ATLANTA — The memorial service for the influential evangelical philosopher and minister Ravi Zacharias was being held this morning in Atlanta beginning at 11 a.m.
Among those in attendance were Vice President Mike Pence, Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia First Lady Marty Kemp; and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who both traveled with the vice president to Georgia aboard Air Force Two.
Zacharias, who died from cancer on May 19, was highly influential in the world of evangelical philosophy and ministry through nearly a half-century of work. He founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Toronto in the early 1980s and eventually moved it to Atlanta.
When he died, Pence called the Indian-born faith leader a "man of faith who could 'rightly handle the word of truth' like few others in our time & he was my friend."
Gov. Kemp called him "a faithful servant who made an incredible impact on our world."
His Atlanta influence is immense with Andy Stanley (North Point Ministries), Louis Giglio (Passion City), Charles Stanley (Intouch Ministries) and hundreds of other faith leaders.
The Rev. Billy Graham invited him to preach at the inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam in 1983, when he was just 37. His ministry said he rose to prominence as a defender of the “intellectual credibility" of Christianity.
The Rev. Billy Graham invited him to preach at the inaugural International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam in 1983, when he was just 37. His ministry said he rose to prominence as a defender of the “intellectual credibility" of Christianity.
Zacharias had a wife of 48 years, Margie; daughters, Sarah and Naomi; a son, Nathan; and five grandchildren.
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