Author: Katie Wanek

May 30, 2022

What I’ve Learned from Biking for Babies: A Reflection on Being Pro-Life

What I’ve Learned from Biking for Babies: A Reflection on Being Pro-Life

by Jack Mannebach, 2022 missionary (support crew on Mississippi Route) What I’ve Learned After 3 Years with Biking for Babies: In

January 17, 2022

Your “Yes” Matters

Your “Yes” Matters

About a month ago, the FDA announced that it would be relaxing restrictions on mifepristone, more commonly known as the

December 13, 2021

Life is a Highway and Why You Should Ride It

Life is a Highway and Why You Should Ride It

by Barbara Sandlin, rider and support crew missionary, nurse in WI 600 miles? I am still in shock at riding

October 25, 2021

Building Relationships

Building Relationships

A few weeks ago, I received an email from a staff member at St. Gianna Clinic, the pregnancy resource center

October 4, 2021

Be Prepared to Give When You Least Expect It

Be Prepared to Give When You Least Expect It

The cliché is a picture says a thousand words. This seemingly innocent picture, however, has much more to say, and

September 27, 2021

Biking for Babies Brings out the Best

Biking for Babies Brings out the Best

By Brad Grobbel, 2021 missionary (rider on Northern Route) People that know me well know that as soon as I

September 21, 2021

The Power of an Invitation

The Power of an Invitation

by Katie Wanek, 2021 missionary (support crew on Eastern Route) As my third year as a Biking for Babies missionary

September 13, 2021

Is Community Worth It?

Is Community Worth It?

Can you even imagine biking with the same people for miles on end for several days straight as you traverse

September 6, 2021

Joy + Suffering

Joy + Suffering

by Aubrie Faust , 2021 missionary (rider on Southern Route) and Director of PRC Relations Three years ago my grandma passed

August 30, 2021

Rejoice and Proclaim

Rejoice and Proclaim

By receiving others as Elizabeth does, we can be drawn closer toward God. Just as Mary draws Elizabeth’s hand toward Jesus in the image, so too will she draw us toward Him when we recognize the dignity of others and receive them with love.

In this first period of formation, the young adults:

Come into the program as Christian disciples in search of the next, deeper step in their living out their relationship with Christ. These missionaries are already in pursuit of Jesus Christ, are passionate for changing the culture, are willing to grow by communal and personal pursuits, and are invested in docility to the Holy Spirit.

Go through formation within a small group of 8-12 who make up their “team:” the groups of missionaries who will be together for the in-person National Ride. This builds a micro-community rooted in trust, faith, pursuit of virtue, and accountability. It is in this community that these young adults are encouraged, challenged and prompted to transform their own lives, turning completely toward Christ and living out the Gospel of Life.

Learn about the Gospel of life through educational and spiritual curriculum primarily communicated through the “Life Guide.” This week-by-week resource focuses on the spiritual development of the missionaries while also helping them go deeper in areas they’re interested, track milestones throughout the program, and have prayerful reflection during their year. Missionaries also engage in spiritual formation, study pro-life apologetics, and grow in Christian community.

Develop 1-to-1 relationships with life-affirming pregnancy centers and maternity homes who share stories from their centers—stories of lives saved, stories of broken hearts healed, stories of untapped opportunity. These centers pour into the missionaries a real world understanding of the culture of death and life from the front lines of the movement. Though this relationship, missionaries become authentic advocates for the work of pregnancy centers in their own communities.

Deepen their understanding of the needs of mothers and families in unplanned pregnancies, connecting the highs and lows these families experience with the highs and lows also found in the spiritual life. For example, understanding that parents who want to choose life for an unexpected child will do so most regularly when they have a network of support can connect to times when missionaries struggle to stay on the bike without their network of teammates and faith in Christ. Missionaries contemplate these spiritual connections as they go throughout formation, offering their efforts in solidarity with pregnant women and families in crisis.

With eyes now opened to the need and Christ-centered solutions of problems, these young adults are sent forth as “missionaries” into the rest of the formation program and into the rest of their lives, committing to live with the truth of the Gospel of life as the lens through which they see every relationship, every decision, and the world at large.

In this second period of formation, the missionaries

Join prayer with physical sacrifice over thousands of miles and hours of training, pursuing a life of virtue, discipline, and greatness rooted in Christ, starting with faithfulness to a training program.

- Riders primarily train physically to be prepared to ride about 100 miles/day for six days in the summer heat. Their training is intentionally coupled with prayer, so that all that they do is fruitful, not just for them but for others. Unification with Christ’s Cross is at the heart of the riders’ missionary role, as, on the Cross, Jesus showed us that life is given meaning when it is sacrificed for others (John 15:13).

- Support crew train by ascetism at the forefront so they are prepared physically, mentally, and spiritually to serve their team selflessly throughout the National Ride week. Support crew take on a “ministry of presence” as they walk with their teams in humble service to their needs. Support crew stand as witnesses to God’s design for our communities: that we belong to one another and that we are to act as our brother’s keepers (John Paul II, 1995, Evangelium Vitae, #7)

- Both roles are imperative to our mission, and people with differing qualities and gifts are often drawn to each role for different reasons. The lessons learned in both rider and support crew training are applicable to all areas of life, first with preparedness for the National Ride, then with their communities, vocations, and relationship with Christ and His people.

Fundraise for the mission by writing letters, making social media posts, giving parish/church talks, etc. Since missionaries understand the truth of the Gospel of life, are invested in and receiving opportunities for transformation from their formation, and see the need to support families served through pregnancy resource centers, they go out to find support to accomplish our two-part mission to both form young adult missionaries and to raise awareness and funds for pregnancy resource centers and the communities they serve.

Share the Gospel of life and grow in virtue on a 600-mile biking mission trip called the National Ride, experiencing further opportunities to practice humility, love, courage, faithfulness, generosity, joy, and discipline.

- Riders, in their bright yellow jerseys, catch the attention of passersby to share that doing something hard, something sacrificial, for others gives meaning and purpose to our lives and works toward our directive to make disciples of all nations while protecting the least of us (Mt 28:19, 25:31).

- Support crew serve their riding teammates by driving support vans full of equipment and nutrition, navigating, and ensuring safe travelling, while remaining the connector for Biking for Babies’ mission to each of the communities we stay with throughout the week.

- As they go, they are stopping in cities across the nation to share and witness to the beauty and joy of the Gospel of life, their personal testimonies, and the joy of pregnancy centers and families served therein.

Having lived through opportunities to connect physical and redemptive suffering, missionaries are equipped, habitually and virtuously, to invite Christ into suffering to sanctify it for the rest of their lives. Their “staying on the bike” supports families in “sticking with their unplanned pregnancy.” This is our effort to renew the culture of life through redemptive suffering and intercessory prayer; transforming ourselves first, and then the world.