France

Surface:
543965 km2
Inhabitants:
62636580
Capital:
Paris

Mission work
ECMI works with national partners, such as Perspectives, Baptiste Association, and the Baptist Federation, with a focus on church planting, and on maturing existing churches so that they will contribute to making disciples of all peoples.

In 2010, a joint evangelical effort has ignited an exciting initiative to plant 1 church per 10,000 habitants (www.1pour10000.fr), thus tripling the number of existing churches. Creative and new ways of reaching people are encouraged, leading to many opportunities for a wide range of church-based incarnational and holistic ministries.

ECM longs for...
Since the French Revolution, France has been a secular country, with a strong aversion to organized religions. Even if the Roman Catholic church is faced with empty churches and a shortage of priests, spiritual needs and hunger remain.

Meanwhile, occultism and esoterism flourish. Witches, spiritualists, and all kinds of sects and cults connect easily with the French population.

An added complication is the migration influx, mostly felt through the growing Muslim community.

ECMI hopes that the new and existing churches can live out and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the answer to these challenges.

Religions

Christian
61%
Non-religious
26%
Muslim
11%

Christians

Catholic
58%
Protestantism
1.9%
Orthodox
1.1%

Facts

Economy
The sixth-largest economy in the world. A solid base in agriculture and industry as well as the world's foremost tourist destination, leading to a strong service industry. Socialized economic policies provide good public service (such as health care), infrastructure and a highly trained professional workforce, but they have created a system prone to bureaucracy and strikes. Some sectors were hit hard by the economic downturn of 2008-2009. Systemic resistance to reform, coupled with fear of impending decline, paralyzes decisive action to improve the economy. Yet, this same conservatism guarded against even greater financial damage in 2008-09. some of the immigrant/minority communities form a restive and, at times, violent economic underclass.

The statistics are meant to give an impression, not to stigmatise. Statistics taken from "Operation World, 7th edition, 2010", see also www.operationworld.org

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