Karl Pasche will begin his 2,840 mile journey this week

Up until two months ago, Karl Pasche had never owned a road bike.

But this week, he'll begin a 2,840 mile journey from Seattle to New York City... one pedal at a time.

Pasche said, "Before this, I'd maybe ridden three miles at the most on a bike."

But now, over the last month, he said he's covered at least 300 miles. "I'm really getting into it, and I absolutely love it. Ideally, I would have liked to train longer and harder, but I think I'll be OK."

Pasche, 25, the son of Daniel and Jeanette Pasche, is a Glenwood native and just wrapped up his sophomore year at North Central University in Minneapolis, majoring in pastoral studies.

He said the ride is more about the cause than it is the cycling.

Pasche said his inspiration to ride a bike nearly 3,000 miles stemmed from a National House of Prayer Conference last fall where he heard a presenter speak about human trafficking.

"Human trafficking just wasn't on my radar before that," Pasche said. "But after the presentation, it really bothered me - I had a gut reaction - it made me cry. After that I said, 'God, give me a chance to do something about this.'"

One week later, a friend called to tell him about the Seattle to New York City bike ride to raise awareness about human trafficking.

"It was really an opportunity to do something about something that I care about, something that I believe in," he said.

Human trafficking

Pasche is partnering with the non-profit organization Venture Expeditions to complete the ride and support the efforts of the cause Just+Hope.

Just+Hope partners with local churches around the world to address the issue of human trafficking, slavery and injustice, and provides resolution through sustainable humanitarian evangelistic projects.

One of the ways the organization accomplishes that is to raise awareness and funds for humanitarian and evangelistic work around the world by organizing bike tours like the one Pasche will take part in.

When the Tribune asked Pasche to talk about human trafficking and how he would explain it to someone, he recalled a quote that impacted him - "To talk about human trafficking without talking about prostitution is like talking about the African slave trade and not talking about cotton."

There are places in Asia entrenched in poverty, where families don't have money and their kids become a commodity, Pasche explained. Children as young as 3-5 years old are sold for a day's wages and become indentured servants. Brothels in Southeast Asia subject young people to having sex with hundreds of men each day.

Just+Hope partners with local churches in places like India, Thailand, Burma and Indonesia to educate young people and give them opportunities to thrive, rather than be forced into a life of prostitution.

The group educates young people about what someone might do or say to try to traffic them. In India, the organization works with local people to create sustainable farming, warding off poverty which is what forces many families to sell their children. In Burma, the group is reportedly rescuing people from prostitution and working to rehabilitate them.

Human trafficking doesn't always happen "far away." Pasche referenced the case of a man in Northern Minnesota who held his wife as a slave and prostituted her through an online marketplace.

"I've got five sisters and to think that someone would buy my sister for a day's wages - it's unspeakable, a travesty, it's horrible," Pasche said.

That's what motivates him to do something, he said.

"These people are our neighbors, our brothers, our sisters - these are people," Pasche passionately explained.

"It's easy to look at a huge issue like human trafficking and think I can't do something about that. But, personally, I think about those individual people. If it takes me riding 3,000 miles across the U.S. to help somebody, I'll do it... that's what I believe in. That's Christianity," he said.

The ride

Pasche will travel to Seattle to begin briefings, presentations and further training June 17. Then, he departs Seattle June 20 with a group of 13 others who will ride about 100 miles each day to arrive in New York City on August 9.

Along the way, the group will stop and visit with people at churches, schools and community events to bring awareness to human trafficking and raise money to stop it.

"It's exciting to see a group of people who believe in what they believe in enough to do something about it," Pasche said.

"I really wish more people would do what they believe," Pasche said. "I wish people knew what they believed in and they'd be people of action, not people of television."

Pasche said he anticipates there will certainly be challenges, but his path in life led him to this expedition - he's been challenged before.

He spent three years in the U.S. Army and deployed to Iraq. "It was amazing. I loved it, I hated it, but I grew through it."

He spent one year in the Philippines doing missionary work. "I experienced agony, ecstasy, sorrow, joy - it was harder than I ever imagined, but it made me a better person - who I am today."

Last week, he biked from Glenwood to Starbuck to Lowry to five-mile-church and back, making a 30-mile loop.

"It wasn't that big of a deal. I was tired and hungry, but a lot of things in life are hard," Pasche said. "Now, the ride across the country may seem impossible, but with motivation to help a good cause, you can do what you never imagined you could."

Editor's note: More information about Pasche's bike trip is available at www.ventureexpeditions.org and there's an opportunity to donate to the Just+Hope cause. Pasche has a Facebook page - "Karl Pasche is biking across America." We will print trip updates as he sends them to the Tribune.