advocacy | Upstream Collective

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!

Brian McClure

Mar 254 min read

Field Perspective on Advocacy Team Care

Human beings all have needs, and those who live cross-culturally are no exception. We can meet each other’s needs in many ways. I have...

Bradley Bell

Mar 183 min read

Leading the Advocates

I once had a turtle named Fred. Fred liked to eat watermelon. But I went on vacation and forgot to leave Fred any watermelon. When I came...

Mike Easton

Mar 123 min read

Microskills for Advocates

When you have a struggle in life, who do you go to? Is it a friend? A pastor? An older man or woman? A counselor? When someone in your...

The What and Why of Advocacy Teams: Nurturing and Supporting Sent Ones

Christian Townson

Mar 44 min read

The What and Why of Advocacy Teams: Nurturing and Supporting Sent Ones

The role of advocacy teams has become increasingly vital to global missions and church planting as a means of caring for missionaries as...

How to Address the Impact of Inflation on Giving

Jared Burwell

Jul 17, 20235 min read

How to Address the Impact of Inflation on Giving

I still wince when I go to the grocery store to buy fruit or meat, remembering what those prices per pound used to be back when I...

How Can the Sending Church and Organization Work Together in Missionary Care?

Larry McCrary

Jun 26, 20234 min read

How Can the Sending Church and Organization Work Together in Missionary Care?

A sending church provides ongoing care in partnership with a missions organization by building a relational structure that nurtures the...

A Practical Way to Structure Your Church’s Missionary Care

Bradley Bell

Jun 22, 20234 min read

A Practical Way to Structure Your Church’s Missionary Care

When I was six years old, my parents accidentally forgot me at church. Both of them had driven that day, and they simply pulled away...

Shirley Ralston

Jun 28, 20215 min read

Healthy at Home: Helping Hands

Relying on the local church for travel, lodging plans, and fellowship has long been the norm for those sent out to deliver the Good News.

Shirley Ralston

Jun 24, 20214 min read

Healthy at Home: Healthy Souls

Maintaining healthy souls on reentry is a community effort that takes time and commitment.

Shirley Ralston

Jun 21, 20215 min read

Healthy at Home: Healthy Bodies

Providing for the needs of the body lays the groundwork for rest and renewal of the mind, alleviating stress in sent ones’ reentry process.

Healthy at Home: Healthy Minds Part 2—Professional Christian Counseling

Shirley Ralston

Jun 17, 20213 min read

Healthy at Home: Healthy Minds Part 2—Professional Christian Counseling

Professional Christian counseling may be necessary for returned workers who have experienced trauma or levels of high stress on the field.

Empower the Saints for the Work of Missionary Care

Matt Clark

Jun 29, 20205 min read

Empower the Saints for the Work of Missionary Care

We as missions pastors/leaders have the opportunity to equip lay members of our congregations to meet the needs of missionary care.