Being on sabbatical I have more time to watch the news, take in the commentaries, and hear the experts and pundits exchange ideas. On the road I so seldom turn on the TV, but at home with multiple channels to 24 hours of news it seems it streams into our lives continuously. Last week the chatter turned to another scandal as experts gathered to discuss another leader fallen and all the reasons why this happened. I clicked the talk off, not wanting to hear the postulating, saddened for all involved. Everyone asks why. And I suppose reason after reason has been given. But the simple truth is that like all of us, even those in positions of great power are in desperate need of a Savior. This is what RZIM is specifically called to: to reach the opinion makers, the thinkers, the influencers of culture. For many in these places the glow of power, position, and perceived invincibility blinds their ability to see the credibility and beauty of the Gospel.

We want to help remove these barriers to the Cross. This mission takes us around the globe and into the halls of universities, politics, and businesses. Michael Ramsden just completed exciting meetings with Britain's Houses of Parliament; Stuart McAllister spoke at Georgia Tech a few weeks ago. Below you will read the great reports of the team as together, with you, we are called to this purpose. We sincerely thank you for standing alongside us in this calling to reach others with the beauty of the Gospel. Your vital role in this ministry cannot be gainsaid and we thank the Lord for you and for what He is doing through this ministry.

Engaging Today's Culture with RZIM:

 

• Ravi Zacharias and Stuart McAllister on TV Easter Sunday
  
  The National Religious Broadcast Network (NRB TV) is airing "Thoughts at Easter" featuring Ravi Zacharias and "Gifts in a Holy Land" featuring Stuart McAllister on Sunday, March 23rd. You can view the NRB TV network schedule to see what channel and times these programs are airing in your area.

   

  "Thoughts at Easter" is available on DVD through our store.

   

   

• Spring Offer
  
  Our Spring Offer is now available featuring the latest products from RZIM including Ravi Zacharias's new message entitled, "Love Has Its Imperatives," and "The God Delusion" Debate with Dr. John Lennox and Professor Richard Dawkins on DVD. We are also excited to present the next four DVD's in our "Foundations of Apologetics" series. Click here to see all the products on the Spring Offer and purchase now.

   

   

• "Is God Necessary?" Summer Institute: Wheaton College, June 15-20, 2008
  
  Come. Be Refreshed. Be Empowered. The RZIM Summer Institute 2008 seeks to equip participants to address the questions of today's culture from a faith that is rooted in the Gospel message and informed by their identity as members of the Church. That the question "Is God Necessary?" can actually be asked with any sort of legitimacy within a culture signifies a sharp turning point in human history and has profound implications for all aspects of daily life. As such, during this week we will look at our identity as those redeemed in Christ, the essential relationship our concept of God has on fundamental areas of everyday life, and the many different forms religion, spirituality, and atheism take in today's culture. Our goal is that those attending might be better equipped to give a reason for the hope within and manifest the truth of the Gospel in everyday life. Click here to learn more and register.

   

• The RZIM Foundations of Apologetics Curriculum is now available!
  
  Designed to introduce a comprehensive range of apologetic arguments and strategies, and featuring lectures by RZIM's team of apologists, this rigorous curriculum will help students become adept at recognizing the many worldviews influencing our culture and equipped to challenge the assumptions of these worldviews. The first volumes by Michael Ramsden, Stuart McAllister, Alister McGrath, and Ravi Zacharias tackle the subjects An Introduction to Apologetics, Truth and Reality, The Existence of God, and Establishing a Worldview. Each study is available individually, allowing you to craft your own experience according to your needs and interests. Complete with an in-depth workbook, you will find the studies foster not only knowledge but also cultivate the skills to communicate that knowledge in a way that is winsome and effective. The first volume can be found here. Links to the other volumes can be found in the Related Products section on the same page.

   

Where in the World is RZIM? Highlights from across the globe...

United States

Stuart McAllister
Stuart recently returned from his trip to Grace Church in Des Moines, Iowa, where he spoke several times with messages on "A Christ-Centered Life." He then traveled to Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for a "Conversations That Count" seminar at Wooddale Church. Stuart and Joe Boot teamed up there to talk about the four "M"s: The Message: Uniqueness of Christ and Trinitarian Theology; The Method: Truth and Relational Communication; The Messenger: Character, Posture, and Approach; and The Mission: Effective Communication (What, Why, and Trust). Stuart then went to Calvary Chapel Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on March 19 where he spoke at both evening services. It has been a busy month of traveling across the US for Stuart!

Alison Thomas
Alison spoke at Camp Woodlands in Cleveland, Georgia, at the beginning of the month. She led a "Weekend in the Word" retreat for the 5th graders of Grace Fellowship Church of Snellville, Georgia, encouraging the students to start early in learning to defend their faith. The focus of the weekend was why they could trust the Bible and why they should read it. Although the kids were young, they were very sharp, and Alison says she is not smarter than a 5th grader!

United Kingdom

Michael Ramsden's speech at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, was a success. This was his first trip to Brussels and it was evident that many people began to at least consider the Christian worldview. We hope that it will have been food for thought for those attending and that, as a result of the trip, further opportunities to minister will present themselves in the future.

On March 11, Michael spoke at an event organized by Christians in Parliament at The Houses of Parliament in London. His topic was "Is Tolerance a Virtue?" and the event went very well. The MPs and Lords seemed to appreciate his talk and responded by asking many intriguing questions. In fact, the Q & A went on for about an hour!

Michael's past few speaking events have been very significant and strategic ones. Please pray for lasting fruit from them.

