WHY FRANCE?
France's Global Influence
POPULATION
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Total Population : 67 million
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Population of Paris : 12 million (18% of total pop)
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Paris is the largest urban area in the European Union
FRENCH LANGUAGE
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Spoken by 480 million people worldwide in over 33 countries
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The fastest growing language segment in the world
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Estimated to be the most spoken language in the world by 2050 (surpassing Mandarin and Arabic)
FRENCH-SPEAKING IMMIGRATION AND GROWTH
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Approx. 37% of immigrants to France and the European Union are from countries where French is a spoken or trade language (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, etc.)
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Africa is seeing the largest population growth compared to any other continent, and many of those countries are French-speaking
The Hope in the Darkness
CHALLENGES TO THE GOSPEL
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France is an officially-secularized post-Christian nation
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Laïcité (secularism) – the French culture is both legally and socially constructed to keep religion out of the public sphere
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Muslims represent 8-10% of the population and this number is steadily rising due to immigration and birth rates; France has the largest Muslim population in Europe
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The occult and witchcraft are steadily rising and gaining influence, especially among youth and young adults
CHRISTIANITY IN FRANCE
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58% of the country is atheist, agnostic, or “deist” with 21% “convinced atheists”
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32% of the population say they are Catholic yet only 5% go to massonce a month
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69% of the population do not have a Bible
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22% (15 million people) of French people visit a medium or fortune teller and spend 400 billion euros annually on spiritism
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There are 100,000 mediums in France and about 2,500 pastors –40 mediums for every 1 pastor
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Nationwide there is 1 church for every 29,000 people–our department (Oise) has 1 church for every 40-45,000