Ravi Zacharias’ cancer has worsened, according to an update he posted Friday, May 8, and his doctors say no further treatment options are available. He and his family are returning home to be together for “whatever time the Lord gives us.”
Charisma News previously reported Zacharias, a popular Christian apologist and speaker, underwent emergency spinal surgery Feb. 20. When his pain persisted after the surgery, doctors discovered he had a rare sarcoma cancer. Now, Zacharias’ doctors say the cancer has grown so rapidly that no further treatment remains.
“We have just learned that while the tumor in my dad’s sacrum has been responding to the chemotherapy, the area where the cancer metastasized has actually worsened,” says his daughter, Sarah Davis. “His oncologist informed us that this cancer is very rare in its aggression and that no options for further treatment remain. Medically speaking, they have done all they are able.
“Ravi, Margie, and Naomi are returning from Houston and will remain at home in Atlanta, where our family can be together for whatever time the Lord gives us.”
The day before Zacharias’ cancer update was released, he and his wife, Margie, celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary. The celebration was tender yet bittersweet as they shared a photo together from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Zacharias wrote: “In sickness and in health … Our 48th wedding anniversary looked different than the others, but three things remain the same: our love for each other, the gift of family and friends who shower us with kindness, and the abiding faithfulness of our great God.”
Through the pain of the cancer and the doctors’ latest update, Zacharias and his family expressed their gratitude at all the believers around the world who have been praying for them.
“Thank you so much for your faithful prayers for my dad and for my family in recent months as he has undergone back surgery and treatment for cancer,” Davis says. “Truly, words fail to convey the depths of our gratitude for your many expressions of love.”
Please keep Zacharias and his family in prayer as they face this difficult season.