On Saturday March 1 Amy Orr-Ewing spoke at a conference in Oxford. The theme of the conference was "A Voice Calling in the Wilderness." The conference focused on encouraging young people to be prophetic voices speaking and living out the Gospel in their society-locally, nationally and internationally. Its aim was to help participants see how the Gospel makes sense and is the true answer for many questions society is asking.

Amy continued her speaking engagements on March 6 with a radio show on BBC Radio 4 on the subject of the resurrection. There were two other contributors on the show: Dr. Paul Badham, who took quite a liberal view of the resurrection, and Dr. Edward Kessler, who offered a Jewish perspective on the resurrection. It was a lively discussion and a very important engagement for Amy. On March 8 she taught at the HTB School of Theology in London on the topic of "Can You Trust the Bible?" followed by two messages at Barnabas Community Church in Shrewsbury, England.

Amy would appreciate your prayers as she takes some time to retreat after Easter and stop and pray.

India

Dave Geisler, Cyril Georgeson, Biju George, Neil Vimalkumar, and Philip Samuel coordinated a seminar entitled "A Truth @ Life" on the topic "Conversational Evangelism" in Pune from March 2-8. Thirty-two delegates from different walks of life attended this unique and engaging seminar.

On March 9, Neil Vimalkumar ministered at a growing church in Hubli, Karnataka, and spoke on "The Christian Faith: A Leap in the Dark?" He then shared the Word at City Assemblies of God, Hubli, in their Kannada and English worship services with a gathering of about 100 people. The lecture was very well received and the audience was eager to ask questions after the message. One Christian leader shared, "We need more of these apologetic topics to be addressed here." Finally, Neil spoke on March 15 at Shalom 07/08, the second part of the two-part evangelistic program at Planet Yumm, Chennai.

Rev. Arun Andrews was privileged to preach twice on March 2 at the Bethel Assembly of God Church where Ravi Zacharias preached during his time in Bangalore in December 2007. Rev. Andrews will be leading the Passion Week services at Indiranagar Methodist Church in Bangalore. He asks prayer for wisdom and for the commitment of lives for our Lord's purposes during this Easter season.

Prakash Yesudian writes of his recent time at the Advanced Leadership Institute of Haggai Institute in Maui, Hawaii, where he facilitated 14 lectures: "There were altogether 120 leaders in four sessions from many countries. I led the lectures on biblical models for evangelism in two sessions. Praise God for this privilege to motivate many from different parts of the world for evangelism. Please keep praying."

Canada

The Canada staff is busy preparing for many upcoming events, so please keep them in your prayers. Rachel Tulloch spoke during Easter week at the University of Toronto on the Resurrection of Jesus. On April 4, Rick Manafo and Rachel will be putting on a one-day worldview training event for youth in the area of Guelph, Ontario. They are looking forward to a significant turnout and a wonderful time of ministry.

Singapore

LT Jeyachandran was in Rapid City, South Dakota, for the Keystone Discipleship Project from February 28-March 6. He then conducted lectures at Tung Ling Bible College from March 10-13.

I'Ching Thomas continued her session on "Engaging the Chinese Culture for Christ" at Evangel Baptist Church on March 2. On March 7 she spoke to the Christian Students Union at University Malaya (UM) in Malaysia on the topic "Hard Questions about Christianity." I'Ching was also one of the two main speakers at a public seminar organized by the Singapore Graduates' Christian Fellowship on March 15. She followed this engagement on March 16 at Singapore's Bukit Panjang Methodist Church's Sunday service for youth where she spoke on "The Cross of Christ." It has been a busy month of traveling for her.

Middle East

D.K.: ME Director
The past month was very fruitful in terms of ME ministry and growth planning. The team has been traveling and presenting the vision for the area with church pastors at various meetings in the region. They also discussed the possibility of implementing a curriculum in Jordan. They met with two OCCA candidates; they are interested in attending the full year course and have sent their applications to Oxford. Along with their meetings, the team is also preparing for the upcoming Vision Trip at the end of March.

Senem: Turkey
Senem shares, "Life in Istanbul was on a break at the beginning of the month due to an unexpected snow storm, which disabled the entire city traffic for two days! On the other hand, the organization for Stuart McAllister's upcoming event in Istanbul is well underway. I am encouraged by the interest from the people when they heard about it. Stuart will be teaching two nights on the topic of apologetics. Please pray for its effectiveness, as this subject has never been addressed before among Turkish believers."

Senem shares that the highlight of the last part of the month was the baptism of seven university students. She gave each of them a copy of the Turkish edition of Jesus Among Other Gods and all of them have confirmed their attendance to Stuart's apologetic meetings in Istanbul. Senem also shares about her radio program, saying, "Another young lady has come to Christ just last week, after listening to my radio program for the last two years and asking a lot of doubtful questions with a very sincere heart. She has told me that she knew that it was time to make a choice. We rejoiced with her as she chose to walk with Jesus. She's very well known in the film industry here and has a great circle of friends who are desperately in need of a Savior. I'll be leading a one-on-one faith principles study with her."

Hong Kong

Please continue to pray for Grace Lee as she works in this region and establishes contacts in the area.

Please know that we are here to serve you in any way that we can. Feel free to contact us by phone at (770) 449-6766 or via our website, www.rzim.org.

God bless you,

Ravi Zacharias
President
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries
4725 Peachtree Corners Circle, Ste 250
Norcross, GA 30092
770.449.6766

P.S. If you're interested in learning more about making a gift to support the ministry of RZIM or learning more about various unique gift opportunities through gift annuities, Estate Planning, or stock gifts, please contact Jeanette Chuquiure at (800) 448-6766 or click here if you would like to donate online.