NRI Pulse Staff Report
Atlanta, GA, May 20, 2020: Ravi Zacharias, the well-known Atlanta-based Indian American evangelist has died of cancer. He was 74. The founder of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) is survived by Margie, his wife of 48-years; his three children: Sarah, the Global CEO of RZIM, Naomi, Director of Wellspring International, and Nathan, RZIM’s Creative Director for Media; and five grandchildren.
Founded in 1984 by Ravi Zacharias, Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) brings the gospel of Jesus Christ to millions around the world. RZIM focuses on evangelism, apologetics, spiritual disciplines, training and humanitarian support.
“The organization’s goal is to touch both the heart and the intellect of the thinkers and influencers in society by tackling some of the toughest questions about faith and providing thoughtful answers,” a description on the RZIM website says.
“My dad’s humility, grace, tenderness for people, and above all love for the Lord are forever imprinted on my mind, my heart, and my life,” his daughter Sarah Davis’s tribute to her father reads. “His love for our family will be impossible to replace until we join him in heaven one day. Ravi and Margie just celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary.”
“We experienced God’s kindness and faithfulness in so many ways as we felt Him journeying with us in bringing my dad home. For this we are at peace and filled with deep gratitude to God for the innumerable expressions of His love. Naomi, Nathan, and I are deeply grateful for your continuing prayers for our mother, Margie, and the many expressions of love you have shown to her and to us.”
“Soon our family will gather for a graveside service. In the days ahead we will provide details for a memorial service to be held in Atlanta and streamed around the world.”
Zacharias was born on 26 March 1946 in Madras, India. His family moved to Delhi when he was quite young and he grew up there. He was an atheist until the age of 17 when he tried to commit suicide by swallowing poison. While he was in the hospital, a local Christian worker brought him a Bible and told his mother to read to him from John 14.[ Zacharias said it was John 14:19 that touched him as the defining paradigm, “Because I live, you also will live,” and that he thought, “This may be my only hope: A new way of living. Life as defined by the Author of Life.”
In 1966, Zacharias immigrated with his family to Canada, earning his undergraduate degree from the Ontario Bible College in 1972 (now Tyndale University) and his M.Div. from Trinity International University. In 1990, he spent a two to three-month sabbatical at Ridley Hall, a Church of England theological school in Cambridge.