One of the core values of our Pathways team is that we are always growing. We recognize the fact that while we have good training to offer pastors and ministry leaders globally, it can always get better.

Recently, a convergence of elements has caused us to do some significant revisions to our curriculum. My dissertation research unearthed a number of strengths, and also weaknesses, to our program. In addition, our celebrated team leader and the primary curriculum developer, Al Lewis, recently retired from ReachGlobal and has taken on an interim pastorate in Kansas. Steve Hudson stepped into Al’s role, and this allows us to bring to the forefront a number of elements we’ve each wanted to adjust but out of respect for Al, we held our tongues. Also, each of us have a number of “oral traditions” that we do when teaching the material but that are not in our workshop notes, and we recognize that they should be there to make the training as strong as possible.

With my busy travel schedule, I simply did not have time for another trip, so Holly and I invited the other two team members who work on curricular revisions, Steve and Mike, to our place for a week of meetings. Similar to our time in January, we met from morning till night, this time in my office, and had a very productive time establishing the general trajectory of Pathways, including identifying core hermeneutical tools and where they belong in the program, and then we began revising each workshop. This process may take a year to finish, and will also include many online meetings as well as working separately offline. But we believe the end product will be a simpler, more useful, stronger training program for the oral oriented pastors with whom we work globally.

As we hosted Steve and Mike throughout the week, Holly did a fabulous job preparing meals and making sure all the details went smoothly. By the end of each day, we were brain-weary, but hearts were full of joy at the progress we were making. We appreciate your prayers as we each have assignments between meetings, and we have two separate three-hour online meetings scheduled in May, in addition to my Kenya trip and other responsibilities. But by the grace of God, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and as we hunker down and do our best, I’m confident our Pathways participants will be blessed.