a letter written 6/30/25 by Kevin Biese, Biking for Babies alumni, to 2025 missionaries
When working with UNC’s wrestling team, we had a sport psychologist who met with the team monthly. The first meeting, she asked a question, “how many of you visualize wrestling in the NCAA championship match?”
All hands went up.
“Great! Now how many of you picture the match before that?”
All hands went up again.
“Great!” She continued, “how many of you picture the challenging practices it will take to get there? How many of you visualize staying late after practice to address a weakness?”
Most hands went up.
“Awesome how many of you picture how you’ll respond if a buddy asks you to stay 15 more minutes at a party? Or how many of you visualize how you’ll respond after your first loss? Second loss? How many of you picture how you’ll wrestle if you lose a family member?”
I don’t remember seeing a single hand.
She nodded, “that has to change. Champions don’t become champions because they traveled a specific path to get there. Champions are champions because they have mentally prepared themselves to be ready for any obstacles and to meet each obstacle as an opportunity for greatness instead of a barrier to greatness.”
You could’ve heard a pin drop, which on a wrestling mat is very difficult.
Praying for a Championship Mentality
I share this before the National Ride, and find it so fitting that Sunday’s ready was from Paul: “I have run the race, I have kept the faith.”
As an older alumni in the organization, I humbly give every rider and support crew this unsolicited advice.
The best thing you can do is to pray for your championship mentality. Ask God to bless every obstacle, misstep, and hardship that will come your way on the National Ride.
Pray for the heart of the saints, who like every good athlete, did NOT pray for the route of greatness to be smooth and predictable, but prayed that they stay committed to the final pursuit.
Praying for a Sense of Urgency
In late June, we launched the third and final episode of a podcast mini-series hosted by Mike and Jimmy, our co-founders. In this episode, my wife, Biking for Babies’ ED Nikki, and I joined in to reflect on John Paul II’s exhortation from is World Youth Day address in Denver in 1993: “woe to you if you do not succeed in defending life” [full transcript of his homily here].
By God’s providence, we spent a lot of time reflecting on how Biking for Babies missionaries prepare for the ride and it starts with a sense of urgency.
Urgency is needed on mission, as urgency prepares one’s heart to reach the goal, regardless of what stands between the missionary and the mission.
I believe that is why JPII was so direct with his language to prepare our generation to face any burden for the sake of the unborn and their families.
We need missionaries, and truly, I thank God you all have answered that call!
I am praying for you all, and I will not pray for your comfort, but for your greatness on this mission!
What’s my takeaway?
May we all have a similar mindset within Biking for Babies’ mission to renew the culture of life.
Ask God to bless every obstacle, misstep, and hardship that will come your way as you work tirelessly to support expecting families, battle legislature, and speak truth and light into this world.
Join us in praying for the missionaries and, to paraphrase John Paul II, to pray “not for their comfort, but for their greatness” in this mission and their own discipleship journey.
