Ravi Zacharias, the evangelist and close friend and mentor of the late Christian evangelist Nabeel Qureshi, compared his friend to St Paul at his memorial at Houston First Baptist.

Nabeel, 34, a convert from Islam, died after battling stomach cancer. He worked closely throughout his ministry with his mentor Zacharias, who preached at the celebration led by Pastor Gregg Matte.

Many thousands watched the service, hundreds in the church itself and mutliple times that number online where it was streamed live.

Zacharias said Nabeel was among other Christians who died young, such as the theologian Blaise Pascal, Keith Green the singer and the minister Robert Murray M'Cheyne from Scotland. 

He said: 'He was a man of incredible, undying energy, and it was a privilege to cover the globe with Nabeel Qureshi.'

Nabeel's parents, Ahmadi Muslims of Pakistani heritage, were among those present as Zacharias said: 'His biggest heartache was the pain the family was going to feel at his commitment to Christ. His passion was tearing him apart over his love of his heavenly father and his commitment to his earthly father and mother and family.'

He added: 'He did not care about those who fabricated stories about him; he did not care about those who tried to knock him off. He was willing to be an ambassador for Christ right to the end... This abnormally born, abnormally torn, abnormally scorned man is now abnormally gone. Gone at such an early age in life. So what I say to you is this: he's not the only one who's died young.'

Zacharias also addressed Nabeel's wife Michelle and daughter Ayah. 'Michelle, you have walked a lonely road for the last year. You are a woman of very few words, but you're an amazing woman who has stayed strong. And your daughter will probably never have the privilege of truly remembering her dad except through videos and through the memory of his powerful messages all over.

'May she follow in his footsteps in the faith and understanding of the passion with which he lived for his Lord and loved her dearly. You know very well his greatest concern was for Ayah and wondering how she would fare without the arms of her dad. That picture on the back of the programme is a magnificent picture. You will be in our prayers, Michelle, and let Ayah know I will be praying for her, too.'

Even just a few of the thousands of comments below the live stream give an indication of the impact Nabeel had in his short life.

Alicia Mizel wrote: 'I feared watching this celebration of Nabeels life today would be too hard. So unbelievably sad. But instead it has helped me. Strengthened my own faith in Jesus my Savior even more.'

Emily Holmertz wrote: 'Watching from Kenya. Nabeel was one of my heroes. His books and sermons were so instrumental in my life and ministry. Praying for his family with deepest love and compassion.'

Ruben Ramos wrote: 'Not a Muslim, but Nabeel was instrumental in getting me interested in looking deeper at the scriptures after a life of apathy and unreasonable objection.' 

RZIM's Facebook page quotes Nabeel himself: 'What the resurrection means is... that if it comes to a point in your life where it seems that even death is inevitable and there is no way to escape it, well, death is not the end. There is more. There is hope no matter what.' 

In an earlier tribute to Nabeel, Zacharias wrote: 'Nabeel Qureshi was known the world over as a gifted communicator and passionate advocate for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I knew him that way, too. But my fondest memories don't come from his impressive speaking or widely read books. My fondest memories are of meals with him or the long theological discussions we'd have together. I'm sure David Wood, who knew Nabeel longer than I and whom God used to bring Nabeel to faith, can attest to the same. How delightful it has been to see David posting pictures and videos, many of them candid, of his adventures (sometimes misadventures) with Nabeel.'

He also wrote: 'As Nabeel battled with cancer, the inevitable "why?" questions would arise. We long for a sense of purpose in our suffering. It's strange, of course, that Nabeel and I spent so much time at public forums answering the question of suffering. To be clear, Nabeel's cancer never caused him (or me) even a moment of doubt in God's existence or in his goodness. But there are always "why?" questions. In the year that he fought against cancer, I was asked numerous times by people something like, "How is this happening? Why would God allow this to happen to such a bright voice for the gospel, and so young? I just don't understand.'

'I will not – because I simply cannot – venture a guess as to why. It's just not something I can know unless God reveals it to me. But here's what I do know: God did not cause Nabeel's cancer, but God can (and I believe already has) used it for the good not only of Nabeel but also for the wider world.' 

People who want to support his wife Michelle and daugher Ayah can help via a GoFundMe account that Nabeel set up before he died and that has already raised $794,000 towards the $1m target.  On the funding page, Nabeel wrote: 'I was diagnosed with cancer in August of 2016. This fund has been set up to cover costs related to the cancer, such as medical costs not covered by insurance. My insurance is currently on course to expire next year, as I had to stop working the month I was diagnosed. (I am not able to anticipate what my costs will be, which is the reason for the high goal of $1M.)

'Should the worst happen, I hope to leave the remainder of these funds to my bride Michelle and my little daughter Ayah. (My life insurance policy was purchased just before I was diagnosed, and there was a 2-year window of contestability; in other words, our life insurance coverage is in doubt, and I am not sure if Michelle and Ayah will be okay.) '