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Upstream Blog
The Upstream Blog has a range of short articles on various topics around sending. Look through the tags to discover articles that meet your need.​
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How to Communicate Missions Giving to Your Church Members
When you communicate and celebrate missions giving you communicate vision and priorities to your people.
How to Inform the Church on the Impact of Their Giving
We as church leaders want to see our people practice radical generosity. We want our churches to be intentional and wise in directing...
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.
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...
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
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.
How to Think About Funding One-Time Requests
In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul testifies of the Macedonians that “according to their ability and even beyond their ability, of their own...
Leveraging Your Missions Funds Most Effectively in a Small Church
For eighteen years I spent the first hour of my day listening to country music. My mom’s alarm clock was set (loudly) to the local...
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...
Marketplace Ministry from Experience, Pt. III
Self-Funding Missions Before and After Retirement Click here for part one of this article series and here for part two. Wise Advice When...
Marketplace Ministry from Experience, Pt. II
Make the Most of Your Foreign Assignment Click here for part one of this article series. Engage in Marketplace Ministry If God has led...
Marketplace Ministry from Experience, Pt. I
Expatriates: Our Accidental Pathway to Missions Life in the Oil Patch A poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs...
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.
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.
A Liturgy for Raising Support
O Lord, I have set my face like flint. I am prepared to take a step out of the boat of financial certainty— at least the certainty that...
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...
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...
Building the Foundation for Healthy Sending
While it can be said there are no perfect Sending Churches, we do see some common practices of healthy Sending Churches.
Ways a Sending Church Can Financially Support Marketplace Workers
There are several areas for which a sending church can provide financial resources for their marketplace worker.
Ways to Help Sent-Ones Raise Support within Your Church's Giving Structure
How can a church support sent ones in fund raising in ways that are compatible with its giving structure?
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