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The French Reconnection

According to Daniel Leichti, a respected tracker of evangelical growth in France, and evangelical congregation has been born here every 11 days in the last 35 years. The number of evangelicals has increased from 50,000 to at least 350,000 since 1950.

The report goes on to say today there are 200,000 French Pentecostals. There were none before 1930.

Christianity Today, The French Reconnection, March 2005, p 30.

The Jesus Film Impact

"According to the JESUS Film Project website, over five billion people have viewed this evangelistic movie in one of its forms. It is being used by more than 1,500 Christian agencies and is translated into 839 languages, with 244 more in process. People from unreached parts of the world who can't see it in public can view it in one of these languages on the Internet.

"Mission enthusiasts have considered the JESUS Film to be one of the greatest evangelistic efforts of all time. But what matters is how many people follow Christ after they have seen it. More than 176,000,000 have made a confession of faith after seeing the JESUS Film." Source: Global Prayer Digest, Vol. 23, No.11, November 2004, page 8

Top 10 Countries that Persecute Christians

  1. North Korea
  2. Saudi Arabia
  3. Laos
  4. Vietnam
  5. Iran
  6. Turkmenistan
  7. Maldives
  8. Bhutan
  9. Myanmar
  10. China

"An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation." Source: World Pulse, Vol. 39, No.7, April 16, 2004, page 4

Cuban Churches Grow

"Recently, Denton Lotz, general secretary for the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), eported that Baptist Christians in Cuba have increased from 80,000 in 1995 to more than 200,000." Source: World Pulse, Vol. 39, No. 7, April 16, 2004, page 1

China

"Despite government restrictions on religion, the numbers of who practice religion in the country are rising. Among China's one billion people are 100 million Buddhists, 20 million Muslims and more than 10 million Christians." Source: World Pulse, Vol. 39, No. 12, July 23, 2004, page 2

Europe

"France and Belgium have been staunchly against religious references in the new European Union constitution. In late May, France said it could not accept references to God and Christianity in such a document. Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, however, want Christianity acknowledged in the charter." Ibid: p. 2

Hungary

"The country's first-ever evangelical radio station began broadcasting three hours a week in November, three years after it was founded. "Yes Radio" also started broadcasting online at www.yesradio.hu" Source: World Pulse, Vol. 39, No. 1, January 9, 2004, page 2

Japan

"In Japan One church exists for every 14, 539 people. 1.5 people out of every 1,000 attend Protestant churches. Average attendance per Protestant church is 27 people. Source: World Pulse, Vol.39, No. 1, January 9, 2004, page 3

Over the past ten years, the numbers of South Korean missionaries to Japan have risen. See World Pulse, Vol. 39. No. 4, February 27, 2004, p.2

FOR MORE WORLD AND MISSION NEWS AND ANALYSIS GO TO: www.worldpulseonline.com

Growth of Christianity

The most significant growth in Christianity during the 20th century has been by far among Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and Charismatics. Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk report in Operation World, 21st Century Edition:

"Evangelicals who emerged as a dynamic force after the revivals of the 18th and 19th Centuries and were used of God in the great expansion of Christianity in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The startling growth of non-Western (AfAsLA) Evangelicals in the latter half of the 20th Century is evident.

Pentecostals sprang out of early 20th Century revivals. Their growth in the 20th Century has been spectacular---from virtually no Pentecostals in 1900 to over 115 million in 2000. Pentecostals are by definition Evangelical and also usually First Wave Charismatic.

Charismatics began to multiply within nearly all megablocs and denominations from the 1950's and 1960's (Second Wave Charismatics). Other Charismatics formed their own networks and structures (Third Wave). It is this latter that comprises a large segment of the Independent megabloc. All Charismatics (including historic Pentecostal denominations, those in non-charismatic denominations and those in post-denominational networks) have grown from less that a million in 1900 to maybe 345 million in 2000."

Bible Societies and Bible Translation

"Of the world's 7,148 languages, at least 2000 still have a need for New Testament translation work and over 2,000 need to be surveyed to ascertain their need. The provision of God's Word in the mother tongue of each people of the world is fundamental to world evangelization. Many agencies are committed to various aspects of making the Scriptures available to all. Most of these are members of the Forum of Bible Agencies, formed in 1992 to line together the efforts of Bible translation and distribution agencies. This Forum has become increasingly important and strategic in the last 8 years. Special mention must be made of the United Bible Societies (UBS), who are strongly committed to the Forum."

Source: Operation World, p.698