Colonel John H. Patterson: Righteous Among the Nations

One of the reasons that the museum features the story of Colonel John H. Patterson is that most people have never heard of him. That is unfortunate.

Another reason is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s brother, Yoni, was named after him. That is special.

The final reason is because we believe that his story should never be forgotten. That would be reprehensible.

Patterson was a staunch advocate of Zionism in a storied military career that included commanding the Zion Mule Corps, a contingent of 750 Jewish soldiers recruited from the Diaspora to fight in the Boer War and in World War I.

Two years after it was formed in 1915, the Mule Corps was expanded and, thereafter, was known as the Jewish Legion. Its five battalions consisted entirely of Jewish volunteers. The 38^th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers was comprised of Jews living in Great Britain and a number of Russian Jews who joined forces with the former Mule Corps members. The 39^th Battalion was made up of Jewish men from the U.S. and Canada. Palestinian Jews and former Jewish POWs held captive by the Ottomans became the 40^th Battalion. The 41^st and 42^nd Battalions completed the Legion, but were posted in England without seeing action.

The Jewish Legion fought in the Battle of Jerusalem in 1917 and the Battle of Megiddo in 1918. The Battle of Megiddo was the last, and decisive, Allied offensive thrust in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign under General Allenby. Patterson served as commander of the 38^th Battalion until his retirement in 1920. Perhaps his passion and vision for Zionism are best exemplified, not by what he said at the end of his career, but by what he said to his men on March 31, 1915 upon the formation of the Zion Mule Corps.

“‘Pray with me that I should not only, as Moses, behold Canaan from afar, but be divinely permitted to lead you into the Promised Land.”

His prayers were answered as he led his men in recapturing the Promised Land in a battle that was among those with the fewest Allied casualties in all of World War I.

Patterson served in the British military for 35 years until his retirement. There is no doubt that leading the Jewish Legion, the forerunner of the Israeli Defense Forces, was his greatest honor.

Following WWI, Patterson authored The Story of the Jewish Legion, somewhat of a companion piece for his previous books, With the Zionists at Gallipoli and With the Judeans in Palestine. Patterson successfully lobbied to raise funding for Zionist efforts after retiring to California.

He died in La Jolla on June 18, 1947, less than a year prior to the establishment of the nation of Israel, a day for which he had worked and prayed for an entire lifetime. According to his last wishes, Patterson’s ashes were brought to his beloved Zion and buried in an undisclosed location. The Mike Evans Museum is planted here for the very same reason that his ashes are. Because we love Israel.

 In 2004, Patrick Streeter published Mad for Zion, A Biography of Colonel J.H. Patterson. His inspiring story is available at Amazon.com.

Not Just Another Museum

There are already thirty-two museums in Jerusalem. Isn’t that enough already? How can another one add anything to what is already here?

The answer to that question may not come from where most people expect. While most museums are built to preserve antiquities of some form of art, culture or history, the raison d’être for the Mike Evans museum, officially named the Friends of Zion Heritage Center, is to tell a love story that has been misunderstood, and even missed entirely, by the tellers of history. It is the story of the enduring love and compassion that true Christians have, and have had, for the Jewish people and now for the nation of Israel.

Dr. Mike Evans has dedicated his entire life to telling the story and to encouraging the people of Israel. This museum is yet another way of communicating that beautiful love story that so many so-called Christians have tarnished, so much so that the Jewish people – God’s chosen – have been unable to comprehend that anyone really loves them with the passion that Dr. Evans and Bible-believers around the world really do.

It would be correct to say that the Mike Evans Museum is unique, simply based on its use of 21st century technologies. Even calling it interactive does not suffice. It is an experience that takes visitors well beyond the ordinary and the expected.

Within these walls, visitors will become acquainted with the true stories of some of the men and women who have gone to great lengths to aid and protect the Jews, promote the cause of Zionism and preserve the nation of Israel. But, more than an education, our hope is that each person will sense the love of our staff for Israel and realize that it represents the love of multitudes among the nations who also love the special and sacred land.

