on charity navigator they are listed 100 out of 100. This a very good charity. I know it is hard to trust some charities but I did my doe diligence and found out why people thought they were not a non profit. Sometimes I do not understand why somethings done a certain way but as long as it is done in God’s name it is not my place to judge and I do support this organization
Evelyn Kanter says
The Jerusalem Prayer Team was a fraud. Mike Evans seems to have rolled his fraudulent charity into the well-regarded one you checked out. Regardless – my article was about the importance of thoroughly check the legitimacy of any non-profit which asks you for money. That was true when I wrote the article on Mideast Peace Charity scams a couple of years ago, and remains true today for any and every charity.
Leigh says
Ms. Stephens:
Regardless the content of a single interview, or how Mr. Evans has re-registered the “Jerusalem Prayer Team,” several damning facts remain:
(1) There is no multi-faith, Christian/Jewish/Muslim, team of people praying, funded by Mike Evans. That money was invested in a museum that I understand is simply a tribute to Mike Evans’ personal variety of Evangelical Christianity; and, worse
(2) Not only is Evans making dishonest solicitations for a non-existent entity, the methods his organization uses are unscrupulous, and probably criminal. You will see several instances in these comments of Evans’ organization taking vastly more money than was actually pledged from the bank accounts of people who can not afford to be robbed, then refusing to return the funds! That’s horrible! That’s NOT Christian! My own 89 year old mother who has Alzheimers has been repeatedly exploited by these thieves. It is not so easy in the United States to stop immoral people from exploiting the elderly, it is very hard to secure a guardianship/conservatorship of an elderly parent, and thieves like Evans know they can exploit that gap and evade punishment.
I TELL YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS, MIke Evans IS NOT A GOOD CHRISTIAN! MIKE EVANS IS A SELF-INTERESTED SCAM ARTIST! MY PERSONAL FRIEND, JESUS, WOULD BE APPALLED!!! (Remember how Jesus, in a white-hot rage, overturned the tables of the money-changers in the Temple?)
Linda Julian says
Dear Ms. Kanter,
I think a lot of the confusion about Mike Evans and his ministry could be cleared up very easily. My request is that you contact Prime Minister Netanyahu and ask him personally if the story that Mr. Evans has expressed concerning the beginning of his ministry is true. If it is, the Prime Minister will express his knowledge of Mr. Evans, how they met, and what their relationship is now. If his story confirms Mr. Evans account, I don’t think you should call Mr. Evans a fraud. If it doesn’t then there is a good case for it.
Linda Julian
David and Kathy walker says
We wonder about the law suit that Mike Evans has formed against Jentzen Franklin. Do you have any information? Why is Mike Evans name not mentioned when you try and see who is building the Center in Eshkol in Israel. Who is really the builders of that Center. What about Jewish National Fund? We want to give but need to know to whom and where exactly our gifts are being used for. Thank you so very much
Judith says
I can’t find Jerusalem Prayer Team International on the Charity Navigator. Obviously it hasn’t been rated. Perhaps you were looking at the wrong charity. Neither could I find it in the BBB. I did find Corrie Ten Boom Fellowship, which had a 100% score.
Carly says
I have just heard of your situations which are reprehensible & NOT something that an organization that represents the Lord does to others.. That is not respect or love.. Sometimes these ministries/organizations can be in name only & that’s the reason why they treat others the way they do?? Jesus in name only which deceives others.. I truly hope you/your family gets your money back & remember that the Lord is always with you! God’s blessings! 🙂
Kimberly says
This organization is not a scam! I have been a long time giver to Dr. Mike Evans and his team. They are helping a lot of elderly holocaust survivors and built a beautiful place for them as well as a holocaust museum. He meets with the president and vice president as well as prime minister of Israel all the time. So what you deem as a scam is not necessarily so. I get calls from them too to give us updated information on all that’s happening. Just because they don’t have all the things you deem necessary for a ministry to be honest and above board doesn’t mean their not legitimate. God is doing great work through Mike and this ministry. Let’s not condemn those who are doing God’s work but pray for them to become even better. Let’s not judge cause you will be judged according to how you judge.
God bless,
Evelyn Kanter says
What I deem “necessary” is honest use of the hard-earned money donated by people like you. What I deem “necessary” is that any charity use donated funds in a legitimate manner. This charity gets bad marks from the charity rating services for mis-handling donated funds. That you “get calls” from them is not to update you on “all that’s happening”, it is to con you out of donating even more money. That is your choice. Mine is to educate people on finding charities which use their donations to the most value.
Oh – yes – as the daughter, niece and cousin of Holocaust survivors, who grew up in a community of Holocaust survivors in Upper Manhattan – I respectfully request that you capitalize the word Holocaust when you refer to the Holocaust in which smore than six million souls were murdered.
Leigh Dyer Bennett says
Dear BJ Carroll:
Evelyn is correct: Atty Genl of your State, elected representatives, and many TV news outlets have comsumer advocates who will go to bat for you and broadcast your story.
I am going after them for my mother’s $500. Let’s stay in touch!
Leigh in NYC
BJ Carroll says
The Jerusalem Prayer team refuses to return money that was erroneously taken from my sister’s debit account. My elderly low income sister has a brain tumor but a caring heart. She saw an ad on Facebook for the Jerusalem Prayer Team and was touched by their mission. She barely has enough money to pay her expenses but she wanted to give $21.00 – later she found that her account had been depleted with a donation of $2,144.00!! She has filed a claim but the customer service dept at Jerusalem Prayer Team says my sister must take it up with Facebook. Facebook couldn’t help her.
My sister received a receipt from Jerusalem Prayer Team saying they received her donation so they have her money. I have called on her behalf and the person acknowledged that they have my sister’s claim but she kept repeating that my sister must go through Facebook-I explained that Facebook wasn’t helping her. The customer service person first said her supervisor was too busy to speak to me – I said I ‘d wait she said they weren’t in – then she said her supervisor wouldn’t speak with me.
I mistakenly thought that being a Christian entity that I could simply explain the situation and they would do the right thing and return my poor sister’s money. Apparently not.
Evelyn Kanter says
This is reprehensible. Forget Facebook. You need to contact the Attorney-General of the state in which you mother lives, also her Congressman and Senators, and the Better Business Bureau. Also contact the TV stations and newspapers in your mother’s town. I will share your comment with Charity Navigator, which rates non-profits. Please keep me informed – I care.
Leigh says
P.S. Can’t you just remove off-topic or offensive comments?
Evelyn Kanter says
If you read each and every one of these many comments, you deserve an award.
However, what if off-topic or offensive to you is on-topic and interesting to somebody else. So the comments stay.
Leigh says
Ms. Kanter, thank you so much for this alert about Mike Evans and his schemes, and thank you for the encouragement you offered Glen Bishof with his 84 year old father. I stumbled on your site yesterday after reviewing my 87 year old mother’s banking activity online, and seeing a $500 debit to her checking account to JER PR TEAM or some such thing. It’s not the first time she has thrown away good money when she has experienced a time of stress.
There is a FUNDAMENTAL BELIEF of CHRISTIAN EVANGELICALS that puts Evans’ machinations into perspective.
