Evans’ mother, a struggling alcoholic, worked as a barmaid and a prostitute before disappearing in January of this year. A neighbor heard Evans crying and broke down the door of the single-room shack he once shared with his mother. He had been locked in the shack for several days with very little food to spare.

Evans’ family has a history of alcoholism and poverty, which carried on from generation to generation. His great-grandmother, his only living parental figure, was unable to raise her great-grandson due to her age, blindness, and lack of resources.

Evans, who turned 10 this past May, arrived at El Shaddai Children’s Center soon after his mother’s disappearance. In his new, Boaz-sponsored home, he is shown love, fed, given an education, and taught daily about the gospel of Christ. When Evans grows up, he wants to be a doctor.