In this episode, Chrysandra Brunson and Rich Gamble embark on a deep dive into the life-changing vision of the Eternal Wall, a national landmark that celebrates the miracles in everyday lives. With the weight of constructing a project of this magnitude, Rich recounts the trials and the faith it took to overcome obstacles over the years, including securing land and finding financial support. Through it all, Rich’s story is a testament to acting upon the dreams God gives us, and how backing down is never an option when divine purpose is at the forefront.
Welcome, everyone, to The Calling’s radio show to all the dreamers. I’m your radio host, Chrysandra Brunson, founder and CEO of The Calling. And it is such an honor to be with all of you today. You know, at The Calling, we have realized that so many people are afraid to go after the dreams that God has put inside each one of our hearts because they are afraid to fail. And that is just plain wrong because if God has given us a dream and we’re not living it out, we are wasting it and we do not want to die with regret. That’s why at The Calling we love to inspire, empower, and equip people to after God’s calling on their lives to reap the best kind of eternal legacy to have immediate impact on themselves and their families. And we love to do this through so many different avenues from having custom tools and programs from workshops, seminars, speaking engagements, books, and especially through this incredible radio show to all the dreamers where we have world-renowned guests everywhere. Share how they’re going after God’s calling on their lives and how you can do the same. And you guys, we are in for such a treat. Get ready for the best accident possible. The one and only Rich Gamble. Rich, welcome to the show.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
Hey, thanks for having me. I don’t think I’ve ever been introduced as the one and only. I’ll just say I’m Rich Gamble. That’ll be good enough.
CHRYSANDRA :
Well, you’re the one and only Rich Gamble that I have ever met. And you truly are remarkable, Rich. And we were just talking a little bit prior to the show that we met in the States. But you live on the other side of the pond.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
That’s right. I live in the middle of the United Kingdom, about 90 miles north of London.
CHRYSANDRA :
How wonderful. And Rich, I believe that people, your name, it does, it rings a bell to so many hearts. Can you just share some of the roles that you are playing in leadership right now and ones that you’ve played in the past?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
Yeah, sure. I mean, right now I’m heading up a project to build a national landmark about Jesus in the center of the United Kingdom. And it is a giant infinity loop project. So it is about the size of a football field and height wise, if you took the Statue of Liberty off her plinth, then she’d just fit underneath it. And the idea is it’s made of a million bricks. Every brick represents a story of answered prayer and people can point their phones at each of the bricks. And their phones will light up using technology to tell them the story of how when they prayed, how Jesus answered. So that’s what I’m doing at the moment. In the past, you know, I’ve been involved planting churches. I’ve been involved leading other charities and also leading my own software business. So wide and varied. But I’ve been on this project called Eternal Wall now for 20 years.
CHRYSANDRA :
Wow. I didn’t realize that it was 20 years that you’ve been working on this.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
Yeah. God spoke to me in a vision in 2004. And I was I know this sounds a bit odd, but I was carrying the cross around my county just to get people to think about Jesus during Easter.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And it started to get loads of good press. And as I was walking around, I was praying and just saying, well, Lord, what do you want me to do next? And this vision just sort of like flashed through my head. Wow. I went home to my wife and she recognized the little twinkle in my eye. And I was like, well, I think we’re going to build a national landmark.
CHRYSANDRA :
Rich, this is such, I know, I think that I’m so excited for us to hear the details of this story because it’s so inspiring and you’re still in the midst of it and how we can all take part of it inside of it as well. When you were little, Rich, did you know that you would ever build a national landmark?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
No, definitely not. I was a little rascal. I didn’t become a Christian until I was 20 years old. But I had an encounter with God when I was 11. Wow.
CHRYSANDRA :
Wow.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And I learned that if you put your glass up against the wall, you could listen to the conversation next door. And the first time I ever tried it, I ever heard my mom saying that she might have cancer. And I wasn’t in a Christian household, but I put my hands together and knelt by my bed and just prayed and said, God, look after my mom. And I just felt God’s presence in that moment and God telling me it would be all right, which it was. But it took another nine years till somebody shared the gospel with me.