Evangelicals look forward to their day of redemption, the Second Coming of Jesus. Essential preconditions of that ostensibly glorious time are (1) restoration of the boundaries of the historic Greater Israel (see wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Israel), and (2) the ingathering of diaspora Jews to The Holy Land (a Christian, not a Jewish, term). When Jesus comes back, the Jews in Israel will either recognize Jesus as the true messiah, and become Christians–or be destroyed. Poof! No more Jews!
Anyone who claims to love another human being whom he looks forward to seeing punished and consumed alive in a Heavenly inferno, is not just a fraud but a sadist.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/14/half-of-evangelicals-support-israel-because-they-believe-it-is-important-for-fulfilling-end-times-prophecy/
Evelyn Kanter says
Thank you so much for your cogent comment. I hope you are working with your mother’s bank to have the fraudulent debit re-imbursed, and future debits blocked. Please keep me posted.
Deborah Waite says
BBB? YOU CERTAINLY HAVE NOT DONE your homework
Emmanuel Corpin says
Friend Ms Evelyn, friends, sorry if you don’t want to be called my friends. I am a Christian and I love the Jews and I like the name Christian Jew. Sorry if that is offensive to you, or if the name is wrong in other ways. The Hebrew Bible comprises much much more than 50% of the Christian Bible. Christians today are trying to correct the sins of Christians today and in the past against the Jews. The Jews are God’s Chosen People, true forever at the same time that the Christian Church, Who to me are all men and women of good will, is the new Israel forever. The center of history, Jesus of Nazareth, God made Man, was conceived in the Jewish culture and religion, and did not abolish it, but is and lives as its fulfillment.
Emmanuel Corpin says
Christians today and in the past have been trying to correct the sins of Christians today and in the past against the Jews.
Emmanuel Noel Reyes Corpin says
Jews and Arabs are children of Abraham, the father of faith.
Emmanuel Corpin says
Evelyn,
“Most importantly, I refuse to donate to a group that does not have a 501 (c) non-profit designation as a legitimate, registered charity, as yours seems not to be. There’s no mention of your being a legally registered charity on any of the literature you sent me, none on your website, and none I could find on the charity watchdog agencies I checked.”
From https://giving.jerusalemprayerteam.org/ec/mwb/?utm_source=jptorg3:
The Jerusalem Prayer Team with Dr. Michael D. Evans exists to build Friends of Zion to guard defend and protect the Jewish people and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We pray for peace in Jerusalem because the Scriptures tell us to in Psalm 122:6. The Jerusalem Prayer Team was inspired from the 100-year long prayer meeting for the restoration of Israel held in the ten Boom family home in Haarlem, Holland. We are committed to encouraging others to pray for the peace of Jerusalem and God’s Chosen People. … The Corrie ten Boom Fellowship is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization and is registered with the IRS, Fed Tax ID# 75-2671293. All donations to CTBF (less the value of any products or services received) are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Sad Sack says
Why is everything in his wife’s name? What is he hiding?
Sad Sack says
They use DPC&S, INC and Mail America Forest for those fancy mailings and address labels. For a tune of $1,200,000.00 a year. Your donations, heavenly gifts,(money), hard at work. Well spent? Helping the American Economy not the Jewish People.
Elise Sheppard says
I do not support this ministry, not because Evans is a fraudster, but because he spends an inordinate amount of his resources on the things you mentioned; frequent expensive mailings. However, he has done some very fine things, including buying and restoring as a museum the Ten Boom home in Netherlands.
The Ten Boom family saved about 800 Jews from Nazi extermination, and gave their lives as a result. He also has build a center in Jerusalem for the bringing together of persons Muslim and Jewish. He supports many older Holocaust victims. Being a religious organization, his group would not be covered by either Charity Navigators or BBB.
Sad Sack says
You make this self promoting, fraudster a hero for spending other peoples money? It is easy to do great things with endless pot of heavenly gifts. He only glorifies himself just listen to him. I understand and agree that the Ten Boom home should be preserved and probably would have been by municipal organization. What did he do other then that? How much of his own money was used? What sacrifice did he make? Why give him credit and not the thousands of sheep he has fleeced.
Sad Sack says
Lets look at the Friends of Zion Heritage Center. He wanted to call it the Mike Evans Heritage Center but that was nixed by the Jerusalem City Counsel. Self promoting? He spent 110 million, DONATED, charity dollars. How many individuals could have been feed, clothed, housed or financially assisted? Now, they have a high tech carnival ride with a restaurant and gift shop at the end. In his new information letters he wants to expand it. Lets put in children’s play ground and training area for soldiers. I have read the reviews and about fifty percent say it was a waste of time. I contacted friends in Jerusalem and they advised it was more of a tourist trap then some place a locals would visit. It has offended most Jewish people. I am having Jim Baker flash backs……..
Sad Sack says
More of your Donations? http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-who-s-behind-the-pro-trump-billboards-around-jerusalem-1.5474959
Sad Sack says
Mike Evans makes up his own History.www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-what-caused-this-jerusalem-museum-to-totally-fabricate-a-story-about-netanyahu-1.5440254
Sad Sack says
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-the-jerusalem-museum-where-evangelicals-go-to-feel-good-about-themselves-1.5628714
Carolyn says
Ms. Kantor, I have looked on both websites, Charity Navigator and BBB, and cannot find any information on Jerusalem Prayer Team or Michael Evans. Please tell me where/how you accessed this information. Under each website I have used the “search” option and have not found anything.
Evelyn Kanter says
Many thanks for alerting me to this. I have contacted both Charity Navigator and BBB for clarification. It is possible that JPT has changed its charity registration. Stay tuned.
Glen Bishoff says
Thank you, in advance for your time and thoughts.
I need help in understanding, I am perplexed with this man.
Who claims to be the “Lion Of Jerusalem”. He has built a Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem. He is soliciting funds for his (many) Charites, “Jerusalem International Prayer team” is just one. My father is 84 years old and believes he must give money to Mr. Evans. Mr. Evans message is always more , give more. Mr. Evans is also a TV evangelist my father watches religiously. He constantly contacts my father with recorded phone messages and mail requests for money. He even left a recorded phone message from the President of Israel demanding to give to Mike Evans. I have done some research and found out a lot of worrying information. To sum it all up, I am afraid my father has place his faith and money into a cheat.
Evelyn Kanter says
It sounds to me that the pressure your elderly fatheris receiving to donate to Mr. Evans constitutes as elder abuse or fraud – or both. I urge you to contact the authorities, and do it ASAP before your father’s savings are depleted by unscrupulous fraudsters.
I don’t know where you live, but every state has an Attorney-General, whose office is mandated to protect the public against fraud and abuse. Large cities, such as NYC, where I live, have a Dept.of Consumer Affairs or consumer protection or consumer ombudsman.
You should also report abusive solicitation of charitable donations to Charity Navigator, Charity Watch and the Better Business Bureau – links are in the article. And also let the consumer reporter or “on your side” reporter of your local newspaper and TV stations know.
As a former TV consumer reporter myself, this is a story I would jump on – as an elder abuse story or as a charity fraud story.
