I've been throwing around post ideas lately and I decided to just bite the bullet and actually POST one! It's been far too long since we've updated and I always feel bad, however it's kind of just feels like the same old, same old out here! Other than beautiful 30 degree weather....

Last weekend we went to Barcelona. You can practically fly for FREE on this side of the world if you find a seat sale (the flight/service/everything sucks but it gets you from one place to another). It seems a shame to be all the way over on this side of the world and not be able to see some of it however anything outside of Spain itself costs too much to get to. Spain itself is beautiful, diverse and you can do it very cheaply so we're not complaining about not getting to go anywhere else "fancy"! Barcelona itself is very much worth seeing if you ever have the opportunity - beautiful buildings, lots of great food (who am I kidding - we ate at McDonalds! It just looked good from a distance!), and so many historical places to see. It's ridiculously priced to get into anything to see but the outsides are free and just as nice!! The metro system gets you anywhere and it's a very tourist-friendly place to be.

Back to reality - we have 2 more weeks of classes. It's incredible how quickly it flew by! Classes have been amazing - learning from people who have many years of relationship with God, know His heart and have amazing gifts that they're willing to share with us. The personalities of all the teachers are all so different but their hearts are all the same - they L.O.V.E. God and want us to grasp how amazing He is and how much He has in store for us. I feel like we've both grown by leaps and bounds in our relationships with God, knowing who we are in Him and knowing the authority He has given us.

I probably don't say it often enough but I think it all the time - thanks so much to everyone who has supported us (encouragement, prayer, financially etc) while we've been here. It's hasn't just been a fun, sunny, six months of being in Spain - it's been building us up, stretching and growing our faith and sometimes those things hurt and don't come easily! But know that you have invested in us and in our future ministry and we are getting ready to step forward into whatever God has planned for us next!

Love you all!

Demand Change

27 million people are in modern-day slavery around the world.


80 % of these are women and girls used in the sex industry.


12-14 is the average age of girls who are forced into this lifestyle.


161 countries around the world have been affected by human trafficking.


This weekend G42 is partnering with MATTOO (Men Against the Trafficking of Others) to host an event called Demand Change - a rally to raise awareness of the epidemic of human trafficking. This event is taking place here as well as in the states, where MATTOO was founded. 

MATTOO is an organization dedicated to stopping prostitution and human trafficking by getting MEN involved, the first organization of it's kind to do so. They want to provide education as well as partner with businessmen who are willing to hire former prostitutes after they have been rehabilitated. They also want to encourage men to take a stand against trafficking by signing a banner that states they will never be involved in the injustice of modern-day slavery. 

Steph Fisk - on staff here at G42, is the Spanish director of MATTOO and really has a heart for women who are caught in the sex industry. Prostitution is legal in Spain and it is a hot spot for importing and exporting women, mostly Romanian and Nigerian. Every week Steph takes a few G42 girls and goes down to an area called Guadalahorce - which is known in Spain as the scum of the earth prostitution area. Most of these women are either being forced to do what they do or they have no way out. Steph's goal is to eventually be able to take these women out of this and place them in restoration homes across Spain. Unfortunately there are very few of these homes in operation right now.

How does it end?
With MEN, standing up and vowing that they will not be involved. You can go to the MATTOO website and click on global banners to put your money where your mouth is. For $25, you can sign a banner that states that you will stand up against this injustice. 

http://www.mattoo.org/GlobalBanner.html  (to sign the global banner) 
http://www.razoo.com/story/Mattoo-Men-Against-The-Trafficking-Of-Others  (general donations)


We also have to remember that when Jesus died on the cross He gained the victory over death and sin, therefore, this battle is already won! Jesus is Lord over modern-day slavery so we have to stand up and fight it! So many times we sit and think that our actions aren't good enough and worry that the devil might get us. That we might not actually be worthy enough for heaven. Well the truth is this: as long as you've accepted Christ, your ticket for heaven has been bought for you. No action or deed can upgrade or downgrade that. In the same way, we live and fight for Christ knowing that the battle has been won and we will be outstandingly victorious! This makes us so happy to know that there's nothing that we can do to make God love us any more or any less. And so we will choose to stand against injustice wherever God calls us for the rest of our days.

Some of us here at G42 were involved in making this promo video for MATTOO to be shown at the Demand Change rally so take a look if you want!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5zQrOl1eRA

Men against the trafficking of others who attended the rally today:

 Rally walk around Mijas (the men walked and the women followed and then went to cheer on the men at the finish):

 Men signing the MATTOO banner:

We were talking about potential and purpose in class recently and this quote came up:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were  born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  -Marianne Williamson

With great purpose comes great responsibility.