The first coordinated 40 Days for Life campaign took place in 2007, begun by four people in Bryan/College Station, Texas, after Planned Parenthood opened a facility in town.

Those four members of the Brazos Valley Coalition for Life realized they needed to ask God how He would have them end abortion in their community. In 2004, they gathered around an old wooden table for an hour of prayer. During that hour of prayer, they found themselves drawn to the timeframe of 40 days, which God consistently uses throughout salvation history to transform His people.

The results of that first campaign brought, in less than six weeks, more than 1,000 new volunteers who staffed the vigil and a grassroots, door-to-door effort that reached more than 25,000 households. The campaign made local, state, and national news. And the local abortion rate dropped by 28 percent.

In the following year, communities across the United States launched their own campaigns: Houston, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Green Bay, Wis.; Kitsap County, Wash.; Charlotte, N.C.

In 2007, the original 40 Days for Life leaders launched the first ever nationally coordinated 40 Days for Life campaign, spanning 89 cities in 33 states. Before long, campaigns had been hosted in all 50 states.

Since then, it has been held in over 1,000 cities in 63 countries, including Toronto, London, Sydney, Mexico City, Cape Town, Bogota, Moscow, Hong Kong, and even not-traditionally-Christian India and Taiwan — all participating “in one shared language of prayer.”