Please keep me posted, and if there is anything I can do to help, please email me directly at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
Good luck
Glen Bishoff says
Thank you for your advice. I am currently working on it. It is hard because my father believes the Mr. Evans sits at the left side of God. May, I state that no one has asked the most obvious question. This is what lead me on the search for the truth about Mike Evans. Mike Evans bio states he was born to a Jewish mother. By all accounts that makes him Jewish (right?). His abusive stepfather was Christian. Mike Evans chose to abandon the Jewish faith for Christianity(?????). Now his sole purpose and goal is to Champion the Jewish faith, people and the State of Israel. What would be your motivation to “save, protect” a religion, people, country you do not align yourself with? Why wouldn’t he just reconvert? Wouldn’t that make his battle cry louder? He uses the word “Zionist”. He has my father believing that this is a hybrid religion. The cross between Jewish and Christian beliefs. Why do Jewish people need Christion protection? Isn’t that a problem in itself. Thank you.
Evelyn Kanter says
Please work harder to save your father’s hard-earned money from this abusive charity fund-raising mission.
In response to the questions you pose –
Jewish law is that anyone born of a Jewish mother is Jewish, even though they may practice another religion, or none at all.
I cannot tell you why this Mike Evans champions Christianity despite his abusive Christian father, but he is not alone among Christian conservatives who support the State of Israel as the location of the future “Rapture” or whatever it’s called, and he is not alone in spouting an ersatz belief – the one you call “hybrid” – crossing Jewish and Christian beliefs, and using or misusing the term Zionist to legitimize their campaign.
Jews do not believe Jesus was the Messiah. Period, and for that belief, Jews have been murdered by Christians since the day after the Romans murdered a Jewish rabbi and teacher named Jesus.
Glen Bishoff says
Sorry, one last thought. I may have fell fell asleep in history class; Isn’t a more accurate statement that the Jewish people need protection from Christians, rather by Christians….
Glen Bishoff says
Thank you, for the informative replies. I have contacted both the BBB and Charity Navigator. Neither have any listings/records of “Jerusalem Prayer Team”, “Friends of Zion” or Mike Evans. I was unable to register a complaint. I even went to the IRS Charities site, same results. I contacted my attorney and drafted a “no contact demand letter”. I am unsure the impact the letter will hold. Thank you again.
Glen Bishoff says
I found this during my research of Mr. Evans. If you want to really want to be scared check out SkyWatchtv. They are on the same Christian television station.
J.P. Patches says
I personally consider Mike Evans to be one of the most aggressive and deceptive missionaries that Israel has ever faced. The foothold Evans has managed to get in our holy city is devastating.
Mike Evan’s began his ministry in Texas. In 1977, Evans moved to Stony Brook, NY. At the time, Evans stated that the goal of his ministry was “to see every Jewish person in the world come to a greater relationship with the God of Israel through the acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah.”
The Jewish community of Stony Brook wasn’t very welcoming to Evans’ “Hebrew-Christian” group and its deceptive conversionary tactics. The interviews played in the FOZ museum describing the outreach to holocaust survivors in Israel were reminiscent of the struggle Evans faced with past Jewish community leaders in NY. Evans was confronted by Stony Brook Hillel Director Richard Siegel who said, “There seems to be the process of taking lonely alienated individuals and attempting to befriend them. The tie-in with Judaism is simply the grabber, but the essence is conversion to Christianity.”
Evans also came under fire when the Long Island Board of Rabbi’s, along with the Long Island Council of Churches, issued a statement concerning the conversionary practices of “Hebrew-Christian” groups, and that they are “particularly concerned about the alleged dishonest conversionary tactics employed by Evans, Jews for Jesus, and others.”
More recently, the deceptive tactics have been used to bolster credibility and claim endorsements that weren’t actually given for the new FOZ museum. In a recent article by Judy Lash Balint, she points out that Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Malcolm Hoenlein, was once the executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of New York, and created the Task Force on Missionary Activity in June 1977, specifically targeting the summer campaign of Jews for Jesus and Evans’ Bnei Yeshua organizations.
This past week however, Hoenlein led an official delegation from the Conference of Presidents on a visit to the FOZ museum. The Jewish leaders were accompanied by more than 20 senior diplomats stationed in Israel. For Hoenlein, the visit was not an endorsement of Evans or his Jerusalem Prayer Team. “We don’t issue endorsements; all we did was show people this new museum,” Hoenlein said in an interview with Balint.
However, the picture of Malcolm Hoenlein standing next to a grinning Mike Evans Jr. has been plastered on many major news sites, as well as on Mike Evans’ own Jerusalem Prayer Team website.
In an interview with The Algemeiner, Hoenlein expressed surprise at the publicity over the supposed “award”, and said he thought he had just received a simple certificate from the Christian group.
As a former missionary from Texas, I understand very well what Mike Evans and the FOZ team is doing. They are establishing a portfolio of credibility, and legitimization. A kosher stamp from once-rival Malcolm Hoenlein was a prize opportunity Evans couldn’t pass up.
The Jewish people, and the state of Israel, have been blessed throughout history with various righteous gentiles and true friends of Zion. We have received aid, and many thousands have been saved by great giants who risked their lives and lives of their families for the sake of what they knew to be right. We owe a tremendous debt to these individuals whom there simply is no comparisons. Giants like Oskar Schindler, who rescued thousands of Jewish people in the holocaust through his factories. Irena Sendler, who rescued thousands of Jewish children and smuggled babies out of the gettos in a toolbox.
For missionaries to compare themselves to such giants as these, is to diminish the selfless sacrifice of these true friends.
True friends of Israel would not employ deceptive tactics. When a “gift” comes with strings – and hooks, it’s no longer “selfless” or a “gesture of friendship”. It’s a bartering deal for our Jewish souls, plain and simple. Israel continues to take the bait. Granting missionaries access to our soldiers, leniency in property laws, turning a blind eye to the proselytizing efforts aimed at our children, or allowing them to influence changes in Israel’s Law of Return only gives these “friends” a greater foothold in Israel, and drastically endangers the Jewish character of our country.
Jews fled from all over the world, escaping crusades, pogroms, and the Holocaust. We have finally created a Jewish state, a home in which we should be safe, both physically and spiritually. Israel is supposed to be a safe haven for the Jewish nation, where we should be able to raise our children without them being hunted or pursued for conversion by Christianity or any other religion.
That is not the Israel that I found upon my arrival this past summer. I’ve found myself having to explain to my children the standard lies and misinterpretations of scriptures they were confronted with by a so called “Christian Zionist group”, here on school trips, in the local mall, or even at the Kotel.
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” ~ Genesis 12:3
This verse is quoted often by those who call themselves our “friends”. If a gentile truly seeks only friendship and to help the Jewish people, then he or she should do so with no hidden agendas. If Jewish rabbis, leaders, and organizations would draw clear boundaries in these relationships, set up strong guidelines over which such relationships can and cannot go, we Jews would discover who our true friends are. No proselytizing, no access, no favors, and let Hashem provide for us what remains lacking.
Shannon Nuszen is a former evangelical missionary from Houston, TX. Nuszen completed an orthodox conversion in 2009, and now lives in Israel. She works as a North American Liaison and Digital Media Strategist for Jewish Israel, an organization dedicated to researching and raising awareness of missionary activity in Israel and abroad.
Glen Bishoff says
I sent the demand letter. It did not stop. Now my father is sneaking around and hiding information mailings and phone messages. They are still calling, he missed a message on the answering machine; It stated that he should disregard me and my advise. His very soul depends on giving and supporting Mike Evans. “He must SAVE THE JEWS we are at a time a great crises. There is no way to beat this man. I give up….
