The visionary behind a massive prayer-themed monument that will be taller than the Statue of Liberty and longer than a football field says he wants to proclaim “the deeds of the Lord” to a world that often is skeptical of religion.
The visionary, Richard Gamble, plans to have an “Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer” constructed by 2026 in Birmingham, England, that is 169 feet tall and some 300 feet in length and contains 1 million bricks – each representing an individual’s answered prayer. It will be taller than the Statue of Liberty, which is 151 feet tall without its base.
Once completed, the new landmark will be visible nearly six miles away. It will be designed in the shape of an “infinity loop.”
The bricks will represent people all over the world. A section has been set aside for the United States.
“Nineteen years ago, I felt God gave me a vision to build a national landmark about Jesus,” Gamble told Christian Headlines. “… It’s been an incredible journey. We’ve seen the favor of God along the way, I don’t really know what I’m doing – it’s the first time I’ve ever built a national landmark. But God is really blessing us.
“The vision really is that we want to just proclaim the deeds of the Lord – we want to make hope visible.”
Visitors will be able to learn more about a specific prayer on the bricks via a smartphone app.
The new landmark, Gamble said, will be a focus of faith-centric tourism in the same way that the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio is.
“Tens of millions of people Google that every year,” he said of the Brazil landmark. “And when people Google ‘Eternal Wall,’ they will find this database of stories of answered prayer. And you’ll be able to type in whatever storm of life that you’re currently going through and find a story of somebody who has been in a similar position and see what happened when they turned to Jesus.”
He wants skeptics to ask, “Could a million people be wrong?” The project is in stage two of fundraising. It is still accepting stories of answered prayer.
“In Deuteronomy 4:9, it says, ‘Don’t forget the things that you’ve seen. Don’t let them fade from your heart, your memory, and make sure you pass them down to your children and your children’s children.’ And of course, this is going to be with us for more than 100 years. Long after we’ve less left the planet, we are still going to be proclaiming the deeds of the Lord.”