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh, my goodness. And I have goosebumps of just that childlike faith. And even just, you know, we are coming out of celebrating Mother’s Day and just how sacred it is. It’s really hard when you hear your parents are struggling. And I can’t imagine as a child to hear that. Yeah. So it was nine years later and no one else had presented the gospel to you?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
No. Wow. No. So I think that for me is quite a motivating force in my life that, you know, I think there’s loads of people there that are just waiting. They’re just waiting for somebody to tell them. But the person who told me, shared the gospel with me in 1990, you know, God had already prepared my heart. I was like, yeah, great. What do I do? Great. I didn’t need persuading. I was like, yeah, okay, let’s do it.
CHRYSANDRA :
Right, right.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And I think that’s, you know, if you don’t move in the circles of church, you know, how do we break in? And that’s probably one of the reasons that God has placed on my heart to do something big that is going to impact people. I believe hundreds of thousands of people every week, if not millions.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yes. Yes. I can’t wait to attend. And I think you’re hitting this crucial factor, though, Rich, that there’s so many people. You would just assume that everyone, especially in the United Kingdom or in these European countries or even in America, you know that, oh, of course they’ve heard the gospel. And Really, people have not heard it clearly and plainly. Rich, will you just share? I mean, just give people an opportunity if they haven’t heard the gospel. What is the good, clear, grounded gospel that they would need to hear that you heard that day?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
I just heard, I suppose this overriding message is this, is that Jesus is still alive. He’s still working. Don’t believe the lie that he’s dead. Yes. He’s still about his business. It’s just that people don’t talk about it anymore. Or if they do talk about it, they’re silenced. They’re put on mute. And so, you know, then the decision is, well, if he’s still alive, what are you going to do about it?
CHRYSANDRA :
Yes.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
You’ve got a choice. What are you going to do? Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
So that’s sort of basically what I share with people when I talk to them. And I will share with them stories of answer prayer. You know, the Psalm 145 talks about proclaiming the deeds of the Lord. Those deeds on from generation to generation. And that’s what I believe for me personally. That’s what God’s called me to do.
CHRYSANDRA :
I love it. And this is truly a God given calling, Rich, and one that we all get to be able. It’s so fun to be able to be part of it with, you know, it’s still to be released to the public. And so to be on the precursor of it is very special and sacred. In starting this journey of following this calling, Rich, what were some of the giants that started popping up? You said you’ve been doing this for 20 years. Is that what you said?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
Well, for the first 10 years, I had no idea what to do. I mean, you know, I’m talking about building a landmark. I don’t even know how to put up a shelf in my house. I am completely unequipped.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
So for 10 years, I just prayed. i was just for the first 10 years i talked to people about it and then i just prayed and then one day uh i’m sat at my desk and my wife and my wife could see i was stressed and she was like what are you doing and i’d got i think i’d got about 13 different business interests going on at the time and uh My wife was like, and I wasn’t earning any money. And my wife said, well, what do you think you should be doing now? And I said, I sort of feel I need to start building the wall.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And I said, but the thing is, it’s not going to make me any money. And she said, well, these 13 businesses are not making you any money either.
CHRYSANDRA :
So what’s the difference?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
You might as well go for the dream.
CHRYSANDRA :
Wow.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
So then really, I then… myself and her prayed about it because I realized there was going to be a cost. If we’re going to go for it, this is going to cost us. We agreed pretty quickly. Yeah, this is what God wants us to do. I spoke to my pastor. He wasn’t quite so sure, to be honest. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. You know, because, you know, often you find the dreamers are the ones in church. Everybody thinks it’s a little bit odd and it doesn’t really fit in the box. So it took him some convincing and that was pretty tough. But then I think, you know, your next step when you’ve got a dream is to act, is to do it.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
To make the first step. Yeah. The first step for me was, OK, well, I need to raise money to run a global competition to get this designed. So I did a crowd funder.