Evelyn Kanter says
Please do not give up. The pressure on your father to give this charity money sounds like it is elder abuse and outright fraud – especially if they are telling your father to disregard the advise of his own son. There are laws against fraud and elder abuse. Please keep me posted, and you are welcome to email me directly evelyn@ecoxplorer.com for assistance.
shirley i. hawkey says
Most of the comments I have read on here, come from people of Faith, (Belief in Jesus Christ).
I perused the links for Mike Evan’s Friends of Zion charity & came upon this site. Where upon the conversation turned to, how people do or do not believe in Jesus Christ, as the Messiah,. I just wanted some truth about the Friends of Zion charity. But after reading ALL the comments, I don’t know if it’s legit or not. Because it ended up being, all about our beliefs. Religion will always be a cause for debate, pitting us against one another. I say, respect others choice of worshiping, our one true GOD.
Evelyn Kanter says
Once again, this was posted originally to encourage people to check the validity and ratings of charities and groups claiming to be charities, to ensure that your hard-earned money is being used the way the group says it is being used.
Unfortunately, this posting was hijacked by followers spouting their personal religious beliefs and attacking anybody who doesn’t agree.
The bottom line is this – before you donate your hard-earned money to any charity or group claiming to be a charity, research it with bona fide charity-rating services to ensure your donation will be used properly and effectively.
That’s all.
don mcilroy says
IF YOU REALLY WANT TO HELP THE JEWISH PEOPLE DONATE TO ICEJ.COM. THEY ARE A LEAGAL RESISTER MINISTRY WITH OFFICES AROUND THE WORLD. THEY HELP THEY POOR AND EVEN HAVE A FREE DENTAL CLINIC IN THE POOREST PART OF THE COUNTRY.
Dianne DiFabio says
I am appalled by the lack of knowledge and repetitive comments of this so called 501c (non profit)expositor! Before you start spewing you really need to get some facts straight. Reminds me of the mother who insisted the whole army except her son was marching incorrectly. I know Dr. Michael Evans, personally! You obviously do not. I hear a lot of rage in many of your comments! I go to Israel once a year stay in both East and West Jerusalem, and always go to FOZ while I am there. Dr. Evans took me himself, to see the very large tract of land where the Ambassador centre/ Holocaust housing is. That piece of land the naysayers said could never be purchased by a non Jew, and voila, there it is!!! Readers do not be influenced by an ignorant nobody who has really not done her research on what Dr. Evans has done, and is doing to “build a bridge” between Christians and the children of Abraham The fact is that all Jews know and recognize Abraham as the father of both the Jewish people and the Muslim people. Both the Torah, and the Bible are clear on that point! I have many Palestinian and Jewish friends in Israel, and will continue to support an organization that clearly is a good steward of my donations! The Red Cross has a despicable track record. World Vision pays their CEO more money per year than. Go Figure!!! You are vilifying a great man, who has dedicated his entire adult life to service. Until you have seen the projects yourself, I humbly suggest stop blowing “hot air”. NO ONE is asking you to donate to any charity, but you need to greatly broaden your research! So Shabbat Shalom to you, and may God enlighten you on this subject!!
Evelyn Kanter says
Once again, Ms. DiFabio, this posting was NOT about religion, or whether good Christians like you have Jewish and/or Muslim friends.
First and foremost, this posting was to advise people how to make sure the donation money they give to charities is properly used. This posting merely reported that a particular charity claiming to support peace in the Mideast has low or failing ratings by the top charity monitoring groups, for using such a small percentage of donations for actual programs.
It is readers like you who have turned it into a religious debate.
It’s not about religion. It’s about giving wisely, donating wisely, and checking the ratings of a particular charity with legitimate charity rating services before you donate your hard-earned money to a charity which might waste your hard-earned money and/or otherwise represent how your hard-earned money is being used.
Vicki says
Evelyn,
I hope this post doesn’t drive you over the edge as you are getting many responses!. Ecoxplorer, is great concept, it’s a bit like what Snopes and Factcheck are to deciphering “fake news”.
Snopes is the first to appear on Google, always at the top. The more I used Snopes and Factcheck.org the more politically left leaning in “opinion” they seemed… even an anti-Semitic tone at times rather pro everyone but the Jews. I’m not an investigative researcher…just someone looking for unbias facts minus opinion.
Today, I received a nice packet of address labels from Jerusalem Prayer Team International with a plea to donate. I was in no way offended, by the several endorsements including George Bush, the photo of President Trump and the White house or the many address labels, in fact I was needing stickers with the star of David for Christmas card envelopes and here they are!. I got a chuckle out of receiving them and though sure I’ll donate $30 or so…
Anyway, to be safe, I checked online and ecoxplorer was the first site on Google to appear at the top. The words scam, bogus etc. in the link caught my attention. I realize there are MANY scams as far as charities go but this charity is the only one listed on ecoxplorer that I can find regarding a warning on every part, I naturally wondered if it’s part of the “ban & Boycott Israel campaign”. The angst throughout is tangible.
I’m not writing this necessary in regards to the “scam warning” as much as the comments and feedback including one comment in parentheses “poor holocaust survivors” …it sounded a bit flippant given the preceding tone. As I read it I didn’t realize Corrie Ten Boom museum was affiliated.
As a child in the early 70’s I received a gift of understanding what forgiveness looks like as I stared in amazement into the aged yet bright eyes and face of Corrie Ten Boom. Although a small woman, she stood strong and powerful as she told her story of intrigue while they were hiding Jews from the Gestapo. Then came the trains, the separation and the suffering in Ravens Bruck.
Corrie stood there at the front of the room and spoke to an audience of many young Christians about forgiveness and grace. I remember a beautiful and forgiving soul reflecting what she believed including the power of prayer she seemed to so deeply believe in. She loved God so she loved others and somehow had the ability to forgive the unforgivable. We never under estimate the power of prayer and forgiveness. She survived to tell her story and it deserves to be told, Dutch or Jew the suffering was horror.
I went to the website and made the discovery that yes clearly this is legit, it’s affiliated to the Corrie Ten Boom Museum. I’m giving. I have faith the funds will go right to where God need them the most…maybe to bring the Jews, Christians and the Muslims together more as He already is doing.
Corrie wrote the excellent books the Hiding Place and In My Father’s House 4.4 out of 2100 reviews
Blessings, Vicki
Evelyn Kanter says
No, your comment isn’t sending me over the edge. Once again, for the umpteenth zillion time, this article was posted to educate and warn people to thoroughly investigate a charity or purported charity before donating their hard-earned money. As you so cogently note, there are many charity scams, which is exactly and precisely why I posted this warning.
If you choose to give your hard-earned money to a charity that’s received low ratings for poor performance, which includes mis-spending funds or paying the top charity officials an insane amount of salary – as this one has – I can’t stop you.
But I would encourage you to donate your $30 instead to one of the charities in California helping to feed, clothe and house the thousands of victims of the devastating wildfires. Isn’t that a more Christian thing to do at this holiday time than donating to some charity – any charity – that “bribes” you with mailing labels for your holiday cards?
