Anjelah Evans

God Truly Loves Me

By Ellen Richardson

Photos Provided by Anjelah Evans

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise – Psalm 98:4 (King James Version).

Few inspiring women have a testimony like that of Christian songstress, actress, and amazing child of God Anjelah Evans. This Gary, Indiana native, grew up dreaming about becoming a singer or actress. In fact, if you are a child of the 1980s and remember a movie turned television show called Fame, then you will want to keep reading. Evans is a graduate of Emerson School For The Visual And Performing Arts School in Gary that focused on performance and media arts. “People likened this school to the one shown in the 80’s television show Fame,” said Evans. “Instead of taking the average school classes, I was a vocal music and theatre major who spent a lot of time in the hallway with other creative types harmonizing and dancing. I also graduated in one of the smallest high school classes that most have heard of, only 52 students, so we grew up a lot like the type of school family that you saw in this show.”

Somewhere along the way I found my way to church, and this opened up a whole new realm for me because it allowed me to take what I had learned singing at Emerson and bring that into the church.

During her time there, the future artist honed her skills as both a singer and an actor and even found the escape she needed from the family she was born into. “Music was an escape for me,” she said. “My mom was an uninvolved parent that was often physically and verbally abusive, so going to Emerson became my escape. It was the place that said I was good enough to become someone.” During her time at this school, Evans also found her faith in God. “Somewhere along the way I found my way to church, and this opened up a whole new realm for me because it allowed me to take what I had learned singing at Emerson and bring that into the church.”

Like many other famous artists whose dreams started coming alive in the church, Evans began to see the future that she had envisioned begin to shape.

“I was that little kid in church with the big voice, and everyone was trying to figure out who was singing. Before long, the voice that seemed to be the one that controlled the chaos in the world took me down a path towards God’s plan for my life,” said Evans. Along with appearing in pageants and winning titles like Miss Talented Teen, Miss Gary Indiana, and even Miss Black Ball State, Evans started finding herself on stage singing background for many well-known gospel artists throughout the country. “I have been a backup singer for many different gospel artists from Yolanda Adams, Bishop Marvin L. Sapp, Benjamin BeBe Winans, and even opened for Grammy Award-winning gospel singer CeCe Winans. “I have also traveled with gospel groups and ensembles, including Leanne Faine, who took me all over the United States, to Paris, France, and even Morocco. It was things like this that allowed me to finally find the confidence that I had been missing as a child as well as what I needed to make the next move in my career – acting.”

Much like singing, acting came naturally to the woman who refers to herself as inherently comical. “Due to my silly or fun side, along with my God-given talent to sing, acting on stage became the next logical step in my career,” said Evans. This new career path would begin alongside writer, producer, and director John Ruffin, who cast Evans in one of his first on-stage plays turned made for a television movie entitled Love Me or Leave Me. “This was an amazing experience because I got to act alongside a group of all-star castmates like Elise Neal, Carl Anthony Payne II, and Clifton Powell. I just kept asking myself, how in the world did I get here?”

Along with attributing her faith and the study of her chosen craft, Evans also attributes her success to “not being afraid when those huge opportunities present themselves.”

After continuing to travel performing plays and singing backup for R&B artists like Bobby Brown and Johnny Gill, Evans made the move from Gary to Indianapolis, where her career would take another turn. “Not being near Chicago made acting a bit more challenging, but it would not take long before I fell in with a production company called KaidyDid Productions,” said Evans. “It was neat because the directors saw me in a production that I returned to my hometown to do and came up to me after the show to offer me a role in a holiday show that they were doing.” Before long, this born songstress turned actress was performing on stage with this urban-based, all-female theatrical company in shows like The Wiz and even played the part of Shug Avery in The Color Purple. “It was crazy because I auditioned for The Color Purple on a Zoom call and tried for a different part before I was asked to audition for my favorite person in this story,” she said. Following what she calls “the role of a lifetime”, Evans moved on to her current role. “I am now playing Effie in a stage production of Dreamgirls, and I am loving it!”

Despite all her success, the most important thing that this talented lady wants others to know is that everything was not easy. “I experienced a lot of highs and lows, including divorce and even homelessness, but I never gave up and even served as a worship leader at my church during this time,” said Evans. “No matter what happened, I knew that I couldn’t give up because God called me to use the voice that he gave me to bring healing and encouragement to others, and that is what continued to push for the dream that he placed inside of me. Besides, he knew that I always wanted to have a testimony, and I knew that I couldn’t have that without the test that comes with it.”

Along with using her talents to perform and hoping to someday achieve on Broadway, Evans is also doing what she can to help her community through her home church of Kingdom Apostolic Ministries, led by Bishop Lambert Gates, as well as being a worship leader at Living Water Fellowship Church, led by Pastor Kim Outlaw, and is even a national worship leader for the Pentecostal Churches of the Apostolic Faith International, Inc. Evans is also going back to school to obtain a master’s degree in Human Services to start her own ministry someday. It is evident that he genuinely loves her and all that she does!