CHRYSANDRA :
You did.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And at that point, Christians weren’t really doing crowd funders. So I just I just did a crowd funder. And I was convinced I was going to raise so much money.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And the way they say on – we did the crowd funder so that, like, if I was a pound underneath the total, you get nothing.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
It was all – And wisdom says, business wisdom says, you know, go for half of the amount that you need, because that way you’ll still raise some of the money that you need. But I was like, you know, either God is in this dream or is not in this dream. So I’m going all in. Hmm. And I can tell you, it was the longest 40 days of my life. I could not, we were not raising the money. It was a nightmare. I was really angry with God. I’d been on national radio launching this. And I was like, I’m embarrassing you here, God. This is not working. And four days ago, we’d only raised half the money. Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
I’ve got four days and we’ve only raised half the money. And so I decide to pray through the night. And I went up to a hill and I prayed through the night. I didn’t know what to do. And I had an encounter with God. That’s the only way I can describe it. There was a moment in the middle of the night where the whole sky just lit up bright white. And I just felt God say, you know, I’m behind you. And You know, your job is to lead in peace. So I had two days with God to get a peace. And then all the money came in in one day.
CHRYSANDRA :
It all came in one day?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
Yeah.
CHRYSANDRA :
Rich!
RICHARD GAMBLE :
So that to me was a, you know, when you’re following a dream, you need to know that the favor of God is on it.
CHRYSANDRA :
wow and that for me was the moment where bang i know god’s in this i know he’s in this oh my gosh we have so many questions we have all have goosebumps rich we have to take a short break we thank everyone for tuning into all the dreamers radio show we have the one and only rich gamble in with us from the united kingdom stay tuned Hi guys, this is Chrysandra Brunson, host of To All The Dreamers. I am so happy to introduce personal training, nutritional guidance, and behavioral change coaching. Healthy, happy, and heavenly for your wellness, spirit, soul, and body. Contact Mimi Kroger at healthyhappyandheavenly.com.
ADVERTISER :
Continue to grow in the calling God has for you through ORU Online. You can earn your degree without changing your busy schedule. 100% online and 100% on your time. Learn more today. ORU.edu slash calling.
CHRYSANDRA :
We are back. Thank you for listening to all the Dreamers radio show. I’m your radio host, Chrysandra Brunson, founder and CEO of The Calling. And it is such an honor to have Rich Gamble on with us. And Rich, you were just telling us the most sacred moment where I think all of our hearts, we need this encouragement to know that when all seems lost, God, the favor of God rests on us. And you talked just brief. You talked us through this moment where you only had four days left to raise more than half of everything you needed. And it looked like a total loss. And then spending the Lord drew you away and spending a couple of days with them. And then it all came day came in in a day.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
Well, that, yeah. I mean, the money that came in was just enough for the, for the competition and, i mean at that point i had no idea how much money i’d need for the whole thing and but it was but it was a it was a if you like a flag in the sand god is in this wow and there’s a one of my favorite scriptures um is is in acts where gamaliel they’re talking about stoning stoning stephen i think it was and gamaliel says we need to be careful here because If this is an idea from man, it’s going to fail. But if it’s from God, you’re putting yourself against God if you’re opposing it. So let’s just, if it’s not God, it’ll fail. If it is God, you know, you can’t stop it.
CHRYSANDRA :
And what is the scripture reference when we’re talking about it? That is… That’s so good.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
That’s Acts 538. 538, okay.
CHRYSANDRA :
I feel like we all need to highlight that one. Yeah, absolutely. Because I don’t think that’s referenced enough. And I’m going to definitely write that out and stamp it on my heart. Remember it.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
What it means is if God has given you a dream, you’re unstoppable. Yeah. If God is, no matter how crazy it is, no matter how impossible it seems at times, no matter how much opposition you may get, if he’s giving you the dream, you’re unstoppable. Yeah. And if I can share a story to you, we needed some land to build this on. That was the next step.