There’s a list of those charities on the website, too. https://ecoxplorer.com/2018/11/how-to-help-california-fire-victims/
Oh, yea – the Corrie ten Boom charity isn’t just “associated” with Mike Evans, it’s run by his wife, Sara. If you don’t believe that’s a conflict, I can’t convince you. He runs one, she runs the other, they both get subnstantial salaries for “administration fees”, and live happily ever after off your donation. This has nothing to do with whether or not Corrie ten Boom wrote nice books. This has to do with a somebody using her good name to enrich themselves via a charity.
Also, you are incorrect that http://www.ecoxplorer.com has not published a scam alert about any other charity. We have similarly warned against Kars4Kids, which has failing ratings from the same charity watchdog agencies for misrepresenting the scope of its programs, and for using as little as one percent of donations in some states where money is raised.
Have a nice holiday.
Seana Scala Daley says
Ok Evelyn I am very open minded. I am and have been raised a Jew for 60 years. But it is very obvious that Jesus was a profound Jewish man! His main belief/goal was to bring the Jews who were not doing everything completely religious back. That was basically all. So why/how can an educated person not respect him? Will he come back as our Messiah? Why not? He was a Blessed man for every Jew! Why can we not respect him this much? A “Christian Jew”? No. I am not one. Never even heard that label. I am a Jew! Full and fore most!! Wear my Star of David forever and my Chai. A Jew who believes that Jesus WAS a Beloved Jew! How can I not believe this? This was the absolute truth! So please stop trying with your views to change reality. THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH!! STOP!! Like you keep trying to say your original attempt was to show that Mike Evans is/was a scam and I believe everything you have said. Most of everything you said I do from lately believe until you try to set some overly relligious minded people kinda straight but unfornatunately then you take it a little too far in the opposite way. I honestly believe from now on you should go back to your responses: I was DEALING with a scam alert. Go into slight facts. Then just stop. Do not even acknowledge the religeousness that they bring up because that is NOT what your very long descriptive article was discusing! With much respect.
Michael Robinson-Williams says
Wow! What a rude awakening! Both sides of the argument make sense in one way or another but neither really has the humility to accept a peaceful and amiable point of truth.
If Evelyn Kanter offended you with her effort to disclose what she deems a fraud, then feel free to give to Mike Evans, and may Yhwh bless you for your giving. But, if you consider Evelyn Kanter’s advice as having some validity, search for the facts yourselves.
She stated the Better Business Bureau evaluated Mike Evans and his organization and rated them “F.” Sooo, let’s digress for a moment, its not Evelyn Kanter’s evaluation, just her disclosing it to others. And, wisely, if you were purchasing anything from anybody in business and the Better Business Bureau evaluated them with an “F” and you found this out, would you continue to do business with that entity? Simply because you did not get scammed but others did? Hmmm.
Let’s just say for the record, a 501C3 is needed and the guidelines are simple, easy but realistic guidelines to what a charity is founded upon. Of course, if Mike Evans does not have this, then, he’s a business for profit. Which, some of you proclaim is okay to do. What really matters is that Evelyn Kanter can present her findings with/without bias and you who oppose her findings (based on her stance against Christian Jews) should reconsider her evidence that explains why she and others consider Mike Evans a scammer. Hey!
If he is, the Israeli government doesn’t seem to mind and they are Jewish (some orthodox). And, this whole argument about Christian Jews, whose a real Jew? Whether Jesus Christ, was and is the real Messiah, well, it’s personal! I am wise enough to know, it doesn’t matter what you were BEFORE your conversion to Christianity (followers of Jesus Christ).
Oh, by the way, Ms. Kanter is right. A lot of Christians do practice some heathen ways, which of course, was covered in the OT and NT teachings about carnality. Saved is saved and lost is lost but saved is better than lost because there’s grace and forgiveness, love and peace, joy and hope. Hope you read this well enough to understand, it does not matter who tells you the truth. You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free!
Thanks Evelyn Kanter for your report. Thank you commenters and opposition from both sides. We are free to choose whose report to believe. Seek, knock and ask. It’s biblical truth! Even some believers have problems with being honest about leaders. Every leader is not a scammer but some are.
dave skubish says
can you or someone please tell me if Mike Evans is or somewhat a scam artist. iVE BEEN GIVING FAITHFULLY FOR YEARS NOW to JPT, and also the Fellowship,ive been digging into MIKE Evans history and bnoticed his home ,and his yahaut , and his net worth, Im so scepticle now of giving to JPT, I havent gotten any emails from them in over a month,,used to get a few each day,ive even emailed them and gotten no response, i think im going to put my donations together with the Fellowships, I know dearly the Fellowship is a true charity for Israel and the jewish people..
Evelyn Kanter says
This so-called charity receives poor or failing ratings the top, most reliable charity monitoring services that rate non-profits for how well they use the money people like you donate, including how much the top officials are paid, compared with operating costs and how much money is left over for actual programs. This charity receives poor or failing ratings on all counts.
This is not about religion. This is about being informed about where you donate your hard-earned money and whether you should give money to a low-rated charity that many charity-watchers believe is a sham and a scam.
Thanks for joining the conversation here on ecoXplorer.
Ron Jerome says
You are greatly mistaken. I would give and will give to this great organization on behalf of poor holocaust survivors and others.Please do not be misled.
Evelyn Kanter says
If you want to support “poor holocaust survivors” your money would get far better value if you donated it to the official Holocaust museum of Israel, Yad Vashem, to the official Holocaust museum of the USA in Washington DC, or to the official Holocaust museum in NYC, all of which get superior ratings from charity watchdog agencies, instead of donating your money this down-rated questionable alleged-charity which you support.
There also are legitimate Holocaust museums in Germany and other countries which would be happy to receive your money, instead of continuing to waste it on a down-rated alleged charity.
Leann says
The only problem is it’s hard for me to trust someone’s opinion on charities when they state the red cross is reputable. I’ve got family members that volunteer for habitat for humanity and I live 20 min from pigeon forge Tennessee where we had thousands lose their homes from forest fires. Red Cross was the worst charity that came through that town. They turned people away from giving truck loads of food. Do u want to know why? Because they work like a bank loan…. that receives millions in donations.
You’re taking money away from their business when you purchase pallets of goods and distribute underneath their greedy noses. I had several volunteers walk away from their Red Cross positions in pigeon forge and volunteered at animal shelters because Red Cross was so dirty and claimed good deeds.
Fact1# only 3% of Red Cross proceeds actually goes towards the people. Mike evens is doing better than that.
Fact2 in Tennessee Red Cross turned down free food From chick fil a …just because of their beliefs. Chick fil a is always the nicest people and politics should have no place when one gives.
Fact 3 in Tennessee when we had forest fires, Red Cross turned away a truck load of free diapers because they said they only would take money donations.
Fact 4 Salvation Army in WW2 was flying parents to wounded soldiers and didn’t expect the parents to pay back the money.
Red Cross expects people to payback the money they give out when the provide family flight missions.
You can research and anyone that truly knows anything about charity would never call them reputable besides rich celebs that don’t take the time to do research. And their brainwashed volenteers
Salvation Army % giving is 80%. If you can find a percentage 50% or more it’s a very good charity. There’s a special place in hell for the rich ceo that runs Red Cross.
