Former Muslim Calls Christians to Major London Prayer Initiative

A former Muslim is spearheading what is set to be one of the largest Christian prayer gatherings in the UK ever when thousands of Christians from all over Britain will stream into the 35,000-seater West Ham Football Club Stadium to take part in the Global Day of Prayer on Sunday 27 May 2007.

|PIC1|Pastor Jonathan Oloyede, a pastor at leading Pentecostal church, Glory House, based in Plaistow, east London, who was converted to Christianity from Islam while training as a medical doctor, has garnered support from across the denominational spectrum for this historic prayer event and is calling Christians from all over Britain to take part.

Leading denominations and Christian organisations giving their support to the Global Day of Prayer include the Church of England, the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church, the Catholic Church in England and Wales, the Pentecostal Movement, the Evangelical Alliance, the African Caribbean Evangelical Alliance, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, Transform Newham, and Christian Today.

Christians from London's ethnic communities have also pledged to take part including Filipinos, Columbians, Brazilians, Peruvians, Iranians, Tamils, Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese, Singaporeans, Ugandans, Congolese, Zimbabweans, Jamaicans, Koreans, Guyanese and many more.

The Global Day of Prayer aims to send out a strong message to the wider community that Christianity in the UK is alive and well and vibrant. It will also serve as a demonstration of unity of purpose and vision among Britain's churches and provide an opportunity for churches to join together to pray for societal ills and to pray for revival across the country.

Pastor Jonathan Oloyede has been overwhelmed by the support the Global Day of Prayer has already generated in the Christian community across the UK. He commented, "Every Leader and Christian we have told about the year and day of prayer has been positive, some ecstatic!! We seemed to have hit an oil well of collaboration and unity. West Ham is going to be a taste of Heaven."

The Bishop of Barking, the Rt Rev David Hawkins, has pledged his support for this event and is also a member of the organising committee. He said, "Don't miss out on this foretaste of Heaven; 'there before me was a great multitude from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.' Let's stand in the stands together, be united at West Ham United, kneel on sacred turf and say the Lord's Prayer for our capital and world."

Last month Christians from across the UK attended the launch of the Global Day of Prayer at Emmanuel Evangelical Church in central London, where over 1000 people gathered and pledged their support for the event.

During the next few months the Global Day of Prayer will embark on a range of promotional activity aimed at encouraging Christians to be part of this major prayer initiative.