Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
May 25: France
France
French Republic
Europe
See Prayer Information
Geography
Area: 543,965 sq kmThe largest country in Western Europe.
Population: 62,636,580 Annual Growth: 0.53%
Capital: Paris
Urbanites: 77.8%
HDI Rank: 8 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 101 (33% unreached) All peoplesUnreached Peoples Prayer Card
Official language: French. Regional languages in decline. French is the first language of 136 million people worldwide Languages: 62 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Christian| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 38,296,005 | 61.14 | -0.6 |
| Evangelicals | 603,192 | 1.0 | 2.4 |
Challenges for Prayer
Islam is now the second religion of France. Growth is largely through immigration and a higher birth rate, but there are an estimated 150,000 French converts to Islam, mostly via marriage. Pray for the following issues:a) There are deep divisions within French Islam, primarily between fundamentalists and secularists. Over 70% of Muslims in France are of Maghrebian origin, but many mosques are financed by hard-line groups from other countries.
b) Assimilation of Muslims into French society is a huge concern for a republic founded on secularism and integration. A large percentage of Muslims live in poor urban contexts, forming an increasingly dissatisfied underclass that is conflicted about its own identity. Rates of crime, unemployment and under-education are all higher in French Muslim communities.
c) Christian ministry to Muslims. Fear and ignorance prevent Christians from reaching out; there are only around 100 full-time Christian workers doing so. Despite this, reports suggest that up to 15,000 Muslims are converts to Christianity, one-third of those becoming Protestant.
There are around 10 evangelical Bible schools and seminaries, both denominational and interdenominational, with around 250 students. Notable among the latter are Institut Biblique de Nogent and Vaux Evangelical Seminary. There are also denominational seminaries for Baptists, Pentecostals/AoG and the Aix-en-Provence Seminary for Reformed Church students. The Geneva Bible Institute in Switzerland also attracts many French students. Pray for:
a) Full-time workers to be called to ministry in France. Most evangelical congregations cannot support a pastor, creating the need for bivocational ministry. Most of the few pioneer church planters are expats. The lack of support, both financial and cultural, for full-time Christian ministers yields a shortage of believers willing to undergo full-time training for ministry, which in turn puts pressure on training institutions.
b) A deep work of the Holy Spirit to equip those trained with the theological understanding and spiritual maturity to make an impact for eternity. There is a serious lack of basic Bible knowledge in France generally, although there is growing interest among evangelicals for short-term and modular training.
c) The blessing of the whole Francophone world through French and foreign students who graduate. A high proportion of students are from other lands, with great potential to impact all French-speaking peoples.
For an additional 12 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