Tina Collison says
The Friends of Zion Museum is not only legitimate, but awesome. If you know the story of Mike Evans – you would understand. Franklin Graham is now building a dinner hall for holocaust/ family to gather. Evans is a Jew who’s life mission is loving and protecting Jews. His Mother was a Jew. His Dad was proclaiming to be Christian, but was a drunk and not truly a Christain, he beat his Jewish wife. Geninue Christians love Jews and are blessed to be grafted in with God’s chosen people. We just got back from our 4th trip to Israel- i know first hand Mike Evans is an honorable man and your trying to say negative things is not right. Your group should have something better to do than tear down a wonderful thing Mike Evans is doing . We are proud to be donors. Jerusalem is so blessed to have him an Franklin Graham on their side. We love Jews and the Holy Land🇮🇱🙏🇮🇱
Evelyn Kanter says
For the zillionth time, this posting is to advise everybody to check the ratings of a charity before you donate money.
For the zillionth time, this posting regards the poor or failing rating given to this particular charity by the major charity monitoring services, for the small portion of donations which actually go to programs because of the large portion of donations used for “administration”, and to advise readers to donate instead to charities with good and excellent ratings, not poor and failing ratings.
For the zillionth time, this has nothing to do with whether or not you believe Mike Evans is a good person. The charity he runs gets poor ratings from monitoring services which rate charities on how well they use donated funds, including whether or not administrators and/or their relatives receive an outsize portion of those funds as salary. Period.
You and all the others who have turned this into a religious debate and whether or not Christians love Jews have missed entirely the original premise and purpose of the posting.
RICHARD HARDER says
Thank you Evelyn for letting us know about this scam. it is disgusting what some people do to find a way to steal money from other people. It hurts legitimate charities around the world. Thanks again.
Evelyn Kanter says
You’re welcome. Thanks for being an ecoXplorer follower.
Tina L Crauder says
Go Evelyn truth is truth I knew this man was a fake taking this man’s money I work for I showed him this site.now maybe it will stop him for some.i hate when these people take advantage of the sick and elderly
Evelyn Kanter says
Thanks, Tina. I hope you and your friend both become regular visitors to http://www.ecoxplorer.com
Tina Martin says
This site is so wrong about the Friends of Mt. Zion and Mike Evans. It is a wonderful thing and a wonderful man. Franklin Graham is now helping provide a hall for dinners for Holocaust survivors and their families. Been to Israel 4 times in 5 years. I know this is a legitimate man and museum. He is protecting Jews.
Sarah says
https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Michael_D._Evans
This article states that Mike Evans has never received a salary for his work with the Corrie Ten Boom Fellowship Incorporated, and it also says that this Fellowship is a non-profit 501 (c)3. The Jerusalem Prayer Team seems to be connected to or a part of this organization according to what I’ve read. I tried looking on the Better Business Bureau and Charity Navigator and did not find F ratings. Rather the Jerusalem Prayer Team appeared not to be rated by them. Charity Navigator said that the Corrie Ten Boom Fellowship Incorporated could be eligible for review by them, and that it currently has 31 votes for such a review.
The Jerusalem Prayer Team does post a few “990”s (through 2015). I’m not a knowledgeable person about taxes or even if the 990 documents have to do with taxes. What I would be interested in is if there is a legal body in a position to judge the Corrie Ten Boom Fellowship Incorporated or the Jerusalem Prayer Team as a scam, and if they have done so. I strive to be a good steward of my money and therefore am willing to do the research needed. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the reliability of internet sources. Evelyn, with you having been a journalist for twenty plus years, I would hope that you might be able to help direct me to sources beyond Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau for review, because I don’t see those two sources listing Corrie Ten Boom Fellowship Incorporated or the Jerusalem Prayer Team as a scam. I’m not sure if sourcewatch.org, which I cited at the top of this comment, is a legitimate reviewer.
Thank you for alerting your readers to the need for using caution and prudence when giving to charities. I’d just like a little more direction on this matter since you seem adamant about the Jerusalem Prayer Team being a scam. This is the only aspect of the thread/conversation that interests me, not the religious debate. Thank you.
Evelyn Kanter says
Thanks for a very cogent comment. I’ve never heard of the Corrie Ten Boom Fellowship, but will check it out. It’s irrelevant whether Mike Evans has ever received a salary for working with them. The issue is that his Jerusalem Prayer Team has low or failing ratings with the major charity rating organizations. The posting was never about religion. It was about properly vetting a charity before donating your hard-earned money to a low-rated charity. Unfortunately, it elicited some rabid comments by readers more interested in proseltyzing their religious beliefs than in discussing whether or not this charity is, indeed, a scam.
And it appears that SourceWatch is also a scam, or at least #fakenews. The link you shared is designed to look like a Wikipedia listing. It is not. According to the Washington Examiner newspaper: it is not “your guide to the names behind the news.”
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/take-a-look-at-the-financial-sources-behind-source-watch/article/130696
“Source Watch is anything but non-ideological. It is actually a product of the Center for Media and Democracy, a radical liberal, Wisconsin-based non-profit that is “an independent for impact, non-for-profit that works to promote informed debate by exposing spin and propaganda.”
So please trust legitimate charity watchdogs like Charity Navigator and the BBB, and not questionable fake news sites.
Evelyn Kanter
gerald woytus says
A very harsh judgment given of Mike Evans, very shocking, and unfortunately you must view the world through very narrow darkened lenses. Mike is a very respectable christian, with an amazing testimony. Ive heard him speak and he is not a huckster or a charlatan. Just because he doesnt pass YOUR CRITERIA is no reason to demean him or his ministry, which is very very legit. Because he targets helping Jews and not Muslims is no justifiable reason to put him down, shame on this site. Mike even gave a personal prophecy to Mr. Netanyahu telling him he would one day be prime minister of Israel after Bibi’s brother died in a terrorist related event.
Evelyn Kanter says
I am not in judgment of Mike Evans the man. I was merely reporting that all the top charity monitoring services give his charity a thumbs down rating, and recommending that anybody who donates to any charity at any time for any reason should look carefully at how their hard-earned donation dollars are being used – or mis-used.
Joel says
Mine Evans does ANYTHING but misuse your money. You should send him a small donation so you can then observe how he thinks by what he writes about and makes conference calls about and in what context. Then you will see he is by far the most effective single person in the peace process of the middle East which is indeed of the entire world. Furthermore, if you are against the creator of the universe, your master, you will ALWAYS attack his most effective servants, i.e., the people giving every part of their life and heart in order to help anyone they see that needs help in their life that they possibly can, no matter how out of money they may seem to be. Mike often goes over 48hrs with NO SLEEP, in order to meet other people’s schedules, like he just did back when Trump had just mentioned moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. I have know and supported Mike Evans for well over 10 years and I can tell you more than any often bias “charity watchdog” run by who knows who with a rotating staff, that Mike Evans is as honest and sincere as any human on this planet has ever been and gets far more done than the top 3 nations in the world in the establishment of true and lasting harmonious, love-based world peace. And if anyone wants to do even 5hrs of research and then spout-off their anti-semetic anti-God rebellious self-appointed Godship under My Observation, then I guarantee you the universe itself will implode on that person and the life they think they have will be dessimated. The creator of the universe will NOT be mocked or jeered. If you try to hurt those who do things the MOST like the creator does, you will bring down the heavens like a meteor shower of epic proportions into your life. And the buildings are NOT for ” Christian Bible study,” alone. You have NO idea what and whom you are talking about and are like a lone feeble Ant shaking your fist in anger against an 80 ton BULLDOZER. Humble yourself before your maker and do actual searching INSIDE before you bother to search outside and point at others “problems.” Besides, Carl Jung says that any outward trait that you point out in others is actually a reflection of yourself. I believe this rings true and I hope you and all who read this, and myself will consider this as often as it crosses our minds.
