"Choose prayer, choose courage, choose beauty, choose adventure, choose family, choose a life of faith,” Erika Kirk told the audience. “And most importantly, choose Christ."



Erika Kirk honored her late husband’s legacy during a Sunday memorial service and pledged to continue his mission, urging Americans to confront hate with love — the very love Jesus demonstrated on the cross. At one point in her address, she said she had forgiven the assassin who took the life of her husband, Charlie Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10 while speaking on a college campus.

“My husband, Charlie, he wanted to save young men, just like the one who took his life,” she said, wiping back tears. “On the cross, our Savior said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’

“That man — that young man —I forgive him. I forgive him because it was what Christ did, and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love -- love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

Erika Kirk and President Trump were the final two speakers at the memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., where Charlie Kirk—the founder of Turning Point USA—was remembered as a man of faith who longed to improve America.

“Charlie’s message has not been silenced,” Trump said.

Erika Kirk, the new CEO of Turning Point USA, pledged that the organization will not only endure but expand in the years ahead.

“The world needs Turning Point USA,” she said. “It needs a group that will point young people away from the path of misery and sin. It needs something that will lead people away from hell in this world and in the next. It needs young people pointed in the direction of truth and beauty. And so I promise you today every part of our work will become greater.”

The gospel-centric service included musical worship by Brandon Lake, Chris Tomlin, Phil Wickham, Cody Carnes, and Kari Jobe Carnes. Multiple speakers presented the gospel. Kirk’s widow expressed gratitude that her husband’s death had inspired countless people to accept Christ or renew their faith.

“God's mercy and God's love have been revealed to me these past 10 days. After Charlie's assassination, we didn't see violence,” she said. “We didn't see rioting. We didn’t see revolution. Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in this country -- we saw revival. … This past week, we saw people open a Bible for the first time in a decade. We saw people pray for the first time since they were children. We saw people go to a church service for the first time in their entire lives.”

She encouraged new believers to pray, read their Bibles, and get involved in a local church.

“Break free from the temptations and shackles of this world,” she said.

Being a follower of Christ, she noted, “is not easy.”

“It's not supposed to be. Jesus said, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow Me.’ He said he would be persecuted. He said we would be persecuted. And Charlie knew that, and happily carried his cross all the way to the end. And I want all of you to know while Charlie died far too early, he was also ready to die. There was nothing -- nothing -- he was putting off. There was nothing that was too hard or too painful, or nothing that he just felt like he didn't want to do. He left this world without regrets.”

Charlie Kirk’s goal with Turning Point USA, she said, was to “revive the American family.”

“When he spoke to young people, he was always eager to tell them about God's vision for marriage, and how if they could just dare to live it out, it would enrich every part of their life in the same way that it enriched ours,” she said.

Erika Kirk delivered distinct challenges to both the men and the women in the audience.

“To all the men watching around the world, accept Charlie's challenge and embrace true manhood,” she said. “Be strong and courageous for your families. Love your wives and lead them. Love your children and protect them. Be the spiritual head of your home, but please be a leader worth following. Your wife is not your servant, your wife is not your employee, your wife is not your slave -- she is your helper. You are not rivals. You are one flesh, working together for the glory of God.”

She then addressed women.

“Women, I have a challenge for you too: Be virtuous. Our strength is found in God's design for our role. We are the guardians,” she said. “We are the encouragers. We are the preservers. Guard your heart. Everything you do flows from it. And if you're a mother, please recognize that is the single most important ministry you have.”

She and her husband, she said, “were a team, working together for the same mission.”

Charlie Kirk “knew things were not right with America, and especially with young people, and they needed a new direction,” she said.

“Charlie passionately wanted to reach and save the lost boys of the West, the young men who feel like they have no direction, no purpose, no faith and no reason to live -- the men wasting their lives on distractions, and the men consumed with resentment, anger and hate,” she said. “Charlie wanted to help them. He wanted them to have a home with Turning Point USA, and when he went onto campus, he was looking to show them a better path and a better life that was right there for the taking.”

Meanwhile, Erika Kirk said Turning Point USA will continue its events on college campuses, encouraging students to practice the liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment — and providing a place where students can talk through their differences.

“The First Amendment of our Constitution is the most human amendment. We are naturally talking beings, naturally believing beings, and the First Amendment protects our right to do both. No assassin will ever stop us from standing up to defend those rights -- because when you stop the conversation, when you stop the dialogue, this is what happens,” she said of her husband’s assassination.

“When we lose the ability and the willingness to communicate, we get violence.”

Erika Kirk concluded her address by spotlighting her husband’s passion for faith and family.

“Choose prayer, choose courage, choose beauty, choose adventure, choose family, choose a life of faith,” she told the audience. “And most importantly, choose Christ.”

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