Over 189,000 people from around the world celebrated the life of apologist Ravi Zacharias on YouTube livestream this morning, as the memorial aired live from Passion City Church in Atlanta, GA.
His impact for the kingdom of God was felt around the world. Before the memorial started, from the 100 itinerant speakers on the RZIM team, a few shared their memories of Ravi. This included speakers live from England, Africa, India, and Asia-Pacific.
Even though he spent over 200 days of the year on the road speaking to stadiums of people, from what his family and friends shared during the memorial, it was his family that mattered most. This includes his wife, Margie, their three children Sarah, Naomi, and Nathan, as well as five grandchildren.
Both daughters spoke during the memorial. Sarah spoke words of Scripture while Naomi reminisced about the impact her father had on her life. She says, "My dad was at home most with those most marginalized."
One of the last photos taken of Ravi was of him and his daughter Naomi, in which both are wearing ball caps. Hers says "I love my dad" and her father is wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs hat. Toronto was one of the multiple places the Zacharias family made their home at one point.
The Christian band Shane & Shane performed a moving rendition of the 23rd Psalm.
Tim Tebow emotionally spoke about getting to know Ravi Zacharias personally, just a few years ago, and called him a fast friend. "He was more than a brother-in-Christ, he was a hero of mine and I don't say that lightly."
The Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence spoke about Ravi's influence throughout his days in ministry, saying, "He spoke truth and he spoke it with kindness. He was the C.S. Lewis of our day and the greatest Christian apologist of our time."
Matt Redman, the Christian artist, performed "Here is Love" from his home in California.
RZIM's regional director in the USA, Vince Vitale, talked about a memory when they were doing a panel at a University and one angry questioner got up to the microphone, gave his belligerent two cents, and started to storm out of the building. Instead of being grateful that the disruptive man was leaving, Ravi rushed to the edge of the stage, Vitale recalls, asking the questioner to come back and have a chat with him afterward. Vitale says, "He had a tenacious and Christ-like desire for the one."
Michael Ramsden, President of RZIM, shared a moment with the apologist before he passed. "The world needs Evangelists', he said. He [Ravi] felt that need for the gospel to go out ever more strongly now especially in his last few days. He would ask us not to mourn a great voice we just lost. He would ask us to be praying for the voices that are coming and which are yet to come. He wanted to raise up people to hear hope, because hope is what is needed right now."
Louie Giglio, the Pastor of Passion City Church ended the time of sharing with a call to focus on Jesus. As Ravi made the focus of every encounter about the love and compassion of Jesus Christ, it was a fitting end.
Closing off the memorial was the well-known Christian rapper, Lecrae, who shared the importance of Ravi's words to his heart before singing "Tell the World". Lecrae says, "As a former atheist who did not become a Christian until I was an adult, I wanted my peers in the culture, who didn't believe, to have answers to hard questions. I wanted them to be able to know why there is evil in this world and where was God in the midst of suffering and injustice. I would digest Ravi's lectures and craft the insight into my own language, or just rap it."
Thu, May 2, 6:45 PM
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