Mountains & Valleys: A Framework for Community Transformation

Seven mountains of influence. Seven valleys of need. One framework for leaders who are ready to stop talking and start building.

Most people who love God and want to make a difference in their community are not lazy. They are not indifferent. They are not waiting because they do not care.

They are waiting because nobody has given them a clear picture of where to go and what to do when they get there.

That is the problem this framework was built to solve.

It started with a dream.

I was in the darkest season of my life - running from God, angry at the church, convinced that faith was something other people had. Then one night I fell asleep in my mom’s guest room and everything changed.

In the dream I saw a canyon surrounded by seven mountains and seven valleys. Inside the canyon was an army waking up at dawn - thousands of warriors rising with purpose. And God made it clear: those mountains represent the areas of influence that shape every community. Those valleys represent the areas of need that exist in every community. And that army represents His people, the Church, waking up to what they were actually put here to do.

That dream became the foundation for everything I have built since.

The Seven Mountains of Influence

Every community is shaped by seven spheres of influence - areas where culture is formed, values are transmitted, and decisions are made that affect everyone.

Those mountains are: Business, Religion, Government, Media, Sports and Entertainment, Family, and Education.

You are already on one of them. Your job, your platform, your daily environment - that is your mountain. The question is not whether you are there. The question is whether you are taking it.

Taking your mountain does not mean forcing your values on everyone around you. It means bringing the kingdom of God into the space you occupy - through integrity, excellence, and genuine love - and letting the presence of God change the culture from the inside out.

Daniel did not take the political mountain of Babylon by force. He took it by faithfulness. He was so trustworthy, so clearly different, that his enemies could find no fault in him except his devotion to God. That is the testimony God is looking for.

The Seven Valleys of Need

Beneath those mountains of influence, in every city and every generation, there are valleys. Places where brokenness has entrenched itself. Places where people are living without what they need to survive, to heal, or to move forward.

Those valleys are: Poverty, Hunger, Homelessness, Slavery, Addiction, Abandonment, and Crime.

They exist whether we acknowledge them or not. And most people see them and keep moving - not because they do not care, but because they feel overwhelmed, or unsure what to do, or convinced someone else will handle it.

But Jesus did not walk past the valley. He stepped into it. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick. He restored dignity to the outcast. The Great Commission is not just about what we say - it is about what we do. And Matthew 25 makes it clear that how we respond to human need is directly connected to how we respond to Jesus Himself.

Why Both Matter

Mountains and valleys are not separate callings. They are connected.

When people on the mountains of influence are doing their work with kingdom values, it creates the resources, the platforms, and the cultural credibility to invade the valleys. And when people are invading the valleys - meeting real needs, transforming real lives - it gives the mountains something real to point to.

One without the other is incomplete.

A church that focuses only on influence without stepping into need has lost the heart of the gospel. A ministry that steps into need without any strategy for cultural influence will always be fighting the effects without addressing the systems. Both. Mountains and valleys. Influence and need. That is the whole framework.

Where Do You Fit?

The most important question this framework asks is a simple one:

Where has God placed you?

Not where you wish you were. Not where you think you should be someday. Where are you right now - and what would it look like to bring the kingdom of God into that specific space?

You have a mountain. You may also have a valley pulling at your heart - a specific area of brokenness you cannot stop seeing, a problem that will not leave you alone.

That is not random. That is a calling.

My book Take Your Mountain, Invade Your Valley goes deep on both sides of this framework and gives you practical tools to identify exactly where God has placed you and what to do about it. But you do not need the book to take a first step.

You just need to answer the question.

Where has God placed you? And what are you going to do about it?