Life-Changing Evangelization: a missionary story

AR: Wow! What a question. Simply put, Aaron Rapp is a 27 year old beloved child of God from Peoria, Illinois. Aaron is a self proclaimed “prudent opportunist”, and he loves Jesus and riding his bike (in that order). I have many hobbies, but a few include camping, thrift shopping, and spending time in the adoration chapel!

I work in Liturgical Ministry in the Diocese of Peoria, which is a huge blessing, because I know serving The Church is pleasing to God. I work with our Bishop, priests, and the lay faithful in Central Illinois. I love serving others!

 

 

AR: Initially, Biking for Babies caught my attention because I love being pro-life. I also find joy in bike rides. The summer prior, I found a used bike online, and started getting into cycling with my brother. When I saw the Biking for Babies booth at the SEEK Conference, I was inspired to walk over and talk with one of the missionaries working the booth. Once I had more information about the mission, I went home and prayed with it for about 1 month, before I felt the Holy Spirit calling me to apply.

Yes, there were lots of times when training, fundraising, or scheduling time for the National Ride got tough. But I kept telling myself, “You know what else is tough? Unplanned pregnancies.” If mothers and babies can do that, I can keep being a Biking for Babies missionary! Being reminded of my “why” is what got me through this year!

AR: The biggest quality or charism that has been enhanced since my formation, has been generosity. Not only were so many people generous in donating to my mission, but there were countless people along the National Ride that showed enormous amounts of generosity.

 

For example, families from parishes along our route let us stay in their homes, fed us tasty meals, and opened up their church for us so we could have Mass. And in turn, their generosity allowed us to raise money and prayers for crisis pregnancies. Praise God for generous people! Lord, help me to be more generous.

AR: Shoot! I can only pick one memory?? There were so many!! I will say that one of my favorite memories was on the National Ride. On our longest day of mileage, our support crew told us they had a surprise waiting for us after we were done for the day. Ahhh! I wanted to know what it was so bad! It was so hot that day, and my legs were aching, but I was motivated by the Biking for Babies mission, but also because of this grand “surprise”. Just as my legs were about to give out, we made it to our host family’s house! And guess what? They had a swimming pool, cubed watermelon, sandwich sliders, and ice cold sodas waiting for us. Score! Best surprise ever! The Lord provides!

One of my favorite parts of being a rider missionary was visiting a few Pregnancy Resource Centers (“PRCs”) along the route. We would listen to real life stories about mothers and babies and how their life has been impacted by PRCs. After long days of being in the bike saddle, I was quickly reminded that my sore body is nothing compared to facing a crisis pregnancy. It allowed me to unite my sacrifice to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

AR: One of the reasons I wanted to be a Biking for Babies missionary is because I felt like I had a hard time being an outspoken pro-life advocate. I am sure many young people feel the same way. Today’s culture is not welcoming to those speaking against abortion. My formation this year impacted my day-to-day life with those around me, because now I am more confident in my passion for the pro-life movement. I think a part of that is because I understand better how important that movement is.

After the National Ride, coworkers asked me, “Hey, why did you take off work for a week?”. Or an old high-school friend said, “I saw on social media that you rode your bike across the country. What was that about?” My formation has allowed me to unapologetically tell them about Biking for Babies, why abortion is evil, and how they can get involved in my mission! Being pro-life is a beautiful thing, and being able to tell others about it is life changing.

AR: You are right! I do have lots on my plate hahaha! The best advice I would give someone who is concerned about the time commitment is this: The Lord cannot be outdone in generosity! If you give God your time, not only will he bless the mothers and babies, but blessings will also return to you one hundred fold. Similar to Jesus feeding the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish: if you give God the little you have, he will work miracles with it.

Practically, I found that creating time to go on rides multiple times a week (with the advised mileage) was more difficult than forming my spiritual life. I already had a somewhat regular prayer schedule in place, so taking the Biking for Babies mission to prayer and joining the video calls was not much of a hassle. To help find time to ride, I found a group of friends from my parish who also enjoyed riding their bike! Riding as a group helped hold me accountable. I would also call my Biking for Babies teammates before or after rides to share my feeling about the ride, or to tell them how the ride went.