If we invite the Lord into our finances, it naturally shifts us from thinking about ourselves, to thinking about others. Giving Tuesday is a good day for all of us to take an honest look at our finances. Have I ever actually calculated what 10% of my income is?
If you have family members that you do not see often, you know the routine: a lot of hugs, a lot of laughs, a lot of discussions, no sleep, and leaving feeling like you could’ve spent a whole week with those people. It was no different for the Executive Team’s meeting this past month. As a former long-time missionary, this sentiment does not stay at the level of the Executive Team but penetrates throughout the entire organization and it is this Christian family model that makes it possible for each missionary to cross the finish line in St. Louis every year.
[On the ride,] I was able to see each of the other missionaries love these women and babies so much that they would make sacrifices, and offer up their time and sufferings to battle the culture of death and work to renew the culture of life. If you want to be able to experience the love of Christ in a deeper way and learn how to put your own needs and desires aside to love others more like Him, then being a Biking for Babies missionary is for you!
“I don’t remember how many water bottle drops we did or what all the scenery was like on the many miles between Tylertown, MS and St. Louis, MO, but when I think about Biking for Babies, I remember the community and the laughs we shared.” Connor invites you to reflect on the joys and trials in your everyday life.
“Looking around I was reminded that the Pro-Life movement will be victorious because nothing can destroy that joy. If the ride was impossible, if asking people for money made me so uncomfortable, and if the daily training and formation was sometimes too much, then why am I now so excited to ride again? Even after the ride, my “why” continues to grow, and after all of the struggles with training and fundraising, the only thing left is joy.”
“The National Ride was the single hardest thing I’ve done in my life. And as a first year missionary, I will say I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I just knew I had to do it.”
Check out the latest blog reflection from one of our founders, Jimmy! “In this battle, LOVE will triumphantly transform each and every one of us. Love, which requires vulnerability and sacrifice, will inevitably require us to take hits and get our hands dirty…The battle is and will continue to be challenging, but the battle is not without hope, because God is with us and gives us every reason for our hope. Together, let us fight from beginning to end and, by God’s grace, advance from death to life.”
Through the many circumstances of my years in those maternity homes, I was given the privilege of being continually drawn out of my comfort zone, experienced incomprehensible joy, was brought to deep sadness, felt sheer exhaustion, and found the deepest sense of God’s faithfulness and redemption.
“But we cannot be greedy with our newly founded understanding of what it means to be pro-life. We may not be greedy with the joys of the Gospel. We are called to be lights in the world, beacons of hope bringing the truth to the world.”
As you are approaching the door, a middle-aged woman comes out…looks at you…looks at the miniaturized bus known as a shopping cart…looks at you again and says, “Boy, you have your hands full!” To live the Christian and pro-life more deeply, we have to change our language and our reaction to families. So, the next time you see a mom or dad herding their kids through the store and trying to grab something on the top shelf: DON’T stare out of the corner of your eye, DON’T turn up the music in your headphones and ignore it, and DON’T walk away. Instead, go and encounter and become a part of that family for all of 30 seconds.
In this first period of formation, the young adults:
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
In this last period of formation, after the National Ride, missionaries
