Overcoming Fear

By WTI Editorial Team

Lesa Stringer: Disciple, Historymaker 

“The only way to get over fear, you face it to overcome it. So, I carry that attitude in my daily walk.”
--Lesa Stringer

Devoted disciple. Canadian. Heptathlete. Women’s Ministry Leader, ICOC Women’s Service Team. Eight years on the Canadian National Bobsledding Team as a wife and a mother. Gold medalist. The first Black North American bobsled pilot to go to the World Cup, the first to win the Canadian Championship.

This podcast interview with Lesa Stringer is inspiring for so many reasons. There are delightful reminders of how God works in unexpected ways; there are spiritual takeaways helpful for anyone trying to live well in this difficult world as a Christian woman with talent and ambition.

When Lesa was approached by the Canadian Olympic Bobsledding Team, she turned them down twice. The thought of spending hours in the freezing cold for her was a dealbreaker from the very start. When she finally agreed to test, she hadn’t been doing any serious physical training for a period of seven years. When the results came in from her tryouts, to her astonishment she had come in first or second place in every test! She began to catch a vision for a wonderful adventure that God might have in store for her as a member of the Canadian Olympic Team.

Her first time down the track in a bobsled happened in a completely unorthodox way. Usually, a novice in training is gently introduced to the punishing speed and G-forces of the icy track. Bobsledders endure forces up to five Gs, which means they'll feel force equal to five times their weight. "It's like the G forces are trying to suck you through the bottom of the bobsled," one Olympic team member, Evan Weinstock said. "It forces our stomachs through our legs.”

In Lesa’s case, her first time down was in a “driving school,” where experienced bobsledders were learning to pilot the sled. It was absolutely terrifying!

Because she believes that the only way to overcome fear is to face it, Lesa told herself after that first thoroughly frightening experience down the track that she would give herself ten more runs in a bobsled before quitting.

Two years later she became the Canadian Olympic champion, a Gold medalist, the first Black bobsled pilot to win the Canadian Championships, and the first Black North American pilot to compete in the World Cup. (This story is from about 10:30:00 – 12:00:00 in the podcast.)

She has carried this life lesson into her Christian walk – if she knows something is good and right to do, even if she is completely petrified as she contemplates leaning into the object of her fear, she has “most of the time” succeeded in being victorious over her fears. 

A gut-wrenching portion of the podcast is her story of the racism she faced as a member of the Canadian team from one influential coach. You can hear about this from 16:30:00 – 25:00:00 in the podcast. The goodness of God became evident, working through good people in other places and nations who came to Lesa’s defence and provided her a way out and a way forward. She will say that at the most devastatingly discouraging period in her life, “the world came together to help.”  

For any of us who are moved by the spiritual battle that teenagers routinely face, Lesa’s story of her own conversion at 19 as a teen Olympic athlete, abstaining from a lot of the behaviors her teammates were engaging in, is hugely affirming. You can hear her share about those lonely years and the victory of her conversion from 18:00:00 – 21:00:00 in the podcast.