BIO – If I had a bio, this is what it would contain

Daniel Lee Evans, better known as Dan (or, the Homespun Hayseed), got his dubious start in a hospital in the state of Washington, USA in the year 1952. He was born to Robert Dale and Shirley Jean Evans. Shirley did most of the work escorting him into the world. Robert (Bob) was likely on his fifth or sixth cup of coffee when Dan exploded on the scene. Dan was named after a distant Civil War officer on his father’s side of the family. His middle name, Lee, was stolen from his maternal great grandfather, Lee McDowell. Insistence among several of Dan’s Filipino friends that he must have a Chinese heritage because Lee is a popular name in China and Korea, will pass without further comment because insulting people is considered unkind in some circles.

Dan’s family owned a small farm in Southwestern Washington state, about twenty miles north of the Columbia River. Dan grew up among horses and cattle and owned several head of registered Polled Herford cows when he was young. He and his younger brother, Rodney, both were active in 4H until they reached high school.

Dan experienced numerous health challenges as a child. He nearly died of a year-long blood infection at age eight. He suffered a delayed birth defect in his spine that gradually crippled him between the ages of twelve and fifteen. He spent two years (his junior high school years) confined to a hospital bed with little expectation that he would ever function normally, before a surgeon found the problem and performed a spinal fusion to correct the defect. He was then able to attend high school in the town of Battle Ground, Washington, graduating in 1971. From there, Dan enrolled in a Bible college (Simpson College) in San Francisco, California. After college, Dan was hired by San Francisco-based Bank of America from which he retired after 32 years as a Vice President.

Concurrent with his career at the bank, Dan operated a non-profit business to develop and install advanced sound systems for churches in California. He also owned a voice-over recording studio, served as a producer of a weekly Christian television broadcast for two years, and produced and engineered Christian concerts in the San Francisco area. Dan relocated from California to Arizona in 2001.

Dan met Aurea Wali Desaville when she was teaching at a Christian school in South Korea. He secured visas for her and her daughter, Jennifer. When they arrived in the U.S., Dan and Aurea were immediately married and the Evans family anticipated many years of a comfortable and blessed life in their home in Arizona, active in church work. But God had other plans. He called them to leave the U.S. and relocate permanently to the Southern Philippines to serve as independent Protestant missionaries, in a region from which Western rural missionaries had been recalled years earlier due to domestic terrorism. As of the date of this writing (August 2022), they have served in that capacity for nearly sixteen years.

Dan, though he left behind his family and friends, his beloved U.S., and Western heritage, is content to spend the balance of his life in partnership with Aurea, to introduce people in their villages to Jesus Christ. They serve the needs of villagers among whom they live through a three-acre vegetable garden, a private safe water system, free food for senior citizens, and more. Dan has also served government officials as an education consultant. However, he has not lost his love for the Western U.S., its rich history, and lifestyle. Dan taps into that in creating many of the stories found on the Homespun Hysterics website.