NASHVILLE, Tennessee (NRB) – The world’s pre-eminent association of Christian communicators honored the memory of the late Dr. Lois Evans during its first gathering since her death, creating an award stating it “will forever be impacted by the grace-filled wisdom, compassionate kindness and gentle Christian witness this precious woman of God brought in her service to the board of directors.”
NRB Chairman of the Board Janet Parshall said during the Closing Gala of the NRB 2020 Christian Media Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, February 28, “I know I’m not the only person who has sensed the presence of Lois Evans through this entire conference, but we’ve also noticed the absence of Lois.
“When we’ve had our board meetings and our executive committee meetings and she wasn’t there, we sensed an absence because she was a giant. She filled a room. And when a giant steps out of a room, you note the absence.”
Parshall said Evans, wife of pastor and NRB Hall of Fame member Dr. Tony Evans, “left an indelible mark on the life of this association” and “taught us what it was like to live gracefully” as she “touched the hearts of so many people.”
Tony Evans received the award, telling NRB, “Whatever is written about the life and legacy of Tony Evans, please look for Lois’ footprints.” It was her behind-the-scenes work – making sermon tapes in their garage and distributing those tapes via mail in the early days – that led to the success of Evans’ radio ministry, The Urban Alternative, he said.
“Whatever impact God allows our ministry through your vehicles to have to your audience, whatever good news that we bring through you to them,” Evans said, “remember that behind it all, smiling in heaven is Lois Evans.”
Bott Radio Network honored Lois Evans with a Heroine of the Faith award during their celebration breakfast at NRB 2020, recognizing her for “loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and for loving others as yourself.”
Tony Evans said upon accepting that award, “Her footprints are all over my life, my family, our church, and our ministry. There would be no Tony Evans or Urban Alternative if there were not a Lois Evans.”
During NRB’s Opening Session on February 25, Jonathan Evans, youngest son of Tony and Lois Evans, gave the group a look back at what was happening in his family only a year ago. Tony Evans was scheduled to be inducted into the NRB Hall of Fame during the 2019 Convention in Anaheim, California, in March, yet he lacked the level of excitement his four children thought he should have toward the occasion.
“Last year was very high and very low all at the same time at NRB for our family,” Evans, Managing Director of The Urban Alternative, said.
It was after the banquet inducting Tony Evans into the Hall of Fame that the Evans children learned, in their parents’ hotel room, that they were facing the most difficult time in their family’s history, Evans said. Their mother, Lois Evans, had been diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, and the doctors could do “absolutely nothing.”
“That moment was terrifying and devastating,” Evans told NRB Convention attendees.
The children and their father wept loudly in the hotel room, and finally their mother summoned their strength. “You do know what this is, don’t you? It’s called spiritual warfare,” Evans remembers his mother saying.
He further recounted her words: “When we face things that come against our family, the Evans family will not tuck our tails and run. … If you’re called to preach, you will preach. If you’re called to write, you will write. If you’re called to proclaim, you will proclaim. If you’re called to lead a Bible study, you will lead it.”
Lois Evans reminded her family that night that, “through thick and thin, you are here to serve the purposes of God.”
“I’m just wanting to tell you what my mom told me,” Jonathan Evans said, “because everybody in this room is facing something or going through something where you need to hear a word that says that no matter what you’re going through, … you’re here to serve the purposes of God.”
Though 2019 was his mother’s last NRB Convention physically, “she’s giving another address today,” Evans said to applause. In 2020, “she can give us good clarity of vision to put us on a straight path with a final address to the NRB she loved so much.”
