Apologist and itinerant speaker, Shiv Zacharias, accepts
invitations to lecture at various outreach events. These lectures aim
to engage different worldviews and point others to Christ. She also
accepts requests to instruct evangelists and missionaries to convey the
Gospel message with clarity by removing misconceptions. Moreover, she
is passionate to help equip laypeople to defend their faith in Christ.
Shiv was born in Canada to a Sikh family, but still chose to study world
religions in high school as part of her quest to find God. A good friend
in her class encouraged her to read the Bible. Shiv was interested in
Jesus and began attending a church youth group with school friends.
Christianity’s 'grace without conditions' drew her.
“The idea of
unconditional love was one I never grew up with. It was a very foreign
concept, but a persuasive one.” At 19, Shiv committed her life to
Christ. This commitment cost her her family; they kicked her out of her home.
Her Christian
friends were there for her, but did not have the same cultural or
religious background that she had. A friend suggested that maybe a preacher who also
had an Indian background, Ravi Zacharias, could help.
She reached out to the RZIM Canada officefor help with
her new faith and difficult family situation. Over the years RZIM
staff and Ravi were supported Shiv as she grew
in her faith.
Shiv did her B.Sc and B.Ed in physics, mathematics, and religion from the University of Toronto, where she met her husband, Andrew Zacharias (who happened to be Ravi's nephew). After they married (with her family’s full blessing), she completed training at the RZIM Centre for Christian Apologetics in Chennai, India and went on to study at the University of Oxford.
Over the years, Shiv has spoken at various churches, university settings, and other religious and secular institutions in Canada, the UK and India. As an apologist for The Jesus Network, she desires to persuasively share Jesus without compromise.