Ravi Zacharias
I posted a pic. of me and world famous apologist Ravi Zacharias on Facebook. It garnered over 175 likes - far more than any other pic. I have ever posted online.
Zacharias is arguably one of the most prominent Christian leaders in the world. He is the head of a 22 million dollar/year ministry with offices all over the world. There are hundreds who work in the ministry with over 50 itinerant speakers. He is in high demand as a speaker and people regularly line up hours ahead in order to get seats.
He is an arresting speaker commingling natural charisma with a photographic memory of lengthy quotes.
My history with Ravi goes back to India. There was some interaction between my parent's families and his family. I am unsure of what that interaction actually was. I know my Dad's brother worked with Ravi's ministry in India, providing leadership development training for his staff there.
In the 70's and 80's Ravi spent part of his time as an itinerant evangelist with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. He travelled globally and did outreach meetings in Alliance churches across North America.
In 1983 he did a series of meetings in my home church, Circle Drive Alliance in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. Our family attended the meetings. I sat in rapt attention. (I was 13). What struck me was 2 things:
1. Here was an Indian man preaching in a church. Up to that point I had never actually seen an Indian person preach. I guess I assumed only white people preach. As an Indo-Canadian, my job prospects were likely to be some white collar professional job such as medicine or law. I was leaning toward the latter. But, now Ravi broke my paradigms as to South Asians in ministry. We could preach. We do preach! Maybe I could preach.
2. I had never heard anyone speak with such powerful eloquence before. I can still remember illustrations he used.
We were fortunate enough to have Ravi over for a meal. We chatted a bit more about his ministry and his laugh. He was pretty down to earth.
And that was that. I would hear Ravi 3 more times live after that:
Louisville - 1994
Abbotsford BC (twice - 1995, 2008)
My path to the ministry was cemented in the years after hearing Ravi in '83. Seeing and hearing him, planted an initial seed of my future calling.
I had tried a couple of times unsuccessfully to connect with him - in Rochester NY and Atlanta. Both times, I received very courteous feed-back from his assistant. Rochester, he was barely in town - he literally flew in, spoke and then flew out. When I was in Atlanta, he was in India.
This year our family made our annual vacation plans to the Camp of the Woods resort in the Adirondacks. We chose the week Ravi would be speaking. My parents flew in from Canada to join us, as well.
I was shocked to hear that Ravi would be able to meet with me and my Dad. We met in the lobby of one of the residences at the resort. Ravi proved to be extremely warm and open as we spoke. I have met other "big name" Christian speakers and some big time celebrities (Bono!). And in some of those meetings, I have left disappointed at their arrogance, aloofness or coldness. Even some lesser known Christian speakers give off a vibe like they're doing you a favor by speaking with you. But, Ravi was different - he was genuinely interested in what I was doing. He shared some wise counsel about life and ministry.
At the end, he thanked us for our time(!) And we promised to stay in touch.
Why I like Ravi:
1. Cares for the individual. Ravi speaks to masses of people. But his messages are peppered with stories about how he took time to meet with needy individuals following his messages. I know one woman personally who came to faith because Ravi spent 4 hours with her, sharing the gospel and praying with her.
2. It's not about him. Ravi has intentionally added dozens of additional speakers to share the platform with him. He is not building a monument to self, but is building a movement that will be replicated long after he is gone - through the younger apologists he is personally mentoring.
3. Humility - Ravi heads a large organization. He criss=cross the globe to fulfill speaking invitations. He interacts with prominent political and business leaders. Celebrities even seek him out. Despite this, Ravi carved out time to meet with me. He gave off such a spirit of humility and graciousness.
Zacharias is arguably one of the most prominent Christian leaders in the world. He is the head of a 22 million dollar/year ministry with offices all over the world. There are hundreds who work in the ministry with over 50 itinerant speakers. He is in high demand as a speaker and people regularly line up hours ahead in order to get seats.
He is an arresting speaker commingling natural charisma with a photographic memory of lengthy quotes.
My history with Ravi goes back to India. There was some interaction between my parent's families and his family. I am unsure of what that interaction actually was. I know my Dad's brother worked with Ravi's ministry in India, providing leadership development training for his staff there.
In the 70's and 80's Ravi spent part of his time as an itinerant evangelist with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. He travelled globally and did outreach meetings in Alliance churches across North America.
In 1983 he did a series of meetings in my home church, Circle Drive Alliance in Saskatoon Saskatchewan. Our family attended the meetings. I sat in rapt attention. (I was 13). What struck me was 2 things:
1. Here was an Indian man preaching in a church. Up to that point I had never actually seen an Indian person preach. I guess I assumed only white people preach. As an Indo-Canadian, my job prospects were likely to be some white collar professional job such as medicine or law. I was leaning toward the latter. But, now Ravi broke my paradigms as to South Asians in ministry. We could preach. We do preach! Maybe I could preach.
2. I had never heard anyone speak with such powerful eloquence before. I can still remember illustrations he used.
We were fortunate enough to have Ravi over for a meal. We chatted a bit more about his ministry and his laugh. He was pretty down to earth.
And that was that. I would hear Ravi 3 more times live after that:
Louisville - 1994
Abbotsford BC (twice - 1995, 2008)
My path to the ministry was cemented in the years after hearing Ravi in '83. Seeing and hearing him, planted an initial seed of my future calling.
I had tried a couple of times unsuccessfully to connect with him - in Rochester NY and Atlanta. Both times, I received very courteous feed-back from his assistant. Rochester, he was barely in town - he literally flew in, spoke and then flew out. When I was in Atlanta, he was in India.
This year our family made our annual vacation plans to the Camp of the Woods resort in the Adirondacks. We chose the week Ravi would be speaking. My parents flew in from Canada to join us, as well.
I was shocked to hear that Ravi would be able to meet with me and my Dad. We met in the lobby of one of the residences at the resort. Ravi proved to be extremely warm and open as we spoke. I have met other "big name" Christian speakers and some big time celebrities (Bono!). And in some of those meetings, I have left disappointed at their arrogance, aloofness or coldness. Even some lesser known Christian speakers give off a vibe like they're doing you a favor by speaking with you. But, Ravi was different - he was genuinely interested in what I was doing. He shared some wise counsel about life and ministry.
At the end, he thanked us for our time(!) And we promised to stay in touch.
Why I like Ravi:
1. Cares for the individual. Ravi speaks to masses of people. But his messages are peppered with stories about how he took time to meet with needy individuals following his messages. I know one woman personally who came to faith because Ravi spent 4 hours with her, sharing the gospel and praying with her.
2. It's not about him. Ravi has intentionally added dozens of additional speakers to share the platform with him. He is not building a monument to self, but is building a movement that will be replicated long after he is gone - through the younger apologists he is personally mentoring.
3. Humility - Ravi heads a large organization. He criss=cross the globe to fulfill speaking invitations. He interacts with prominent political and business leaders. Celebrities even seek him out. Despite this, Ravi carved out time to meet with me. He gave off such a spirit of humility and graciousness.
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