The pace of this trip has picked up significantly...and with that, more oppotunities to hear from great leaders in the D.C. area!  Bill & Jessica Hegedus from Grace Fellowship Church in Timonium, MD drove an hour south to meet us at Grace Community Church in Fulton, MD where we met Tony Sheng and Senior Pastor Mark Norman.  Mark and the staff at Grace Community are hosting the Baltimore Catalyst One Day November 16th...video interview with Mark coming soon!  Can't wait to introduce you to our Catalyst One Day host!

Mark Batterson - National Community Church
This afternoon Joshua Symonette, Justin, and I met with Mark Batterson from National Community Church at their amazingly cool coffee house next to Union Station in downtown D.C., Ebenezer's.  We had a blast & captured it on camera.  Mark taught us about everything from what a "modern day foot-washing" looks like to insights from his writing process and what he's currently learning as a leader & one of the most influential young voices in the church.  Don't miss this!  This was a fun afternoon...

HUGE THANKS to Rich and Kim Hurst for hosting Justin and I at their farm in Roundhill, VA - a place of peace, serenity, and rest.  Thank you for making us feel at home!

Tomorrow is our last full day in D.C.!  :(  Stay tuned...

Today Justin and I had the chance to meet with Bethany Hoang from IJM, DJ Chuang from Leadership Network, & Joshua Harris, pastor of Covenant Life & author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye (and I'm sure he is sooo excited that I am tagging him with that last line! :))  Josh introuded us to Isaac Hydoski and David Brewer, both pastors from Covenant, and we had a great time learning from these guys over dinner at Five Guys!  It was a great day...I am going to feature two IJM videos on this blog post and wait to share our interview with DJ Chuang & Joshua Harris for a later time.  All three meetings today were incredible and offered more insight into what these front line leaders are learning on their respective journeys.  Sometimes I have to stop and just say, "thank You," for the opportunity to meet with such amazing people.

Bethany Hoang - IJM Institute
Please, if you are not yet following IJM and their work around the world, begin now.  "International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression."  Bethany Hoang, Director of the IJM Institute (www.ijminstitute.org) and Catalyst West Coast speaker, sat down with Justin & I and shared more of what she is learning right now...AFTER showing us around the IJM headquarters and introducing us to some of the coolest people in DC!  Listen as Bethany shares what she is learning about the power of prayer...

(below you will see two videos: 1) our interview with Bethany & 2) a new documentary trailer from IJM, heartwrenching...)

Interview with Bethany Hoang

At the End of Slavery - Trailer from IJM

Stay tuned for more from Washington D.C. (video interview with DJ & Joshua Harris coming soon!)