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...
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UPSTREAM BLOG
The Upstream Collective 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 Upstream Collective
- Feb 20
- 2 min
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...
1690
Matthew Bennett
- Feb 16
- 4 min
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.
2180
Ashlyn Portero
- Feb 13
- 5 min
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...
2530
Matthew Bennett
- Feb 9
- 4 min
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.
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Jason Apon
- Feb 6
- 5 min
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...
480
The Upstream Collective
- Nov 28, 2022
- 6 min
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,...
460
Mike Ironside
- Nov 10, 2022
- 3 min
Training Sent Ones for Multiplicative Discipleship
We should teach our future missionaries the principles of multiplicative discipleship no matter which church model they encounter.
880
Larry McCrary
- Jul 25, 2022
- 5 min
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...
1960
Anna Daub
- Feb 28, 2022
- 5 min
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...
2170
Ryan Martin
- Feb 24, 2022
- 5 min
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...
510
Bradley Bell
- Feb 21, 2022
- 6 min
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...
3930
Joshua Bowman
- Feb 17, 2022
- 4 min
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...
1750
Matthew Hirt
- Feb 14, 2022
- 5 min
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...
1130
Kyle Brosseau
- Feb 10, 2022
- 4 min
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...
970
Andrea W.
- Feb 7, 2022
- 5 min
How to Hit the Ground Running in Language Learning, Part 2
In part 1, we went through some mistakes missionaries often make with language learning. Now let’s look at the missionaries who succeed...
980
Andrea W.
- Feb 3, 2022
- 4 min
How to Hit the Ground Running in Language Learning, Part 1
Many missionaries start out motivated to learn and engage in the new language and culture around them. Unfortunately, those aspirations...
1730
Larry McCrary
- Feb 1, 2022
- 7 min
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...
1530
David Wilson
- Jan 20, 2022
- 5 min
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...
2400
Mike Ironside
- Jan 6, 2022
- 7 min
Partnerships are Foundational to Missionary Care
The best way to do missionary care is to put people on great teams. There are a multitude of reasons why missionaries leave the field:...
950
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