Main YWAM Page, or to YWAM CommunicationsMuslims working in Europe are handed evangelistic literature and tapes as they catch the ferry from Algeciras and other, smaller south European ports to make their yearly journey home to visit family and dependents in North Africa.
Organizers of the enterprising outreach have heard of the gospel material being distributed far and wide in the region, in places where foreign Christians would find it hard to gain access.
Youth With A Mission workers are among the short-term volunteers and staff from other missionary organizations who have joined forces to create Operation Transit, a multi-partner initiative which sees participants handing out booklets, tapes and videos to travelers as they walk or drive onto the ships.
Around one million people cross the Mediterranean each year, most between June and September when they take accumulated vacation time for the trip home. The majority come from France, with others from Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Germany.
Operation Transit began in Algeciras - which sees the largest volume of traffic - in 1993. The idea spread to other ports, and now includes teams in other Spanish ports, as well as at ferry terminals in France, Malta and Sicily. Last year saw almost half-a-million pieces of gospel material distributed.
Other groups taking part in the project include the Bible Society of Spain, Campus Crusade for Christ, Operation Mobilization, denominational missionary groups like the Southern Baptists and Assemblies of God, and local churches.
Volunteers - some 700 of whom are expected to take part this year - pass out Arabic Scripture portions, editions of the New Testament, and versions of the Jesus film. Each item includes special inserts detailing gospel satellite and radio broadcasts, and opportunities for correspondence with Christian
ministries in Europe. "It's hard to put figures to this, but many feel that the good receptivity to satellite broadcasts in North Africa, for instance, has been due to the publicity that has gone out through Operation Transit," said the overseer of the effort. "Quite simply, this is an open door from God."
Among the letters received from people who have become Christians after reading or listening to the evangelistic material was one from a man who found a New Testament on a beach, and a teenager who was given a copy by his uncle, who worked at a North African port. "Bus drivers have told us that they have shown the Jesus video on the bus to all their passengers. One, presumably not a Christian himself, said that some people had complained, but he figured that if it was about Mohammed or Jesus then it was good."
Another letter contained a request for more Bibles, from a man in a Muslim country in North Africa. He had taken three sets of material home with him to pass out to friends and neighbors, several of whom had become Christians. They, in turn, wanted Scriptures to pass on to their relatives.
"We have been glad to be part of Operation Transit," said YWAM's North Africa director, Garry T. "We see this is an excellent strategy for reaching people with whom we might otherwise not have contact, and have them take materials into the region. God is really using this effort."
Operation Transit: Apartado 188, 11200 Algeciras-Cadiz, Spain.
Email: 74604.1776@compuserve.com
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