Switzerland
Swiss Confederation
Europe
Geography
Area: 41,293 sq km
Mountainous land; 25.7% agriculturally unproductive. The Swiss Alps are one of the greatest tourist attractions in the world.
Population: 7,594,561
Annual Growth: 0.41%
Capital: Bern (admin)
Lausanne (judical)
Urbanites: 73.6%
HDI Rank: 9 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples: 40 (18% unreached)
Official language: German, French, Italian, Romansh Languages: 26
Largest Religion: Christian\t \t
\t
Christians \t5,753,639 \t
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Evangelicals \t336,275 \t\t
Answer to Prayer
The spreading public presence of the gospel is a result of creative outreach and ministry. Examples can be found in TV, radio, Internet, newspapers, seminars and conference events; praise God for the use of both new and traditional media for sharing the good news.
Challenge to Prayer
The great reformers, Calvin and Zwingli, expounded the truths of Scripture in this land, but few today have any interest or understanding of real Christianity. Wealth, comfort, indifference and a vague religiosity are the norm. The younger generation explores eastern religions and the occult as much as Christianity. Many baptized as children retain no real link with a church, and enrolled membership of Protestants and Catholics dropped from over 90% to 70% in the last 30 years. Pray that the Swiss may find the true way in Jesus Christ and that the nation might be stirred again by the Holy Spirit.
Switzerland, perhaps most famous in modern days for its neutrality, has a growing number of evangelical believers who are anything but neutral about the Gospel! While there is much need for prayer because secularism and false belief systems grow, there is also much to be encouraged about.