On Tuesday night, Downtown Campus Pastor Tim Gaydos and Deacon Amanda Hightower hosted a town hall, Sex Trafficking and the Gospel, where they talked about the sex trafficking industry in Seattle and Mars Hill's REST ministry. Here's an event recap from Deacon Adriel Ifland, who helped out that night. REST ministry, the outreach started in December last year, has had a year of learning and amazing experiences of God on the streets, praying for and helping girls being prostituted and working in strip clubs and bikini-barista stands. [REST Director] Amanda was hoping for 200 people to show up to the Town Hall, and her team printed 300 brochures. On Tuesday night, we ran out of brochures, had to print extras, and the number I counted was 318. The responses the team got from those wanting to volunteer and help with REST’s ministry was staggering and totally exceeded expectations. We partnered with Shared Hope International, New Horizons, and International Justice Mission for Tuesday's awareness event, and it was so encouraging to see the relationship being more established between us and them. New Horizons in particular is a strategic partnership, as they have been ministering to women and girls in the sex trade most consistently and for the longest period of time here in Seattle. There’s been some other big things going on as a result of this event and I think more exciting opportunities for getting girls off the street and meeting Jesus are coming soon. In particular, we're looking into setting up a safe house for underage girls that's close to the city, but secluded and difficult to find or access. Given the scarcity of housing available to lost, runaway, teenage girls in Seattle, if this property could be acquired, it would be a huge win not just for "our ministry" or Mars Hill, but for the city of Seattle and all those involved in trying to help these girls. Please pray for this opportunity – that God would provide the money if this is how we should move forward. And pray for the girls on the streets right now. Even on my way home from the event last night, I saw three more girls and two pimps all working intersections. Two of the girls looked like they were 16 years old, max. I hope you are encouraged that these are the kinds of things happening. God’s really doing big things for Seattle in the realm of fighting sex trafficking. Last night the New Horizons gal stated that Seattle is at the cutting edge of addressing the sex trafficking issue in the United States. Through recent legislation (stricter fines, prison sentences, prosecution regulations) and other steps forward, God is really moving and changing things here giving us a season of favor where we can take a lot of ground. We are so excited to be a part of his work, and join him on his mission to rescue these girls from literal slavery. Stay tuned this week for more from Adriel as she tells the story of the first night she went out with the outreach team. Adriel is on staff with Acts 29 and a member of the downtown campus.