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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!
The Benefits of Going to the Same Place Year after Year
We have been involved in global missions for over twenty-two years now. For most of those years, we have served in Europe, though the...
Larry McCrary
Jan 23, 20235 min read
Five Reasons to Revisit Your Partners
Trips with Purpose - Intention to Care Last year, two of my family members participated in a short-term trip to one of our church’s...
Shirley Ralston
Jan 16, 20238 min read
Letting Go of Partners
In our previous blog post, “Year-End Partner Evaluations,” we gave a template for evaluating partners. What do you do if the evaluation...
Mike Easton
Dec 12, 20223 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...
Anna Daub
Nov 21, 20226 min read
Choose Your National Church Partner Wisely
The following is adapted from Your Focus on the World by Catalyst Services. This book includes guidelines on building church-to-church...
Ellen Livingood
Oct 31, 20224 min read
Establishing Ministry Partnerships
Establishing partnerships is one of the most important things a church missions leader will do in their role. For most churches,...
Jonah Fox
Oct 13, 20225 min read
Together on Mission with God: Principles and Practices of Healthy Partnerships
Cross-cultural partnerships happen because they mutually submit to King Jesus. Here are principles and practices of healthy partnerships.
Joshua Bowman
Oct 10, 20224 min read
Together on Mission with God: A Definition for Partnership
Cross-cultural missional partnership is a kingdom-oriented relationship of culturally diverse groups of believers who share common values.
Joshua Bowman
Oct 6, 20224 min read
Together on Mission with God: A Biblical Basis for Partnership
Partnership is necessary because the gospel is universally relevant and provides the plan of redemption for sinners separated from God.
Joshua Bowman
Oct 3, 20224 min read
How to Design a Mission Space in Your Church
The Sunday gathering is a great time to create mission awareness in your church. Assuming you are already using some graphics or slides...
Larry McCrary
Aug 25, 20224 min read
Fully Funded or Support Raised? The Pros and Cons of Each, Pt. I
Being a fully-funded missionary is pretty awesome. Here are some of the benefits, along with a few unpleasant surprises.
Bradley Bell
Jul 7, 20226 min read
Creative Ways to Fund Mission Work, Part II
The Two-Pocket Theory of Mission Support In part 1 of this series, we looked at several ways you can bring in extra income to help you...
Dave & Lorene Wilson
May 9, 20226 min read
Creative Ways to Fund Mission Work, Part I
Side Hustle: Supporting Missionaries in a Gig Economy For hundreds of years, the standard practice for funding mission work (at least...
Dave & Lorene Wilson
May 5, 20227 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
Caring for Your Sent Ones in Year One
Jose Luis, his wife, Wendy, and their three small children are preparing to move to Africa next year to work with a mission organization...
Larry McCrary
Feb 1, 20227 min read
Troubled Waters: Reasons International Partnerships Go Awry
In today’s connected world, churches, missions organizations, and missionaries work with partners from nations around the globe. Some of...
Anna Daub
Jan 31, 20224 min read
Discouraging DIY Missions
A growing awareness of gospel needs around the world has produced a sense of urgency in the Church for reaching those far from Christ and...
David McWhite
Jan 24, 20225 min read
Questions to Ask a Sending Organization
What a Former Missions Pastor (Who Now Serves an Agency) Wishes He Had Known to Ask In scripture, we learn that the Church is being...
David Wilson
Jan 20, 20225 min read
How to Develop a Cross-Cultural Partnership
In a previous blog post, I defined cross-cultural missional partnership as a kingdom-oriented relationship of culturally diverse groups...
Joshua Bowman
Jan 13, 20224 min read
Writing an MOU
There’s a lot of things in life that are really important but are also kind of boring: mowing the lawn, doing the laundry, filling out...
Mike Easton
Jan 10, 20224 min read
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