“Through practical service and active compassion, we open the door to share the bold and true message of Christ.” I learned this fact in ninth grade, but for Daniel Lemke, it seems to be the innate foundation of his character. Only being in his early twenties, and not even liking cycling, he hopped on his bicycle for fifteen months and travelled the perimeter of The United States. His goal being to raise awareness about domestic human sex trafficking. His expedition through an infinite amount of cultures, homes, and battles, was not to preach, condemn, or change the world necessarily. Instead, he stayed rooted in the concept of just meeting people where they were at.
Daniel was going to school for Biblical Theology in Chicago and working as a personal trainer, when he saw the painful issue that is domestic human sex trafficking. One of his clients was a police officer that was struggling with a trafficking case that involved a woman selling kids off for sex in the back of her nail salon. It took two and a half years to convict the woman, and she was only in jail for four months. Like anybody, Lemke was absolutely enraged, but he took it one step further by seriously asking “what can I do?” It was then when Daniel dropped out of school and pursued and created a non-profit called Break the Cycle. The first task presented was to bike through traffic and enlighten others about this epidemic.
Lemke’s focus was on communities of men that weren’t fully woke to the issue that is domestic human sex trafficking. In order to reach out to these communities best, he reached out to men of authority in hopes that he could open their eyes to the issues, so they could later open eyes of their own mentees. When speaking with people, Lemke aimed to get deep within the first thirty minutes. Small talk isn’t progressive. Jesus didn’t ask people about their days, rather where their hearts were at. During these conversations, he thrived to educate others about domestic human sex trafficking. The simple definition being: modern slavery that is happening in our own backyard. Adults and children are being coerced through violence, threats, lies, debt bondage, sly kindness, and other coercion to engage in commercial sex acts against their will. Victims could get involved in this in many ways. Some sex traffickers walk up to women, compliment them heavily, pursue them for quite some time and manipulate them into selling themselves to help pay bills. Others take a more violent path into getting victims and selling them off to people in demand. Whatever the route, capturing humans and selling their bodies off has become more than problematic in our country. With statistics like: since 2007, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline, operated by Polaris, has received reports of 14,588 sex trafficking cases inside the United States (and those are only the ones that got reported!!)-- it is no wonder as to why Lemke biked 50-80 miles a day to speak to others about the striking issue.
In between his sometimes 13 hour bike rides, Lemke’s heart was touched by the the minds of communities that he had only just met; just as his heart undoubtedly moved theirs in equal. When speaking with the young minds of the world in small men’s groups at churches, he opened eyes to the concept of pornography being deeply rooted in domestic human sex trafficking and generally having unhealthy relationships. Domestic human sex trafficking and pornography are linked in many ways. One of them simply being that pimps (sex traffickers) often convince women and men to film videos to sell instead of finding people to sell them to. Sex trafficking victims also often speak about how they were forced to watch porn so they could see what they would later be forced to do. Consequently, supporting the porn industry by watching it is a lot more than just getting off these days, it can actually be increasing the demand of sex trafficking victims. The majority of the young men in the groups that Lemke spoke with admitted to indulging in porn-- not surprising since it has become a societal norm. However, Daniel hoped to open their minds to what it really meant when they were doing it. It isn’t that they are viewing people’s daughters or sisters. No. It is more about the true fact that porn kills love, changes people's’ brains and adds to the unfortunate objectification of people.
When Daniel wasn’t casually burning more than five thousand calories a day or meeting people from different backgrounds, he was growing and experiencing a whole new side of Christ. A side that basically told him to stop idolizing control, and to simply trust in Him. Right when Daniel let Jesus take the handlebars, big things happened. He buckled down, realized that once you are in the mission field, “you just have to go out and simply do.” It was at this point of his journey that his storytelling engulfed me and turned into a testament that God opens doors, shows up beyond measure, and always prevails. In fact, it made me want to write a whole piece on the strength that God had during his altercations with others, and who knows, maybe I will someday. But for now I will leave you with the simple fact: Daniel went out on the road using a couchsurfing app to find places to stay. Sometimes the app fell short, sometimes he was at wits end, but in the end, he was on the road for 440 days and only had to use his tent to camp out on the road for 18 of those days. God didn’t fall short for him at all during his journey.
Through the that journey, Daniel slept at the houses of banditos, Johns (people in demand of sex trafficking victims), Hell’s Angels, skinheads, co-producers of pornography videos, and people of all religions. Through it all, Daniel remained absolutely fearless, a trait that is buried deep within him but somehow shines on others. Not only was he fearless and knowing that God’s got him, but he was steadfast in his love and pursuit of others, regardless of their character. It was then when he thought of the term “kissing lions.” Lemke says “Lions are often referred to as beasts and things that are frightening, and a kiss is a sign of affection.” Going out there in the mission field and truly being in Jesus’s likeness is what he did by “kissing” and sharing the Gospel with “lions.”
The next steps that Daniel is taking are fruitful and progressive to a change. He is planning more Bike Through Traffic tours, but with motorcycles- reaching a whole new demographic. In the long run, Break the Cycle is hoping to create a revolution that helps survivors of sex trafficking get jobs. He is hoping to build a business that actually teaches job skills that they can build upon. The business being something where victims start working on an aquaponics farm and watch what they harvest go into a sandwich shop, where they can transition to after working on the farm. Daniel really wants to help create a learning process for survivors in hopes that they will be motivated by their growth and always seeing hope. Daniel is also in the process of writing a book to share his story of his journey. Through all of this, his aim is to “limit the hype about myself, and go out there and be Jesus the best I can.”
At the end of it all, words fall short when it comes to describing the miracles of God’s work. However, they can inspire others to feel inclined to reach and pursue a chance to experience these miracles. So why should you hop on a bike today? What needs to be done in your community? What is something that can lead you on a race to seek others and meet them where they are at? More people need to be refusing silence and fighting for what they believe in. As amazing as it is that Daniel hopped on a bike for fifteen months, I would hope that it wouldn’t be such an extraordinary thing to see a young man going out and fighting for what he believes. Instead, just another young man doing so.
“God is radical, and in the end, I am just a vessel that God is using. But when you go out there and do what God wants you to do, you will do radical things.” -Daniel Lemke
