20/05/2020
Known as a renowned Christian author-speaker, apologist, thinker and preacher, a hero of faith who has now gone to be with the author of faith, Jesus Christ. On behalf of Revival Youth Team, the following is presented as a briefing of the beautiful life that God had provided for him on this earth. May this be an inspiration. More details are provided at the end.
He was born in Madras, India on 26th March 1946 and died in Alpharetta, United States on May 19th 2020 at the age of 74 battling cancer. He is married to Margaret Zacharias (Margie), 1972 with three children: Sarah, Naomi and Nathan. He is the founder of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.
His story has touched millions around the world. Born in the highest caste of the Hindu priesthood, his great-great-great-grandmother had actually become a Christian. People close to him would know him as a cricket-lover. Initially an academic failure, then led him to a desperate place. On the road as a teenager at the age of 17, he contemplated su***de. At the Delhi hospital, he was read the words of Jesus, “Because I live, you will also live.” Zacharias offered a prayer to Christ and if answered, he would leave no stone unturned in his pursuit of truth.
The prayer got answered and moved his life in a way he had never ever thought of. He started to work up well in life. Meaning became real to him. Zacharias had been sharing the gospel ever since, in world-famous university campuses, churches, military bases, hospitals, prisons etc. He had the privilege of speaking in the United Nations Annual International Prayer Breakfast.
The ministry God formed through him now spans around the globe having nearly 100 gifted speakers. The ministry has an influence in many countries. The Vietnam experience for him gave him this mission to preach the gospel to the nations. In Vietnam he found himself as a missionary flying across the country at the age of 25 in a helicopter gunship. He was ministering to the Vietcong there.
Having written 28 books and received 10 honorary doctorates, there is no doubt God has remarkably used and lifted him. There is a peculiar feature to his nature of ministry. He recognised that there is a questioner behind the question. Objections were not just to be answered. People needed Christ. On his ministry, the person asking the question is given value over the question itself. Always that is what that kept him going. He wanted to give people Christ. Any dear colleague of his if asked about this will surely tell how important this issue was to Zacharias.
Finally, Sarah, his eldest daughter shares the one thing that he had always looked forward to. Even when returning home from the hospital in Texas where he had chemotherapy due to his cancer, he shared Jesus to the nurses. The commitment to the gospel was so intense in his life. His greatest joy was to love his Savior and Sarah says, “We who knew and loved him celebrate his life, and more importantly, his Savior.” Ravi Zacharias recited these hymnal words from the late Richard Baxter (1615-1691) few months before his death:
“Lord, it belongs not to my care
Whether I die or live;
To love and serve Thee is my share,
And this Thy grace must give.”
“But ‘tis enough that Christ knows all,
And I shall be with Him.”
All glory to God. God bless him, his family and his team!
Full obituary - https://www.rzim.org/read/rzim-updates/ravi-zacharias-obituary
Message from Sarah, his eldest daughter - https://www.rzim.org/read/rzim-updates/ravi-zacharias
Testimony in his own words - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDSOnaMeG70
Website: rzim.org
