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hey everyone....I'm currently working on moving this blog over to blogger.  We will be posting sermon blogs starting next month.  You shoudl not notice an interuption...but if you do go to atibadesouza.blogspot.com...thx

I think I said WOW yesterday about Day 1. So I really don’t know what to say today, this was WOW better than yesterday….so its that 2 Wow or WOW squared. I don’t know, you tell me. I”ll spare you the details for the moment (I’ll write a separate blog on each major point).

Here is the big thing that happened (yes I know the picture gives it away). We met Andy Stanley. The main session was over and everyone rushed out to get to the next destination because they promised prizes for those who reached early. Tired of watching the mad rush I look on stage and there is Andy talking with a guy and I figure Jumaine and I can go down there and meet him. We get to the stage and are told we cant get on stage…no big deal, we’ll wait. Everyone around us leaves including Jumaine for a minute and Andy is now standing on stage by him self just kinds looking around. Our eyes meet and he starts walking toward me…as this point I was thinking hard about something really clever to say or some amazing question to ask. By the time he got to me all I could say is THANKS…we are church planters and you have helped us tremendously with your resources. You also really convicted me with your message today and yesterday. It was the most authentic thing I could say and I’m so glad GOD allowed me to say it because Andy received it so graciously. It was awesome to watch the humility of Andy.

Ok…so I have not met the entire Bridge church but I have met a piece of their core leadership team this week. When Jumaine offered me the chance to go with his team to Drive I was pumped but also nervous because church core teams tend to be very introverted within themselves. Its often easier to get in a click with the valley girls in LA than it is to feel welcome by a church’s core team. But these guys are great….from the first moment we met there was comfort. Its been a pleasure feeling like and adjunct member of their team for the last couple of days. They even allowed me to sit in their debrief meetings and share my thoughts. Ok…so maybe I might have invited myself to the meeting but they did not kick me out either or make me feel bad. It’s a good illustration of how a staff takes on the personality of their leader. Jumaine, the pastor, was the one who offered me a free ticket when we had just met and he could not pronounce my name. That’s just way cool.

WOW….Sunday we saw where VRI would be in the short term. Today I see where we will be in the long term. Its no secret that we have adapted a lot of the North Point strategy for VRI’s context. So being here and actually seeing what we have studying in action is an amazing opportunity. There are points that were not clear in the books we read that are crystal clear now. Their praise band and multimedia (which is an understatement) are phenomenal and on point. The attention to excellence is amazing.

And if that was not good enough. Andy really challenged me in his message about trusting your staff and being a trust worthy member of your staff. He illuminated some staff issues that we have that need to be cleaned up before we launch and gave me practical ways to ensure those issues don’t return.