France: Les Bleus

Por: Mari León

France has been World Cup winners on two occasions: in their home country in 1998 and in Russia 2018. Qatar 2022 is their 16th participation in this tournament. The French National Team is among the four most outstanding teams in Europe. Other footballing achievements have been reaching the Euro Cup championship on two occasions (1984, 2000), a championship in the Olympic Games (1984), and two championships in the Confederations Cup (2001, 2003).

The dream of many people is to visit interesting cities where important historical events have occurred, or that have a particular beauty. In addition to all that, a country that represents fashion, architecture, gastronomy, and art is definitely France. It contains more than 67.5 million inhabitants and has the second most powerful economy in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. International trade, tourism, and manufacturing support its economy; at the same time, it is the sixth-largest world exporter of agricultural products.

France is one of the countries that has historically been the cradle of the Christian faith, in which multiple Catholic and Protestant priests forged their doctrines, and the inhabitants embraced their teachings. However, there was also at different times great persecution of the Protestant church here, and today Christians make up a minimal percentage within the population. Although it can be said that 70% of the inhabitants of France are religious, only 3% fit the description of Christian, which in that country is mostly called Protestantism.

Some reports reveal that as of 2017, the Protestant church has had a new boom and, in fact, on average a new church opens every ten days. We pray that God extends his kingdom in France, so that the blood of the martyrs shed in those lands produces a fruit of salvation in each of his descendants. Let us cry out to God so that his glory may be manifested in each new Christian church that opens its doors, as well as for each missionary and evangelist in that place.