Prophecy News Watch – November 9 , 2008 - The Bridge Calvary ...

and 80 percent have never even touched one. The shift is so dramatic that manydemographers now believe more people in Europe practice Islam than Christianity.No one knows exactly how many Muslims call Europe home since most Europeannations don't track ethnicity or religious affiliation in census data. Guesses put thenumber around 20 million.France accounts for the highest concentration of Muslims in the European Union -- 5 to6 million, or about 8 percent of the population. Many entered the country as immigrantsin guest-worker programs following World War II, but untold numbers have floodedFrance and other European nations illegally.Striving for AcceptanceWhile the French government has made strides to help Muslim immigrants integrate intoFrench society, things haven't always gone smoothly.In 2004, a law banning Muslim girls from wearing head scarves in French public schoolsignited an uproar among immigrants. A year later, riots broke out in Muslim-majorityareas of Paris after the deaths of two North African teenagers. The summer of 2007saw peaceful but public protests by West African immigrants in a dispute with theFrench government over papers that would allow them to remain in France legally.Such tension drives some immigrants away from their Muslim heritage while othersgravitate toward it.Osman is among the men worshipping outside the Paris mosque. Handsome andenergetic, the 20-something works as a technician for the city's water department. Bornin Paris, Osman's parents are Christians who came to France nearly 30 years ago fromTogo, West Africa. But after years of struggling to assimilate into French society,Osman finally found acceptance among other West African immigrants by converting toIslam.Yet as Christianity's presence in Europe wanes, there is hope.Evangelical churches have seen slow but steady growth. In France, evangelicalsnumbered just 60,000 in 1940 but have climbed to nearly 500,000 today. Now about3,000 evangelical churches worship in France -- more than a third planted in the past 20years. Immigrants are helping to swell the ranks of these churches, sometimescomposing as much as 50 percent of the congregation.Tony Lynn, a Southern Baptist missionary serving in Paris, said that most evangelicalchurches inside the city average 35 to 65 people on Sunday. Lynn and his wife Jamie --