Conceived by prayer, opportunity, and partnership
Prayer
Prayer movements such as 30 Days of Prayer for the Muslim World sprang up at the end of the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Christians sought the Lord concerning the Muslims of North Africa and their response to the gospel. People prayed specifically that not only young men would respond, but also women, and children. At least one couple with Youth with a Mission, seeing the potential, prayed for a big work to reach the millions of Moroccans traveling through the Spanish ports of Algeciras and Ceuta along the Strait of Gibraltar.
Opportunity
Leaders with Operation Mobilization and the United Bible Societies also noticed the opportunity which the flow of North Africans traveling between Europe and North Africa created. A team with Operation Mobilization distributed tracts while the United Bible Societies distributed entire New Testaments.
In 1992, a truckers’ strike in France kept Moroccans from traveling. Many came en masse when the strike ended causing an 85 kilometer backup of vehicles waiting for the ferry. A leader with Operation Mobilization saw this opportunity: They could listen to the audio cassette of the JESUS Film as they waited and then take the cassettes with them into Morocco.
Partnership
Bombings during the Gulf War of the early 1990’s unexpectedly prompted Muslims to seek out New Testaments– New Testaments which were not available. This prompted Campus C. for Christ leaders in the region to seek to get millions of New Testaments into the hands of Muslims.
A partnership existed to reach out to the anticipated large number of North African visitors at the 1992 World’s Fair in Seville and the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Large numbers of materials including New Testaments were provided. The events ended with many materials left over.
Leaders of the organizations within this partnership met, saw the opportunities, and decided to start a partnership to hand out Scripture materials including gospel literature for children in Algeciras and other ferry ports of the western Mediterranean Sea.