CHRYSANDRA :
Right.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
I went to the States. I was invited to a church in the States. They didn’t know who I was or what I was doing. And we just went to this conference. And yeah. Somebody came up to me and said, hey, I want you to know that God’s already got some heavenly land for you. They didn’t even know we were praying for land. She was like, God wants you to know he’s got some heavenly land for you. And so I go back to my team of people praying and I say, hey, God’s told us he’s already got some land. And one of my team said, well, if he’s already told us he’s got some, I’m going to find out where it is. I’ll just ask where it is. Amen. She sends me a map a few days later and says this is the land. What she didn’t know was the person who owned that land had already emailed me and asked to meet with me.
CHRYSANDRA :
Oh my goodness.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
I then go and meet this guy who’s a really wealthy landowner. And I share the vision with him. And at the end of the meeting, he tells me, you know, God had spoken to me in 2004, right? So this time, I think we’re in, we must have been in 2015, 2016. I told him God had spoke to me about this vision in 2004. He then tells me God had spoken to him about the vision in 2003. And he’d set up a trust fund to fund the vision.
CHRYSANDRA :
No.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
So he goes away to pray about it. He comes back and he says, hey, we’ve decided to give you some land. But I never told him about the piece of land that was circled because I didn’t want to manipulate him. And so he gives me a piece of land, but it’s not the one that’s circled. But the person who circled the land is going, it’s the wrong piece of land. I’m like, rejoice, we got a piece of land. But after six months, he phones me up and says, I’m really sorry, I can’t give you that land. Then he gives me another piece of land, still not the one circled. Then another six months goes by, phones me up, I’m really sorry, I can’t give you that land. And then his dad said to him, stop messing this guy about, give him the best piece of land you can. So he paid an architect to look at all the land that they own in the United Kingdom, and they own a lot. And he came back with the piece that the woman had circled.
CHRYSANDRA :
I think all of our mouths are dropped. Rich, this is, I mean, the favor of God and the trust of God. What were you and your wife and your family, I think especially in that nucleus of faith, what was going on in your hearts and minds to continue to believe that God was faithful, even though you were seeing signs in the middle that didn’t seem like it was matching up?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
I think it’s really simple, really black and white. It’s just obedience. It’s like God has told me to do this. So until he tells me not to do it, I carry on doing it. Because people sort of say, because it’s such a mad vision, a lot of people say, oh, it’s really brave and courageous. I don’t believe that at all. I just think it’s obedient.
CHRYSANDRA :
Mm-hmm.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And I see so many people who follow a dream and then it gets tough and then they bail. I don’t bail.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
The tough bits are the best bits. The tough bits are where God really draws you close and you learn more of him. But I think what keeps me going, the way I describe it, is a lack of options.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
I’ve only got one option to obey God and that’s
CHRYSANDRA :
Yes, yes. But to have you, Rich, and your family as these beacons of lights of faith that you guys are marching through this, it’s such an honor to be able to hear your story personally and is the essence of what… the calling is all about and wants to see for the world because it really does ripple out just your story today rich is touching all of our hearts to continue to walk in childlike faith and we want to hear we want to hear so it’s been a magnet as well for connecting with a lot of the world leaders who are some of the people that god has brought along your path to meet
RICHARD GAMBLE :
Oh, wow. I mean, all over. I’ve been speaking to people from all over the world, really. Gosh, you know, I mean, we’ve got, I think, 17,000 people so far have shared their stories of answered prayer with us.
