Illinois Baptist
A tap of the gavel Caps an influential season Reporter’s Notebook P. 6
It’s AWSOM!
P. 5 NATE ADAMS
Home for Christmas The miracle my family celebrates every year P. 2
PAT PAJAK
Two-minute warning One last lesson from coach P. 13
SCOTT NICHOLS
Take a rest
Why there’s no better time P. 14
News journal of the Illinois Baptist State Association
DECEMBER 09, 2019 Vol. 113 No. 17
Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Peoria, Illinois Permit No. 325
Online all the time IllinoisBaptist.org
IB IN FOCUS: What the world needs this Christmas. Starts on P. 7
Old house, new home P. 11
The Persecuted church
Christians targeted Global trend is growing
India | Regaining consciousness after attackers left him for dead in his house church in eastern India, Pastor Basant Kumar Paul proclaimed he no longer fears persecution and is certain of his heavenly home. “My physical body might be weak, but my spirit is very strong, it will not break with persecution,” Morning Star News quoted Paul Nov. 22. “They tried to kill me twice, I was almost dead, but I still did not die. I will not die until the Lord calls me back home. This assurance drives away all my fears.” Paul is among an estimated 65 million Christians facing increased persecution in India, a nation of 1.4 billion. Persecution P. 3