It started out as a way to entertain his six children. But now Robert Evans has taken those songs and stories and turned them into a special ministry to bring children closer to the teachings of the Gospel.

That’s what is means to be The Donut Man.

“I’ve got six kids and you don’t get invited out to dinner very much,” Evans said in a phone interview from his Philadelphia home. “So we would stay home a lot and tuck them in with stories. I found the stories I put to little ditties would stick. I actually looked forward to bedtime stories.”

So much so Evans, then running a home renovation business, started carrying a Dictaphone with him at construction sites to record the songs that came to him.

“That is how I got started as a recording artist,” Evans said.

Now he takes his ministry of songs and stories on the road. On April 16, Evans will present his Donut Man show at the Ironton High School Auditorium as part of The Easter Eggstravaganza sponsored by First United Methodist Church of Ironton.

The goal of the show is to explain the importance of a value-based life, Evans said.

“As parents and grandparents it is our job to hand off a life that is honest and hopeful,” Evans said. “A donut works very well as an icon with that objective in mind. A donut is good, but something is missing. God made us in a good way. We know there is great goodness in the world. Whether you are religious or not, people are wonderful and capable of great things. But also something is missing in our experience. The purpose of all faiths is to fill that empty place.”

The show present Biblical stories to underscore the need for love, acceptance, service and helping others

“If you want to be great, you have to be a servant,” he said. “My recordings and videos work to present human values in the broadest sense. When I am in a church, I get more specific in regard to the way Christ died on the cross and at the end of every presentation, I repair a donut. I am a donut repairman. … My goal is to take religion out of the box and put it into the donut box to get people to think outside the box.”

To make reservations, contact First United Methodist Church at (740) 532-1196 or fill out a reservation form from the church’s website at www.ironton1umc.org. The show begins at 2 p.m.