Among other events and programs we have planned for the end of this year and beginning of next year, we are particularly excited to be developing a spiritual formation program for discipling leaders engaged in ministries who would be less able to pursue a residential pathway.

To this end, our staff have begun using and adapting a discipleship tool called the Journey, which is a curiculum that aligns well with East Mountain's values and structure, especially to encapsulate the spiritual formation side of development. The Journey uses a small group context to provide space for adults to discover more deeply who God is and who they are so they can begin living out what God desires them to be and do.

While the transformational benefits of a diverse group living and working together as they learn about God and grow in character and calling are astronomical, a non-residential pathway, such as leading the Journey program at local churches has many advantages as well:

• It can hit a new demographic, such as parents and those who are employed full-time and could not easily take the months off required to join a residency.
• It is easily introduced to a church (using a familiar format to many churches).
• It is easily replicated as new leaders and facilitators are trained to carry it on after the first course is completed.
• It connects more local partners to East Mountain (and even potential residents).
• It will, for the most part, be held in South African local church settings where our staff are able to learn and be guests rather than only hosting in our space. This emphasises our idea of mutual partnership.
• It is measurable. Although numbers are not our goal, it is helpful in evaluating and explaining to others what we do to be able to provide estimates as to the number of people and churches impacted, the number of mentors and leaders trained, the number of people engaging in ministry as a result of the Journey process, etc.

For this reason, we're excited to explore this non-residential pathway in addition to continuing our well-known and loved residential pathway, integrating the two as we go. Stay tuned for more updates on the impact of this curriculum on the different groups with which we are teaching it!