Former Leicester City Football Club chaplain Richard Gamble has a dream to build a wall commemorating a million answered prayers in the UK. He speaks with DAVID ADAMS about the monumental project…
Former Leicester City Football Club chaplain Richard Gamble has a dream to build a wall commemorating a million answered prayers in the UK. He talks about the monumental project…
IN SHORT – RICHARD GAMBLE
A Bible verse that influenced me…Ephesians 3:20 – “[It] just blows me away when I think about The Wall.”
A book that I’ve been inspired by…Simplify by Bill Hybels. “[It] helped me when life was too busy.”
A person whom I admire…UK Winter Olympian Eddie ‘the Eagle’ – “He believed him in a dream that everyone told him he couldn’t achieve.”
How did the vision to build a prayer wall come about?
“About 13 years ago, I felt led by God to carry a cross around Leicestershire during Easter to get people to think about Jesus during Easter. In all, about 250,000 people saw it, and I heard about many conversations in people’s workplaces about Jesus because of this piece of performance art. I prayed to ask God what next and He gave me the idea of The Wall.”
What do you see as its purpose?
“Very simply, it’s to get people thinking about prayer. And to help them realise that Jesus has answered a million prayers so He is able to answer one for you, too. But importantly it’s something not for just one moment in time, but something that will last for generations.”
Have you come across anything else like it in the world?
“In short, no. But there does seem to be a move in this time of large projects that seek to glorify God. There is the ark in Kentucky, and Bible Museum in Washington. Big plans with big impact.”
Why a million bricks and where do you intend building it?
“I think the scale and size are important. It needs to create a ‘wow’ factor – a million bricks represents 62 semi-detached houses so it will be big. We will put it by the side of a motorway and the site search is well under way to find the right piece of land.”
How are you collecting the prayers? And what are the parameters for what constitutes an ‘answered prayer’?
“People can send us their answered prayers to www.thewall.org.uk and we are asking them if they are able to donate what they can to help us build the wall. We will simply ask what did you pray to Jesus for? How did He answer?”
You recently launched an international competition for the wall’s design which is being run by the Royal Institute of British Architects. How did that association come about?
“Challenge number one for us was do we get the land first or the design? Then an architectural friend suggested that we ask RIBA to run a concept competition to get us started. So that is what we have done it is open to architects, artists, sculptors and anyone with a design brain. Entries are required by 7th November – www.thewall.org.uk/riba-competition.”
Any hints as yet as to what the wall will look like?
“Well, we have set a broad framework in the competition brief (which you can access at www.thewall.org.uk/riba-competition), but I am keeping a broad mind – it will be up to the judges to decide.”
What’s the estimated cost of building the wall and how are you funding it? Some might say the money could be put to better use helping the poor and needy – how do you answer that?
“It’s going to cost £6.25 million and we will raise it through donations from when people register answered prayers and we have a number of investors already engaged. In terms of the spend, it sounds a lot but not when you put it in context. This will last hundreds of years. Within a period of 100 years, the church will spend £1.7 billion on carpets so in comparison its not that much and will have much more benefit to the community. Also for every brick built in The Wall we are also going to give a brick towards social housing projects.”
How and when did you become a Christian?
“I had an experience of God on my own in my bedroom at the age of 11. I wasn’t brought up in a Christian home so I waited nine years until I could find someone to explain what had happened, I only needed to hear the gospel once and gave my life to Him immediately.”
How important has prayer been to you personally in your walk with Christ?
“It’s vital but I’m learning more and more about it with this project, particularly praying in secret – so I cant tell you anymore about that (lol!).”
How did your previous roles as chaplain at Leicester City Football Club and CEO of Sports Chaplaincy UK help prepare you for this task?
“They gave me an insight to how professional organisations view Christianity, and also gave me some training in dealing with the press.”
What are you praying for most at the moment with regard the The Wall project?
“We have chunks of finance coming in the future, but right now we need finance for the next seven months, so we are calling on Him to help.”
