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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!
Developing Leaders and Missionaries through Short-Term Trips
Most churches channel their efforts into cross-cultural missions through short-term trips, enabling church members to experience the...
Christian Townson
Jan 9, 20244 min read
Defining Terms: The Great Commission
Once while I was living in Uganda, I watched my Bible college students destroy an old termite mound. It looked to me just like a pile of...
Chris Howles
Nov 6, 20235 min read
Questions for Evaluating On-Field Partners
My parents did a great job of teaching me how to work at a young age. In fourth grade I had an after-school paper route. (For those of...
Mike Easton
Oct 23, 20234 min read
Four Church Giving Practices for Supporting Global Missions
The budget is one of the best ways to reflect the values of a church. Giving to global missions usually falls in one of four categories.
Mike Easton
Jul 20, 20234 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...
Jared Burwell
Jul 17, 20235 min read
When and How to Stop Financially Supporting Missions Partners
No missions leader enjoys the part of their job where they let go of partnerships financially. Inevitably, if you want to be a strategic sen
Mike Easton
Jul 13, 20234 min read
Why Giving to Global Missions Is Helpful for Your Church Budget
There are biblical and pragmatic reasons that giving to global missions is helpful for your church's budget.
Mike Easton
Jul 6, 20233 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...
Larry McCrary
Jun 26, 20234 min read
Sending Does Not Mean Letting Go
Sending someone does not mean letting them go. It means holding on tight to the relationship so that the nations may know the glory of God.
Caleb Alford
Jun 15, 20233 min read
10 Lessons I’ve Learned as a Missions Pastor
As a missions pastor, these are ten things I have learned in my role as I have served my church.
Nathan Sloan
Mar 16, 20235 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
Fully Funded or Support Raised? The Pros and Cons of Each, Pt. II
I have been a support-raised missionary. It’s pretty awesome. Here are some of the challenges, along with a few pleasant surprises.
Bradley Bell
Jul 11, 20226 min read
Upcoming Upstream Book: Holding the Rope
This is an excerpt from the forthcoming book Holding the Rope: How the Local Church Can Care for Its Sent Ones by Ryan Martin, set to be...
Ryan Martin
Jun 28, 20226 min read
Why Church Planters Want to Do Something Bigger
In 2009, alpinists Fabrizio Zangrilli, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, and Simone Leorin stood at the base camp of K2, the world’s second tallest...
Bradley Bell
Jun 20, 20224 min read
Developing a Church Planting DNA
The coolest thing about 1984 wasn’t just that I was born, but that it was the year of the greatest comedy-horror film of all time:...
Bradley Bell
Jun 16, 20224 min read
A Church Plant Can Be a Sending Church
Recently, I was on a personal retreat at a nearby monastery. With my Bible and journal in hand, I tiptoed away to the surrounding knobby...
Bradley Bell
Jun 13, 20225 min read
Navigating Proactive and Reactive Sending
If you’ve been a missions leader for very long, you’ve likely had this experience: A married couple in your church emails you with the...
Mike Easton
Apr 7, 20226 min read
Keeping Track of Those Interested in Going Overseas
Going overseas involves many steps, and it is easy for a potential Sent One to get lost in the process. It is also easy for a missions...
Mike Easton
Mar 10, 20224 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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