Now I must send shalom your way and bid you good day. I hope you find the happiness you seek by looking inside rather than out.
Shalom to you,
Joel
Evelyn Kanter says
You may believe whatever you wish about your beloved Mike Evans.
I believe in the extravagant overpriced – unsolicited – mailing he sent me that offended me for the sheer extravagance of it, which set me to research the organization.
I believe in the reports of multiple reliable, credentialed charity watchdog agencies which rate his so-called charity as poor to failing because of the small amount of donated money actually used for purported programs.
And I do not believe that prayers by your beloved Mike Evans will lead to peace in the Mideast.
Best of luck to you, and thanks for being a follower of http://www.ecoxplorer.com
carol says
I figure if a ministry or whatever can afford to send me unsolicited mailings with address labels, calendars or note pads then they don’t need my money! I donate when I can to the Lydia Project. I am so totally against Christians who think they must convert Jews to Christ (Not His Name) and then teach them to forsake the Feast of the LORD and keep the pagan days of xmas and easter! what an abomination-do your research and find the pagan deities behind the holidays and you will see they have nothing to do with Messiah…as always search for the TRUTH. Shalom..p.s I am not Jewish and wouldn’t call myself Xian either, just a believer. and by the way if you’d study the feasts you’d see they’re all about the entire plan of salvation and restoration. It doesn’t cost anything to pray for the peace of JerUSAlem.
Gerry Blank says
To change the subject a little. I was thinking of Charity Navigator. Who is the CEO? How much money does he or she make? Or Better Business Bureau for that matter but lets just think about Charity Navigator. Lets just not think about what is legal but what is moral. Charity Navigator has a system for rating the income of the CEO’s by what is legal. I do not know the answer to this. I am only asking. As a Christian I could not accept a legal salary when it exceeds what any well paid CEO makes especially when it is derived from the donations of people for a worthy cause. I think a CEO should be well paid but the excess of many far exceeds what even the President is allowed.I have read that a CEO of a Charity is allowed a certain percentage of all that is received. i think A CEO of a Charity should have a salary range and not be paid by a percentage of the amount received.
Bernie Lambert says
Would like to know about Bridges For Peace !!
Evelyn Kanter says
According to my go-to charity rating service, http://www.charitynavigator.org, this charity is not rated. That could mean several things – it has not filed the proper paper work, it is not large enough to rate a rating, it is not a 501 (c)3 legitimate charity, etc. Whatever the reason, I strongly advise not to donate your hard-earned money to any charity that is not rated, or rated poorly, by any of the charity monitoring services.
Trisha says
I think that Evelyn Kanter has decided that a jew cannot believe in Jesus! You do not know every Jew on the face of the earth! Therefore, I cannot believe any of you extremist comments😀FYI: A jew is based on nationality , not beliefs!!
Evelyn Kanter says
You are correct. Once someone changes their religion, they are no longer identified as a member of their former religion. Somebody born Christian who converts to Buddhaism is no longer Christian but a Buddhist. Somebody born Jewish who converts to Christianity is no longer Jewish. Somebody who converts from Christianity to Judiasm – like First Daughter Ivanka Trump – is Jewish, not Christian, because she converted to Judaism.
How is that extremist? What is extremist is the narrow-minded bigotry of those who insist that a Jew who believes in Jesus is still a Jew. Simply not true. Period.
Please tell me what “nationality” a Jew is. Judaism is a religion. There are Jews in every part of the world, from China to South Africa – and in the White House in the daughter of the US President who converted from Christianity to Judaism. Unless you are one of those narrow-minded bigots who label anybody Jewish as a “race”. That would make you a racist.
I remain astounded at how a simple posting about a charity scam degenerated into such name-calling and hostility.
Andrew Lepak says
I have given to Dr Mike Evens and I have alot of respect for his love of the Jewish people. In my spirit I feel peace about giving to them..
tinu8 says
Hi ,
Evelyn Kanter , I suggest to you to read the book of Sid Roth titled : ” They Thought For Themselves ” .
Afterwords I’m looking forward to hear your comments about the Christian / Jew .
Until then , God bless you in Jesus name amen .
Best Regards ,
Horace G. Tabone
Evelyn Kanter says
I will check out the book you recommend, but nothing will ever change my knowledge that Jews do not recognize Jewish-born Jesus as the Messiah.Period. Neither do Muslims. Period. So anybody calling himself or herself a “Christian Jew” is delusional, or simply acknowledging that he was born Jewish and persecuted for being Jewish by anti-Semitic Romans.
Darlean says
Wow seriously? This is why our world is so messed up cause of people just like you and a lot of the others on here with their hate comments.
Maybe you need to re read your Tora, Bible, kroan and see if your g G-d is the same as all of us, last time I checked we’re weren’t supposed to judge on another and G-d is about peace and love so stop spreading the hate… please!!!!
Evelyn Kanter says
Maybe you need to read a dictionary. It’s the Torah, not “Tora”. It’s the Koran, not “kroan”.
And we are not spreading hate. We began by alerting you to a charity scam, and somebody turned it into a religious debate.
Peace and love to you!
Susie says
They are scamming impoverished elderly people of their money. They refuse to remove the elderly from their mailing list.
Kathryn Henry says
I just returned from Israel and visited the Friends of Zion Museum, and a converted bomb shelter made into a community center for Halocaust survivors. All were built by the Jerusalem Prayer Team. I think that speaks for itself as to their authenticity.
Evelyn Kanter says
Friends of Zion Museum has nothing to do with the Friends of Zion Prayer Center, which is at a different address. The Friends of Zion Museum is a legitimate facility supported by Jewish organizations. Please do not compare it to or confuse it with the Friends of Zion Heritage Prayer Center, which is a scam and sham promotion by the Jerusalem Prayer Team fraudsters.
Susan Reitsma says
FOZ is a legitimate museum, and is building a bridge between Jews and Christians. It is the history of Christian Zionism and the Christian men and women who fought for and died for the Jews. As a Christian we are grafted into Judaism by Jesus as Paul noted in his letter to the Romans, Chapter 11, Judaism is a religion AND an ethnicity. One can not change their ethnicity. Arabs are descended from Ismael. Jews are descended from Isaac. I know many Jewish Believers, as they prefer to be called, as well as many Muslim Background Believers, as they prefer to be called.
We are all God’s children. I know Mike Evans personally. He is a good man who loves God through His savior Jesus the Christ, and he walks in the Holy Spirit. Read his bio. It is hair raising.
shalom and salam and peace to you, sister.
