LONDON (ANS) -- British Christians are now able to pray together wherever they may be, by subscribing to a new cell phone service.

Affording to the AFP News Service, a Christian charity, Prayer in Action, has teamed up with a cell phone company to offer the Prayer Mobile service, which it hopes will eventually reach 500,000 people across the country.

Subscribers will receive a text asking them to pray, simultaneously, on issues ranging from terrorism to homelessness and the credit crunch, said an official from the phone firm.

“Within the next two to three years, this service will be offered to about 500,000 Christians,” said Erik Fok, sales chief of Ecumen, a company providing a range of religious products for cell phones. Ecumen is a part of the telephone company Teimlo, Britain’s self described leading provider of cell services for the Christian market.

The AFP said Fok continued, “With a world in turmoil, it's amazing to think that we could soon have half a million people in the United Kingdom alone joining in focused prayer on an issue of national concern. This will be a force for positive change in our nation.”

The AFP reported Prayer in Action CEO Carl Brettle said, “In a world of uncertainty, it's great to know that the (service) will be able instantly to mobilise thousands of people to pray into the key issues that face society today.”

He added, “The Prayer Mobile text service pulls together one of the oldest traditions known to mankind, with one of the newest most prevalent technologies available. Prayer is only a text away.”

Britain’s Press Association reported Brettle also said, “With over 90 percent of the UK owning a mobile (cell) phone, gone are the days when we have to wait for a letter to arrive or an e-mail to be opened.”

The AFP reported that last year Teimlo offered downloads of the Bible for mobile phones.

The Prayer Mobile service will cost 25 pence 49 cents a week, for which subscribers will receive a regular weekly alert.

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "The Face of Homelessness." Additional details are available at http://www.HomelessBook.com He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net. Tel: (505) 400-7145. Note: A higher resolution JPEG picture of Jeremy Reynalds is available on request from Dan Wooding at danjuma1@aol.com.