Cross-Cultural Ministry

UPSTREAM BLOG

The Upstream Blog is published two times a week and contains content from missions leaders, pastors, missiologists, and the Upstream team on a wide variety of topics pertaining to being a sending church. Leave us some comments or questions!

How the Evil One Blinds Us to the Mission, Pt. II

Jerry Rankin

Dec 9, 20244 min read

How the Evil One Blinds Us to the Mission, Pt. II

I have many lingering impressions from forty years of missionary service and the privilege of leading the largest missionary-sending...

How the Evil One Blinds Us to the Mission, Pt. I

Jerry Rankin

Dec 2, 20245 min read

How the Evil One Blinds Us to the Mission, Pt. I

After twenty-three years of missionary work in Southeast Asia, I had a great deal of experience and insight into mission strategy, but...

Preparing TCKs for a Cross-Cultural Move

Abigail Newport

Nov 4, 20245 min read

Preparing TCKs for a Cross-Cultural Move

Setting children up to thrive during a cross-cultural move

Josh Duncan

Oct 28, 20245 min read

Vetting National Partners

See our previous articles on the why and how of funding national partners or organizations and on how to find them . Vetting indigenous...

Josh Duncan

Oct 21, 20245 min read

Finding National Partners

The importance of finding national partners is worth embracing the inevitable challenges for the sake of obeying the Great Commission.

The New Roman Road: Engaging in Disciple-Making Virtually

Adam M.

Jun 10, 20245 min read

The New Roman Road: Engaging in Disciple-Making Virtually

Despite present barriers to entry in countries around the world, the internet provides access to people in the most unreached places.

Mark Zwemer

Jan 29, 20244 min read

Confessions of a “Fix-It Father”

What would you do if one of your children decided to become a cross-cultural missionary? The kind that wants to move to dangerous places...

Global South: Church Engagement Strategies

Anna Daub

Nov 20, 20234 min read

Global South: Church Engagement Strategies

As the church has moved south and east, the face of Christianity has changed.[1] If Western Christians want to work towards fulfilling...

The Joy of Welcoming Internationals for Thanksgiving

Eric & Andrea Warren

Oct 30, 20235 min read

The Joy of Welcoming Internationals for Thanksgiving

Inviting international friends to Thanksgiving is one of the best cross-cultural missions opportunities available to American Christians....

Matthew Hirt

Oct 2, 20235 min read

Building Healthy Multinational Teams

A young man from a West African country asked me, “How can I be a missionary? Missionaries do not come from my place.” The only...

Providing Cross Cultural Opportunities Locally

Bruce Mewbourne

May 22, 20235 min read

Providing Cross Cultural Opportunities Locally

Immigration and migration represent a Great Commission opportunity for the church. Migration is not a new phenomenon. A casual reading of...

How National Christians Can Bless and Teach Western Churches

Chris Howles

May 15, 20235 min read

How National Christians Can Bless and Teach Western Churches

Have you ever heard of a “truncated icosahedron”? If not don’t worry—you’re not alone. I’m informed it’s a “bitruncated order-5...

Worldview Discovery as an Evangelistic Tool

Matthew Hirt

May 8, 20235 min read

Worldview Discovery as an Evangelistic Tool

We all possess a unique worldview that shapes how we perceive and understand the world around us. Scripture challenges all of our...

Three Keys To Witness as Worship: Evangelism in a Marketing-Weary World

Matthew Bennett

Feb 27, 20234 min read

Three Keys To Witness as Worship: Evangelism in a Marketing-Weary World

Today, everything is marketing. Everything about you can be monetized. Your social media accounts gather data to be sold to advertising...

Overcoming the Distance: Crossing Barriers to the Gospel

The Upstream Collective

Feb 20, 20232 min read

Overcoming the Distance: Crossing Barriers to the Gospel

This article is provided by guest contributor Ernest Goodman. It originally appeared under the same title on Missions Misunderstood and...

Adventures with Larry & Caleb: What Are the Key Things That Help You in Contextualizing the Gospel?

The Upstream Collective

Nov 28, 20226 min read

Adventures with Larry & Caleb: What Are the Key Things That Help You in Contextualizing the Gospel?

Upstream co-founders Larry McCrary and Caleb Crider are living in very different places: for Larry, Madrid, Spain; for Caleb, Richmond,...

Anna Daub

Nov 21, 20226 min read

How to Do Missions in the Global South

Christianity continues to blossom in the Global South.[1] Our missions strategies and methodologies, while remaining unyieldingly planted...

Why and How to Do Missions to the Global South

Matthew Hirt

Nov 14, 20225 min read

Why and How to Do Missions to the Global South

As we come alongside brothers and sisters around the world to engage in the missionary task, we need new terms and categories to describe...

Training Church Members for Cross-Cultural Living in Everyday Life

Luke T.

Nov 7, 20223 min read

Training Church Members for Cross-Cultural Living in Everyday Life

Discipleship 101: Pray, read your Bible, go to church, participate in cross-cultural training . . . Wait, what? Isn’t that the kind of...

So You Wanna Be a Missionary—Who Are You Discipling?

Bradley Bell

Nov 3, 20225 min read

So You Wanna Be a Missionary—Who Are You Discipling?

I love the enthusiasm I encounter among aspiring missionaries. It drips from them like water from your hands when there are no paper...