“What is your calling?” “How did you receive it?” “How do you know you are called?” One might field these questions in church and mission circles, usually regarding how he decided to become an international missionary or take on a ministry role. Perhaps these questions are good and right, but perhaps the call to missions is [...]
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Meeting(Up) Online
Our friend, Kyle Goen, moved to Brussels, Belgium late last year. Back in May, he wrote a great post for us on preparing to move to another country. If you’re not already following his blog, you need to; there he offers great insight into the life of a family learning a new language and culture [...]
10,000 Mentors On One Device
Churches, if you’re looking for ways to disciple, equip, and encourage your missionaries, do this now: Go to Amazon.com and set up a new account. Then, using that account, head over to the Kindle Store to buy electronic versions of some great books like: The Faith of Leap, Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost Radical Together, [...]
5 Reasons Churches Won’t Partner with Missionaries
Upstream spends the majority of our collective time communicating and collaborating with stateside churches who desire to engage in God’s mission both globally and locally. Hence the majority of our posts here on the blog deal with the particulars of engagement and tell the stories of churches who are doing it. We believe that the [...]
How to take your first trip
They’re ready. Your church members feel burdened for the lost and want to respond to the Great Commission by sharing the Gospel in an international context. You want to help lead them in taking short-term mission trips, but are at a loss as to exactly where to begin. Last year The Upstream Collective took an [...]
Staying focused with iPOC3
Living with the priority of sharing the Gospel certainly cannot be simplified to a mathematical formula. Yet sometimes an acrostic can help the believer focus his/her thoughts in everyday settings, whether at home or abroad. With this in mind, Larry McCrary created the formula “iPOC3.” The “i,” naturally, stands for oneself. This is an idea [...]
Learning in St. Pete
The primary goal for their first trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, was pretty basic—to meet as many people as possible. Church planters Jason Duskin and Billy Mitchell from St. Petersburg, Fla., took on a horizontal missions approach to kick-start future long-term relationships between the two cities and to see how church leaders from both sides [...]
Sister cities: St. Pete & St. Pete
St. Petersburg, Fla., and St. Petersburg, Russia, will soon have more to share than their names if Billly Mitchell and Jason Duskin have their way. The two St. Petersburg, Fla., residents are currently on their first trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, to explore how its western sibling can help raise up the next generation of [...]
Travel tips for short-term trips
This is the fourth in a series of articles on the good, bad, why and how of short-term missions. Once a believer commits to a short-term mission trip, questions may beg answers as to how to practically get ready for international travel. Seasoned explorers as well as overseas flight rookies may not be sure of [...]
Short-term trips done well
This is the third in a series of articles on the good, bad, why and how of short-term missions. Most people who plan a short-term trip or prepare to be a part of one probably do not do so with the goal of it being a flop–a waste of time and resources—and yet too often [...]
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