Profile of a Sent One
What constitutes the ideal missionary candidate? It’s fitting to begin such a discussion by examining conventional wisdom on the subject....
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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!
Bradley Bell
- Apr 6
- 4 min
How to Pastor Members with a Missions Interest
A church member walks up and says, "Excuse me, pastor. I think I want to be a missionary." Oh no. What do you say?! Here are a few common...
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Jonah Fox
- Oct 20, 2022
- 6 min
Getting Members Involved in Local Partnerships
Mobilizing the Body for the Community: Micro vs Macro When I first stepped into the role of Missions Pastor, I often lived in my head in...
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Mike Ironside
- Apr 21, 2022
- 6 min
Discerning Readiness in a Potential Sent One, Part I
If you gave me a million dollars and told me I could use it toward anything related to global missions, I would probably invest it into...
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Dave & Lorene Wilson
- Apr 14, 2022
- 5 min
Helping Potential Sent Ones Discern Calling
The story of Moses and the burning bush is the iconic example of God calling someone to accomplish His purposes in this world....
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Bradley Bell
- Apr 11, 2022
- 6 min
The Cheerleader and the Curmudgeon
Fostering Both Excitement and Sobriety in Potential Sent Ones Choosing the right road trip companions can mean the difference between...
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Mike Ironside
- Apr 7, 2022
- 6 min
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...
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Matthew Hirt
- May 13, 2021
- 4 min
Why Go to the Mission Field During a Pandemic
Leaving home is always emotional, especially during a time of global crisis. But crisis does not negate Jesus's Great Commission.
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Mike Ironside
- Mar 17, 2021
- 2 min
Overview of Sending Church Element 7: Identifying Sent Ones
Churches that actively identify sent ones are actively developing the leadership potential of their members.
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Anna Price
- Jun 3, 2019
- 4 min
Missionaries Are Not Superheroes: How the Hierarchy of Missions Hurts the Gospel, the Church, and th
The hierarchy of Christian faith—the one that puts missionaries as the closest to God—harms churches, missionaries, and ourselves.
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Matthew Bennett
- Mar 4, 2019
- 4 min
Discerning a Call to Missions
Consider these questions when trying to discern if you're being called to missions.
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debbie4034
- Oct 5, 2018
- 5 min
Spirit-Led Sending
One of our most popular posts from 2017 was a two-part interview with Dr. Gregg Allison discussing the role of the Spirit in churches...
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debbie4034
- Sep 28, 2018
- 1 min
Missions & Marriage
Everything we do at The Upstream Collective is aimed at one goal: for every church to see themselves as a sending church and every...
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Bradley Bell
- Aug 10, 2018
- 4 min
The Faithful Missionary: A Case Study in Missing the Point, Part One
BY BRADLEY BELL, DIRECTOR OF CONTENT DEVELOPMENT My junior year of college our campus ministry kicked off the year with a gathering...
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debbie4034
- Aug 6, 2018
- 4 min
Building A Team || Part 2
In Friday’s post Jesse Eubanks, Director of Love Thy Neighborhood, described how he handles the challenge of building teams on mission....
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Bradley Bell
- Apr 23, 2018
- 6 min
Grace in the “Missionary Call”
Written by Bradley Bell, Director of Content Development Much has been stewing in my heart lately regarding the “missionary call”. Not...
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Bradley Bell
- Jan 15, 2018
- 5 min
Missions and Dating: The Intersection of Disparate Longings
THIS ARTICLE IS BY ZACH BRADLEY, DIRECTOR OF CONTENT STRATEGY We were crying so hard that strangers in the airport were crying too. It...
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Bradley Bell
- Aug 29, 2016
- 5 min
The Good in Goodbye: A Defense for Being Sent When Others Say No
Let’s be honest. Saying goodbye stinks. Not the normal, everyday goodbyes. The kind of goodbyes that tear our hearts out, like a child...
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The Upstream Collective
- Aug 15, 2016
- 5 min
The Poison of Vainglory: Overcoming Pride as a Global Sent One
The following is a guest post from Christian Douglas. Christian serves as a global missionary in Western Europe. Months ago, I had the...
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The Upstream Collective
- Aug 8, 2016
- 7 min
The Idolatry of Missions
The following is a guest post from Jonathan Trotter (@trotters41). Jonathan is a missionary in Southeast Asia, where he provides pastoral...
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