In 2004 Richard Gamble had an idea he believed came from God. The idea was to build a wall made of a million bricks where every single brick would represent a story of answered prayer. Richard was a chaplain at the London 2012 Olympic Games. His dream was to build a monument to celebrate Christianity’s influence on Britain and to “make hope visible.” The monument will be known as “The Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer.” It will be nearly three times the size of the Angel of the North and taller than Christ the Redeemer in Brazil and will tower over the Warwickshire market town of Coleshill.

Each brick of the monument will be digitally linked to a story revealing how Jesus has answered a specific prayer for an individual. In 2018 Richard began collecting stories of answered prayers. The original cost of the project was £10m but has now risen to £45m. Work on the monument began in early November and has been made possible by one of the biggest donations in Christian history. Lord Edmiston, a conservative peer, has given £30m to the project which it is hoped will formally open to the public in 2028, complete with a “learning centre” for more than 250,000 visitors each year.

Lord Edmiston shares Richard’s vision to tell future generations about Jesus and to remember the way God has blessed Britain in the past. Lord Edmiston came to personal faith in Jesus when he was 17. He says, “My mother was a strict Catholic, and my father had no particular faith. I never really knew God, then somebody dropped a leaflet into our home inviting us to the local Pentecostal church. So, I went and noticed that the people seemed to like God, which was a different experience from what I’d had. One day I left the youth hall in Dagenham late at night and remember looking down the alleyway and, in my mind’s eye, I could see that Jesus was on the cross and that he’d died for me and I just accepted Christ and became a Christian.”

Lord Edmiston founded the very successful International Motor Group. His goal is to give away £300m in his lifetime of which his donation to the national monument is part. He says, “It is my prayer that when people pass this place, or visit it, something of the Spirit of God will touch their spirit and they may draw strength and encouragement from the witness to the numerous prayers that God has already answered.” Richard Gamble says, “We’re capturing stories of Christians who have impacted our nation’s history not only from the modern day but from William Wilberforce, from World War II, and from JRR Tolkien, that aren’t being taught in schools anymore. These stories have been etched out over time. This Christian monument will declare that Jesus is alive and answers prayers.”