A recent report by the Spanish Government says the Evangelical church is on the upswing in Spain. According to the Religious Plurality report, released by the country’s Justice Ministry, as of 31 December 2016 there are 3,910 Evangelical churches in Spain, up from 3,769 in 2015. In other words, last year a new Evangelical church opened in that country every two and a half days. These numbers do not include unregistered house churches or Bible study/ prayer groups. Of a total Spanish population of 46 million, there are around 1.5 million Protestants, of which 500,000 are Evangelicals. However, groups working in the country have identified 587 towns with populations exceeding 5,000 without an Evangelical witness.
The Evangelical church is also on the upswing in France (population 65 million). At the end of 2016, the number of Evangelical churches in that country was 2,440. According to a report by the National Council of Evangelicals in France (CNEF), in 2016 a new Evangelical church opened in that country every 10 days. CNEF serves as an umbrella organisation for 70% of French Evangelicals. Overall the number of Evangelical churches increased by 35 and the report noted a slight “acceleration” in growth over the last two years. Aside from the increasing number of churches, CNEF added that many churches are also experiencing growth, citing the church Lille Metropole which recently increased its seating capacity from 800 to 2,000. Over 30 Evangelical churches in France have congregations of 1,000 or more.
The number of Evangelical Protestants has increased tenfold in the past 60 years (in 1950, there were 50,000 practicing Evangelicals). It’s no exaggeration to say that, compared with the activity just 10 years ago, France is becoming a hotbed of Evangelical activity. While this is, in no way, persuading millions of French people to accept Christ (34 percent of the country is atheist), we see in France today a real shift in the spiritual ‘tectonic plates.’ “One wonders what the secular philosopher J.P. Sartre would make of this renewal of Christian faith in the land of ‘laïcité’, says French researcher Sebastien Fath.
Source: Christian Post
Bible Study: Habakkuk 2:13-14
JANUARY PRAISE God for the steadfast work of godly men and women who have laboured with love and dedication to build up evangelical churches.
PRAY their labours may see increasing fruit.