CHRYSANDRA :
Wow.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And, you know, I’ve met… billionaires, the oil baron billionaires, and all sorts of good Christian men and women who are using what God has given them to help us with the project, which is amazing. I think what I find inspiring out of all the people that I’ve met are the people that are willing to follow the dream, that i have but they know all that they know more of the details so i’m utterly naive i remember once driving along getting really excited and going i’m gonna do this god i’m gonna do this and i remember the holy spirit going you have no idea where to start don’t i and then i thought about it went no i really don’t know where to start But that day I met with somebody and I shared it all. And he literally said, I know how to get this started. And it’s like God has just, God has provided me on the journey, the right people at the right time. And some of those times, so I’ll give you one example. We needed a, I was in a meeting and I had somebody who wanted to donate for our running costs. And he said, hey, I want to look at all the people you’re employing. And he said, one of them, he said, you need to employ a construction project manager. And I was like, I don’t know. And he’s like, no, it’s really important. And I was like, okay. And then we started talking about how much that person was going to cost. And I couldn’t afford them. And then we started talking about volunteers. And as I would do different options, inside me, I just felt this rise of faith. And I just went, this person needs to be a Christian. And all his advisors laughed in the meeting. They went, you’ve got no chance of finding a Christian one of these.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yeah.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And they went, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack anyway. If you’re looking for a Christian one, it’s a yellow needle in a haystack. And so I just prayed in the meeting. 30 minutes later, we get an email from this guy who’s just heard an interview on the radio, just like this one. And he’s gone, I’ve just heard about your project. I wonder if I could be involved. I’m a construction project manager building a stadium one mile down the road from where you’re building. so so i i think if you’ve got a dream of god often we think it’s just about finance that we need the finance for the dream but way way way more important is praying that god will bring the right skills and expertise to help you they are way more important than the finance
CHRYSANDRA :
That is so good. And Richard, coming up towards the end of our show, we need to have you back sooner than later. Really fast. We need to know where this landmark is, when it’s going to be, when we can all come see it. And then we want to ask your advice towards the end. But let us know those first two.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
So we are building this in between two motorways by Birmingham, which is 90 miles north of London. We have started the building process and we will complete, we think, in autumn 2027. Wonderful. And we want everybody to come along, but we also need people to share. Yeah, you’ve got to come to the opening day.
CHRYSANDRA :
Yes.
RICHARD GAMBLE :
And we also want people to help us with their stories of answered prayers. So go to eternalwar.org.uk. Share with us what God has done, because that’s going to help us to proclaim the deeds of the Lord.
CHRYSANDRA :
Wonderful. And we’re going to have you repeat that at the end of this as well, Rich, that website and how to get a hold of you. We want to know, Rich, how what is your advice and your wisdom to people tuning in? And they’re afraid to go after what God’s called them to. They’re afraid to acknowledge that dream that he’s been voicing. What would you tell them to do?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
I would say be more afraid of what happens if you don’t. yes because man sorry if God has given you a dream he’s done it for purpose he’s done it because he’s picked you out of all the people in the world to do that thing because he knows you’re going to be the best at it so be afraid be afraid of not following the dream and just living a mediocre life whew
CHRYSANDRA :
Right there. That’ll change our lives forever. Thank you so much, Rich. And how can everybody get a hold of you and be a part of this movement to come alongside the eternal wall?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
Just go to eternalwall.org.uk. You’ll see all about the project. And I would really love if you can share us as many stories as you can of when you pray to Jesus and how he’s answered, because people from all over the world are going to be reading these stories. And somebody could read your story in 50 years time and read your story and you can lead them to the God who answers.
CHRYSANDRA :
Do it right now, you guys. And we will be sharing how you can get a hold of Rich personally on social media as we post this on our social media sites. Do you have a handle real quick, Rich, for people to follow you?
RICHARD GAMBLE :
Just at Eternal Wall.
CHRYSANDRA :
Okay, perfect. At Eternal Wall. And we will have that. Go follow him right now, you guys. It was such an honor. I know my life was changed. I know yours was too by listening to this today. Remember, God has a unique calling just for you for such a time as this. And as Paul said in Ephesians 4, 1, as a prisoner of the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Till next time, dreamer. Keep dreaming big.