Our expectation is that, within these walls every visitor will become acquainted with the stories of men and women who have gone to great lengths to aid and protect the Jews, promote the cause of Zionism and preserve the nation of Israel. But, more than the education, our hope is that each person will sense the love of our staff and realize that it represents the love of multitudes among the nations who also love them.

Politicians and men of high position throughout the ages have misappropriated the Christian label without understanding its true meaning and have often used that label to promote their personal agendas to persecute the Jewish people. Much to our mutual misfortune, this has led to misconceptions that Christians hate the Jews and cannot be trusted. The Mike Evans Museum exists as a beacon of assurance that those misconceptions are false.

We love you, Israel. We pray for your peace, Jerusalem. We bless you, children of Abraham. We know the plans that YHWH has for you, plans for you to prosper. We are here to demonstrate and teach you how much we care, and to share with you the stories of others who have gone before who have done the same. Shalom.

Mike Evans Museum to Feature Heroes of Israel

During your visit to the Mike Evans Museum in Jerusalem, officially called the Friends of Zion Heritage Center, you will encounter the stories of military heroes like General Marie-Pierre Koenig, Col. John Henry Patterson, and Major Orde Wingate, and political leaders like President Harry Truman, who did so much to prepare for Israel’s rebirth as a nation.

The list of heroes is even longer than those people though. Oskar Schindler, Irena Sendler, Miep and Jan Gies, Raoul Wallenberg, Chiune Sugihara, and, of course, the courageous Ten Boom family. These stories are largely untold in Israel to this day.

Even in the cases where the stories have been told, the Christian faith that drove these men and women to risk everything, and even give their very lives for the sake of the Jewish people, is largely unmentioned in the annals of history.

But we will also be sharing the amazing stories of the Machal—the volunteers, many of them Believers, who came from around the world to stand with the newborn Jewish state in its desperate fight for survival following the Declaration of Independence in 1948.

Of course, there were also those who hated the Jewish people and wished to do them harm. We will address the Holocaust head on—including the role of many who claimed to be Christians during this awful atrocity, but showed that they do not represent true Christian belief or practice.

When you get the opportunity to visit Jerusalem, please don’t pass up a trip to the Friends of Zion Heritage Center!

Museum to Feature Heroes of Israel

During your visit to the Mike Evans Museum in Jerusalem, officially called the Friends of Zion Heritage Center, you will encounter the stories of military heroes like General Marie-Pierre Koenig, Col. John Henry Patterson, and Major Orde Wingate, and political leaders like President Harry Truman, who did so much to prepare for Israel’s rebirth as a nation.

The list of heroes is even longer than those people though. Oskar Schindler, Irena Sendler, Miep and Jan Gies, Raoul Wallenberg, Chinue Sempo Sugihara, and, of course, the courageous Ten Boom family. These stories are largely untold in Israel to this day.

Even in the cases where the stories have been told, the Christian faith that drove these men and women to risk everything, and even give their very lives for the sake of the Jewish people, is largely unmentioned in the annals of history.

But we will also be sharing the amazing stories of the Machal—the volunteers, many of them Believers, who came from around the world to stand with the newborn Jewish state in its desperate fight for survival following the Declaration of Independence in 1948.

Of course, there were also those who hated the Jewish people and wished to do them harm. We will address the Holocaust head on—including the role of many who claimed to be Christians during this awful atrocity, but showed that they do not represent true Christian belief or practice.

It was this inspiration that gave me the vision of creating a museum in Jerusalem. I wanted to tell the story of Corrie’s family, which is virtually unknown to the Jewish people in Israel. Then I realized there were hundreds of other amazing stories that also needed to be told. And my vision of a Mike Evans Museum in Jerusalem, later became a reality, and officially is now called the Friends of Zion Heritage Center.