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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!
Hope for When Missionaries Come Home Early
If you’ve had the opportunity to send overseas missionaries from your church for long, you have undoubtedly seen some return early from thei
Mike Easton
Jul 29, 20244 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...
Anna Daub
Nov 20, 20234 min read
Defining Key Terms: Culture Shock
Upon arriving in South Asia, I began to embrace the challenging task of driving on a different side of the road with exponentially more...
Joshua Bowman
Nov 13, 20235 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...
Matthew Bennett
Feb 27, 20234 min read
Blood on Both Ends of the Rope: Reflections on the Gains and Losses of Transition
I will go down, if you will hold the rope. This great quote of William Carey has continued echoing in my soul since I first heard it. The...
Bradley Bell
Feb 23, 20233 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...
The Upstream Collective
Feb 20, 20232 min read
Three Reasons to Make Disciples in Local Languages
Here are three reasons that we must be committed to language learning and disciple-making in the language of the heart.
Matthew Bennett
Feb 16, 20234 min read
Caring for Sent Ones in the First Year
When I served as an advocate for sent ones in my home church, there was a story I recalled often (and still do) that captured who I hoped...
Ashlyn Portero
Feb 13, 20235 min read
Language Learning beyond Babel: The Biblical Redemption of Local Languages
I hope that we never let go of the strategic value of learning language as missionaries seeking to demonstrate that the gospel is for all.
Matthew Bennett
Feb 9, 20234 min read
Getting Sent Ones Established—As Committed Church Members
Some missionaries go up to a mountain village to evangelize secluded cattle ranchers. For a day or two, these self-invited Christian...
Jason Apon
Feb 6, 20235 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,...
The Upstream Collective
Nov 28, 20226 min read
Training Sent Ones for Multiplicative Discipleship
We should teach our future missionaries the principles of multiplicative discipleship no matter which church model they encounter.
Mike Easton
Nov 10, 20223 min read
Exploring Alternative Pathways to Missions
Fourth Church is situated in a midsize city in the midwest. Their city has seen a lot of growth the last few years as people have moved...
Larry McCrary
Oct 24, 20225 min read
How Much Should the Sending Church Give to Their Sent Ones?
The question of what percentage of funds a sending church should give their Sent Ones can be tricky to answer, and there is certainly no...
Larry McCrary
Jul 25, 20225 min read
Supporting Single Missionaries in the Wake of Covid
Almost two years ago, after watching the Covid virus spread across the globe, many governments responded by closing their borders and...
Anna Daub
Feb 28, 20225 min read
Reaching Oral Learners with the Gospel
If you stepped into my office, you could make two observations about me—I love to travel, and I love to read. I have collected many...
Ryan Martin
Feb 24, 20225 min read
Lamentations as the Textbook for Newly Arrived Missionaries
I just finished reading Jeremiah and Lamentations. Boy, am I glad that’s over! Ever feel that way? If it weren’t for reading plans, there...
Bradley Bell
Feb 21, 20226 min read
Avoiding Paternalism
Parents are God’s kind provision to infants and children who have no concept of personal safety and cannot provide for their own basic...
Joshua Bowman
Feb 17, 20224 min read
How to Care for Sent-Ones Learning a Second Foreign Language
The missionary task requires understandable communication of the gospel. Depending on the context and the complexity of the language...
Matthew Hirt
Feb 14, 20225 min read
Learning a Foreign Language in a City that Speaks English
During my first missionary term in South Asia, I relished the opportunity to dive deep into the culture and begin learning the local...
Kyle Brosseau
Feb 10, 20224 min read
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