Thousands of Christians Pack West Ham on Global Day of Prayer

|PIC1|Thousands of Christians from across London and the surrounding counties braved the cold temperatures and heavy rains on Sunday to pray 'Your Kingdom come, Your will be done'.

Organisers estimate that at least 18,000 Christians took part in the Global Day of Prayer for London event at West Ham stadium, which united Christians from all denominations in praying for transformation across London and the thousands of churches across the city.

Pastor Jonathan Oloyede of Glory House, one of the chief visionaries behind the West Ham event, said: "I feel that a new foundation has been laid for the churches in London and that this is just the beginning of a new journey of unity and collaboration, that the Kingdom of God is actually beginning to emerge in the church."

Tim Hughes warmed up the stadium with praise classics including 'How great Thou art' and his own global smash 'Here I am to Worship', as children waved flags of the world around the stadium.

The heavy rains paused for a few hours while Christian leaders, including the Bishop of Barking and Chair of GDOP London, the Rt Rev David Hawkins, and Bishop Wayne Malcolm of Christian Life City, took to the stage to pray The Lord's Prayer.

|PIC3|At one point, prayers were said in different languages during A Prayer for the World and Elizabeth Batha of Christian Solidarity Worldwide led prayers for the millions of Christians worldwide who face persecution because of their faith, particularly in China, Burma and North Korea, where the word 'God' continues to be banned.

Stop the Traffik also highlighted the plight of the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children who are trafficked against their will each year with a short film piece.

Rev Nims Obunge of The Peace Alliance made a heartfelt prayer for reconciliation and unity among the churches. "What we have today is history in the making. God is doing something again and it's great He did it on Pentecost Sunday." People have been crying out for unity and a "new day" in the church, he said, "And I think today is that new day."

He continued: "When there is unity, no matter what the challenges are or the oppositions everything gets fixed.

"Whether it's guns, knives, family-breakdown, the solution lies in God and lies in the church coming together as one to work on those issues. Where there is unity there is power for change."

The theme song 'Your Kingdom Come' was led by Geraldine Latty and the GDOP choir, while Patti Boulaye, the Royal Holloway Choir, Graham Kendrick, Noel Robinson, 29th Chapter and Onehundredhours all stirred the crowds with their praise and worship as the event continued through the afternoon.

The next big prayer event in London will take place on 7 July 2007 - or 07/07/07 as it is being referred to - which will bring thousands of Christians together again to pray in all the town halls in the capital. The 07/07/07 event is a church-wide effort to rededicate the capital to God.

Looking to the future, the Bishop of Barking said that the West Ham event was only the beginning of something that would grow year by year towards the 2012 Olympics. He called on more churches to get involved.

"The more churches can come together with their different styles of worship and contributions, the more we will build something really powerful in translating prayer into transformative action around our communities, around London and around our nation," he said.

"Despite our differences, which the media love to talk about, what we have in common is vastly more important and today has been a day to celebrate and demonstrate the power of us coming together in prayer, worship, celebration and transformative action."

Pastor Oloyede added: "I hope that churches will find each other locally and that regional relations will strengthen. We want to see faith with works. We want churches to go out into their communities and begin to transform their communities with acts of kindness and social action."

He encouraged people to get involved with the work of movements like Stop the Traffik and city-wide initiatives like Soul in the City, as well as A Year for London - the year of non-stop prayer which ends 31 December.

Bishop Malcolm, meanwhile, encouraged the crowds to pray and contribute financially to the vision to fill Wembley with 90,000 Christians for GDOP 2008. "I would love to see Christians praying, rocking and worshipping until midnight next year!" he shared.