Looking back on 2022, I am deeply humbled by the amazing support that has helped us make progress toward our goals. We also treasure the encouragement you give us regularly. This year has passed quickly, and it is hard to believe that we have a few days left on 2022’s calendar.

We have seen many changes to the culture this past year:

• The Dobbs U.S. Supreme Court decision is saving thousands of lives each month. Tragically, Leftists have made Illinois  an abortion mecca. Illinois Democrats have already removed all protections for the unborn by repealing the Parental Notice of Abortion law. Now, they want physician assistants, nurses, and midwives along with other healthcare personnel to be able to legally commit abortions in Illinois in order to accommodate the flood of women coming across state lines. And they want to elevate the so-called “right” to abortion with an amendment to the Illinois State Constitution.

• Emboldened drag queens are grooming children at events in community libraries, Christmas parties, and other venues, including the White House signing ceremony to redefine marriage. This pernicious ideology teaches impressionable young children that we can redefine who God created us to be and that the pursuit of happiness is achieved by discovering and expressing one’s true inner “self.” Instead of parents and pastors teaching children the importance of cultivating virtue and becoming who God has called them to be, the LGBTQIA+ crowd and their allies are encouraging them to engage in unrestrained self-expression and explore dangerous, unnatural sexual activities.

• It is hard to believe that so many mothers and fathers are willfully exposing their toddlers and young children to this depravity. Do we understand that our unchanging God has declared cross-dressing to be an abomination? (Deuteronomy 22:5)

• Sexual deviance has a prominent platform thanks to the Biden Administration: Pete Buttigieg is the first openly homosexual person confirmed to serve in a president’s Cabinet; lesbian Karine Jean-Pierre is the White House press secretary; Dr. Richard Levine (aka “Rachel” Levine) is the assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; cross-dressing fetishist Sam Briton was, until recently, the deputy assistant secretary of the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition; homosexual Joaquin Tamayo, a former high school teacher and principal, is chief of staff for Cindy Marten at the U.S. Department of Education. There are dozens more. To see a full list of the Biden administration’s LGBTQIA+ appointments, click here.

• The LGBT lobby is large, vocal, active, and very well funded. The Human Rights Campaign is located in Washington D.C. and lobbies Congress for their queer agenda fulltime. Equality Illinois does the same in Springfield. The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is dedicated solely on using government schools to corrupt K-12 students. And the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) focuses on using media, including Hollywood, to indoctrinate Americans.

• Leftists are bold and proud about their wicked agenda. You may remember an article written by Laurie Higgins in 2021 about how a gay men’s choir published a video touting that they were “coming for your children.”

• A wide open southern border has allowed an invasion of millions of illegal immigrants into the United States over the past two years. These immigrants are not being screened for health issues or criminal records. We do not know if they are committed to the freedoms guaranteed to us in the U.S. Constitution or if they embrace a socialist worldview. How many anti-God, anti-family, and anti-capitalist Marxists are flooding in? How many violent MS-13 gang members? How many radical Jihadists?

In response, IFI is dedicated to increasing our efforts in 2023 to educate, encourage, and mobilize Christians in the Land of Lincoln. The prophet Hosea warned that “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge … because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” (Hosea 4:6) While the prophet was speaking about Israel, the principle hasn’t changed. If God’s people are ignorant of His laws, precepts, and commandments–if we disregard what is good, pure, noble, and true–then we cannot expect His blessings.

We know with certainty that in our post-Christian society Bible literacy is at an all-time low in America. Therefore, the Christian worldview is feeble in our culture. Now more than ever, we all need to be about the business of making disciples and teaching them about all that God has commanded us to do. (Matthew 28:19-20)

As it relates to public policy issues, this means that our work to uphold the sanctity of human life is just beginning. Proverbs 24:11 exhorts us to “deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.” We MUST respond with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to rescue innocent children and their mothers.

This also means we must continue our efforts to rescue our children from government schools. Too many children in our families, in our churches, and in our communities are being discipled in ways that are contrary to what the Bible teaches. This must not continue. School choice must be embraced immediately. Homeschooling, private schools, micro-schools and co-ops are excellent alternatives.

Therefore…

We need you to be part of this year’s Matching Challenge Campaign to equip us for 2023.

It is only through your support that we are able to do this vital work.

Any donation given or mailed by December 31st will go toward
this dollar-for-dollar matching challenge and will be fully tax-deductible.

We know full well that the woke crowd doesn’t walk away from the battle. They are already planning lawsuits and executive orders, forming coalitions, and devising strategies to promote their ideology and agenda. They are preparing to redouble their efforts to promote their culture of depravity and death in the media, through pop culture, in our government schools, and in our legislatures and courts. And you can be sure that all of their efforts will be very well-funded.

We need both your prayer covering and financial support as we go into 2023!

If you haven’t done so already, please consider IFI in your year-end giving. Every donation–small, medium or large–brings us closer to our goal. Don’t miss this great opportunity!

Here are some ways you can give your tax-deductible donation:

• Contribute online HERE.
• Give a gift of stock or appreciated assets. Contact Colleen Garcia, IFI’s Financial Administrator, at (708) 781-9328 or email her HERE.
• Mail your year-end gift. Send to: Illinois Family Institute, P.O. Box 876, Tinley Park, IL, 60477
• We also accept credit card donations over the phone at (708) 781-9328 during normal business hours.

Thank you for your consideration. Your financial support and prayers are what makes our mission to protect and preserve life, marriage, family, and liberty in Illinois possible.  THANK YOU!

Sincerely,

David E. Smith
Executive Director

P.S. Donations must be postmarked by December 31 in order to qualify as 2022 gifts.