Kissing Lions

Daniel Lemke rode a bicycle to every corner of the U. S. a total of 12,608 miles for fifteen months (April 2015 to July of 2016) raising awareness about domestic sex trafficking. Along the way, he met the kinds of people he referred to as lions because most people are afraid to approach them: pimps, johns, prostitutes, porn producers, drug dealers, recovering addicts, victims of sex trafficking, and so many more of "the least of these."Daniel realized that kissing is a sign of love and affection and that to kiss someone means you have to get close to someone to do so. You can't kiss from a distance. "Kissing Lions" meant he needed to love these people just like Jesus did. He didn't have to fear them. Daniel met and stayed with pimps and johns, Hell's Angels and skinheads, Bandidos and drug dealers, porn producers and just-released inmates. He spoke with victims of sex trafficking, recovering drug addicts, the homeless, the abused, the mistreated, the outcast, and the unloved. Witnessed to atheists, Satanists, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and New Age free spirits. Kissing Lions presents those moments Daniel was led to confront the evangelical complacency of his generation and reach out to those who were wholly unlike him but with whom he still shared the similarity of being another broken human. Through the epic bike tour, he learned how to lean into the stories of other people's brokenness-to kiss these not-so-fearful lions-that they might hear of the true Lion of Judah. Kissing Lions is their stories told through his story, with the sincere desire that all of our stories might end the tragic stories of everyone involved in the sex trafficking industry. In this book you will experience a full 360 view of the sex trafficking industry and hear personal testimonies from the perspectives of pimps, johns, slaves, survivors, and advocates.