Darlean says
When a company that says their about peace and slams Christian’s OUCH! Not good G-d like behavior
Sharon Kammerling says
I think Darlean is the only one here with a great deal of hate and anger. If Darlean knew about someone scamming her friends she too would probably write a letter to inform them. That’s what is going on here, no one is speaking of hate except Darlean. No one is attacking you Darlean or your beliefs.
margie vega says
I don,t know what to think or say, I,ve been wanting to help Isreal for a long time and I thought DR. evans was the one.” Bible says to help his people Isreal and I thought I was. I need to really pray and ask the Lord who I can trust…
Evelyn Kanter says
You don’t need to pray for guidance on whether this guy is a scam artist. Just look at the evidence.
Robert J. Hauber says
I don’t know what to say. I feel almost sick after reading your report. I really do not know which way to turn when it come to charities. I almost want to discontinue all my charities and just totally walk away. Who do I trust when it comes to rating a charity? You? Why? See my problem? I worked like a dog for what small benefits I receive on a monthly basis and after reading this report I really want to just take a hike and everyone looking to me for help can just keep on looking. I do believe I’m done. I am not sure if I should thank you or not. Do I put my trust in your conclusions? I will just say bye and go away. I normally say goodbye but there is nothing good about any of this.
Robert Nogle says
I use EXODUS 2 with johVery satisfied. Left wings of eagles long ago. Pray and research for revalation on these subjects.
Rodney Huffman says
I have been telling my mother that Jerusalem Prayer Team is a scam, but she is old and misled by organizations like this.
Evelyn Kanter says
Tell her again. Show her this article. Show her what Charity Navigator and other charity-rating services say about this disreputable scam that prays upon people like your mother.
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4frogsBetty McCain says
It’s obvious that you know nothing about the bible or it’s contents and until you get on your knees and ask for guidance and forgiveness and read the bible for yourself, you should in no way discredit a ministry whose works you obviously know nothing about. The Jerusalem prayer Center that Mike Evabs established in Jerusalem is open to all that care to come. Mike Evans is a Christian Jew whose purpose is to get the word of The Jewish Messiah Yeshua(Jesus Christ) to the unbelieving Jew and to whosoever shall come including muslims if they choose to come and hear about the Christian Messiah, which is up to them. That is what the Bible teaches and it is not for you who know nothing to interfere with what the Bible teaches especially when you obviously have no idea. Go to Jerusalem and see the beautiful Christian Center that Mike Evans has built and learn of all that he and the ministry offers before you condemn. Yes it does require money to build and manage and if those who believe want to partake in it’s building that is up to them. May God Bless You and Keep You, but allow others to think for themselves and not be influenced by the ignorant.. .
Evelyn Kanter says
There is no such thing as a “Christian Jew”. You are either one or the other – either you follow Judaism or you follow Christianity. Anybody who claims to be both a Christian and a Jew is a fraud and a liar. Jews do not believe Jesus was the Messiah and do not follow the New Testament. Neither do Muslims. Only Christians believe that. Obviously you are so blinded by the empty promises of this charlatan that you cannot see the truth. Ditto you seem to be unable to accept that the two top charity rating services – Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau – consider the Evans money-raising scheme to be a fraud. He gets an F from both of them. F for Fraud.
Terrie says
A Christian Jew simply means a believer in the Lord Jesus the Christ coming from a Jewish background, not a gentile one. So yes, the term Christian Jew, Messianic Jew, or whatever, is valid. Jewish believers in Jesus the Christ may call themselves Christians, but it wouldn’t be wrong to be called a Messianic/Christian Jew. 🙂
May He bless you!
Evelyn Kanter says
Jews do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah. It’s as simple as that.
It’s nice to know that some Christians actively acknowledge Jesus’ Jewish birth and Jewish beliefs he held until he began preaching different ideas, for which he was punished by the Roman Empire in the same way they punished other criminal behavior.
You may call yourself whatever you like and believe in whatever you like, but please do not confuse what Jews believe with what you believe.
Those who adhere to the Jewish faith do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah. It’s as simple as that.
Thanks for engaging in this conversation on ecoXplorer.
Barbara Henderson says
I am appalled at the comments by Evelyn Kanter. Her comments are divisive and destructive. She obviously does not understand the Christian faith.
Salvation (believing in and accepting Jesus as the Messiah) is open to everyone -even Jews.
No matter what you call them a person of Jewish descent who accepts Jesus is a Christian Jew or a messianic Jew.
My husband and I have been acquainted with the Jerusalem Prayer Team for several years. We applaud what Mike Evans is doing. People need to educate themselves about him and his ministry before they make such derisive remarks. I pray that Evelyn Kanter will do that.
Evelyn Kanter says
You are correct – anybody who wants to believe in Jesus as the messiah can do so. Jews don’t. Muslims don’t. Buddhists don’t. Hindus don’t. Only Christians do, and they are called Christians. Period. What’s divisive about that?
Jews call a Jew who converts to Christianity a Christian. Period. Only Christians put the “messianic” label on converts. Jews don’t.
Nor do Jews call a convert a “Christian Jew”. Only Christians use that label.
Obviously, you know nothing about Judaism.
Do you also call a Muslim who converts to Christianity a “messianic Muslim” or a “Christian Muslim”?
Do you describe a Buddhist who converts to Christianity a “messianic Buddhist”?
Or a Hindu who converts a “Christian Hindu”?
If not, why do you persist on limiting such an incorrect and divisive label only to a Jewish convert to Christianity?
If you do also call a Hindu convert a “Christian Hindu” or Muslism converts “Christian Muslims”, why are you commenting here only about Jews?
I pray for you, too, that you can be ecumenical and open in your faith and allow a difference of opinion and open discussion of religious beliefs without insults and derision.
Also, I pray that you check the well-regarded Charity Navigator and/or the Better Business Bureau, which have rated the Evans operation a fraud and scam.
Thomas Howard says
True Evelyn, you should not call a Jew a “Christian Jew”, nor any Gentile a “Christian Gentile” as even Paul, a converted Jew said, after one believes in Christ, “There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile),…” Galatians 3:28. Why? Because, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles,…” 1 Corinthians 12:13.
So, you are right, there is only “saved” as apposed to “lost” and this is the only label anyone needs to be concerned about. This is the reason Jesus Christ came, to save that which was lost, the very reason He came to the lost tribe of the Children of Israel.
I too encourage you to read Sid Roth’s book; ”They Thought For Themselves ” . It will give you the rest of the story and why there is (after faith) no more Jew or Gentile! Thank You Evelyn.
Evelyn Kanter says
As I have said ad nauseum to reader comments, there is no such thing as a “Christian Jew”. Jews don’t believe in Jesus as the Messhiah. Period, end of discussion. Anybody who does is no longer a Jew – except by birth, but not by faith.
Jews are not baptized. Jews are not christened. Only Christians are. And if a Jew chooses to be baptized or christened, then that person no longer believes in the Jewish faith. He or she may still enjoy bagels and pastrami sandwiches, but he or she is no longer of the Jewish faith.
So you may call anybody of any religion whatever you wish. And it is your choice to claim that nobody is “saved” until they believe in Jesus. That’s your view. Not mine.
And please remember that the original posting was about a charity which many charity-watchers and charity rating services believe to be a fraud. It was not meant to be a discussion of faith about who is and is not a Jew or a Christian, or a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or anything else.
So let’s please keep the conversation to charities that are or are not frauds, and how you can avoid donating your hard-earned money to a charity that may be a fraud.