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10 Lessons I’ve Learned as a Missions Pastor

Aug 17, 2020
4 min

10 Lessons I’ve Learned as a Missions Pastor

As a missions pastor, these are ten lessons I’ve learned along the way as I’ve served my church in this role. 1. Take time to learn, dream, and build a good foundation. Before jumping into engagement and activities, take the time to building a good, well-thought-through foundation to mission engagement and activity. This is critical for long-term impact. I suggest developing mission convictions that will lead your ministry forward and help you know what to say “yes” to and wh

Missions Resources from Around the Web

Aug 3, 2020
2 min

Missions Resources from Around the Web

Every week, we highlight resources from our site and around the web to help you think about missions, push the missions conversation “upstream,” learn what God is doing around the globe, help you learn how to lead your church to become a sending church, care for your sent ones, and much more. This week, we want to highlight some helpful resources from around the web. This is a mixed bag of old and new resources about a variety of topics in the missions conversation. The Great

Unlocked, Part 2: Walk as Strangers and Exiles

Jul 20, 2020
4 min

Unlocked, Part 2: Walk as Strangers and Exiles

A word to those who are displaced during this time: walk as strangers and exiles. You and your families have, without a doubt, endured inordinate levels of stress, frustration, and transition. Some of you have bounced from house to house, quarantining in one place before moving on, being humbled by the generosity and hospitality of others. Most likely you have, at times, longed for a home where you could be settled and unpacked, or it could be that you’re missing the houses,

Unlocked, Part 1: Encouragement for Moving Forward Out of Lockdown

Jul 16, 2020
7 min

Unlocked, Part 1: Encouragement for Moving Forward Out of Lockdown

It’s impossible to quantify the complex layers of loss, grief, disappointment, uncertainty, and transition that we’ve all experienced over the past few months. The fact that there is no clear light at the end of this nebulous tunnel is unsettling and disheartening, to say the least. Some of us became involuntary homeschool parents overnight. Others have lived in solitary confinement when it suddenly became illegal to venture out in the streets or gather with friends. We proba

Coming to the Mission Field During COVID-19

Jul 6, 2020
5 min

Coming to the Mission Field During COVID-19

My husband, Bradley, and I had a long season of prayer and preparation before being sent out from our church. We would be the first sent ones from Old Capitol UMC in Corydon, Indiana, and we wanted to soak in as much information as possible about ministry and life on the field. We attended trainings and conferences, and we diligently prayed for the Holy Spirit to guide us to the field he was preparing for us. The Lord confirmed our call to Catania, Sicily, in the spring of 20

Empower the Saints for the Work of Missionary Care

Jun 29, 2020
5 min

Empower the Saints for the Work of Missionary Care

Editor’s Note: Matt Clark will be leading a specialized cohort on Missionary Care starting in August. Find out more information here. I think I have one of the best possible jobs that anyone on a church staff could have. My entire focus is ensuring that the missionaries who are sent from our church are cared for well before they go to the field, during their time of service, and after they return home. If this is part of your role as a pastor or missions leader, I hope you fi

Merits of a Business as Mission Strategy and How to Overcome Its Challenges

Jun 22, 2020
4 min

Merits of a Business as Mission Strategy and How to Overcome Its Challenges

The world is changing rapidly. Globalization, the expansion of cities, and the increase of the middle class have created new and different opportunities for missions. This, in turn, creates the need for new and different missions strategies. With this in mind, Business as Mission (BAM) can and should be a part of a missions strategy for the 2020s and beyond. Here are a few reasons why BAM is a valuable missions strategy and ways to overcome certain challenges. Access Missiona

Together on Mission with God: Principles and Practices of Healthy Partnerships

Jun 18, 2020
4 min

Together on Mission with God: Principles and Practices of Healthy Partnerships

Cross-cultural missional partnership is “The Fellowship of the Bent Knees” (Phil 1:10–11). Partners meet because they mutually submit to King Jesus and then rise together to join in his mission to the nations. Mutual submission and striving form the foundation for healthy relationships among cross-cultural partners (Phil 1:6, 27). Based on previous posts about the theological basis for partnership and my definition of cross-cultural missional partnership, I now want to offer

Together on Mission with God: A Definition for Partnership

Jun 15, 2020
4 min

Together on Mission with God: A Definition for Partnership

“I thank my God…because of your partnership in the gospel.” Phil 1:3–5 In the previous blog post, we looked at some of the biblical foundations for cross-cultural missional partnerships. In this post, I will give a definition of partnership that clarifies goals, actions, and commonalities in cross-cultural relationships in missions. A partner, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a person with a joint share in something or who takes part with another in doing someth

Together on Mission with God: A Biblical Basis for Partnership

Jun 11, 2020
4 min

Together on Mission with God: A Biblical Basis for Partnership

“Two are better than one” is a statement most people would affirm, at least until the two are left fighting over a single cinnamon roll. Who would disagree that sharing, working together, or getting along with others is virtuous? When considering God’s mission to redeem a lost world, we must have a more substantial foundation for partnership than generic moral platitudes. Certainly, there are practical considerations that encourage Christians to work with others. Two people c

How to Prepare for a Virtual Short-Term Trip

Jun 8, 2020
3 min

How to Prepare for a Virtual Short-Term Trip

The article below is an excerpt from The Upstream Collective’s newest Free Download entitled, “Taking a Virtual Short-Term Trip.” There have been a lot of short-term mission trip cancellations this year due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak. Many people have been talking about other options they could consider in light of these cancellations. One option is a virtual short-term trip. We recently conducted a virtual short-term trip with one of our church partners and discovered se

Sent Identity, Part 3: Your Church’s Sending Journey

Jun 1, 2020
4 min

Sent Identity, Part 3: Your Church’s Sending Journey

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a series that has been adapted from a Free Download entitled, “Helping Missionaries Have Sent Identity.” You can find all three parts combined by downloading the resource, or find all three articles here. In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, I discussed the importance of a sending church and what sending churches do that makes them effective at sending, supporting, and receiving their sent ones. Today, I want to focus on some practical appl

The Keys to Conducting Ethnographic Research: Part 2

May 21, 2020
6 min

The Keys to Conducting Ethnographic Research: Part 2

Balancing personal and professional obligations leave most people with very full lives. Some think research requires an extensive time commitment or formal training and so they are hesitant to add it to their ministry toolkit. Despite the initial learning curve, ethnographic research practices can be easily acquired and integrated in a daily ministry routine. Information can be collected when meeting up with friends at a coffee shop, using public transportation, or walking do

The Keys to Conducting Ethnographic Research: Part 1

May 18, 2020
4 min

The Keys to Conducting Ethnographic Research: Part 1

It was a blustery January morning when I hailed a cab to take me across town. I had only been in the city for a few days and was anxious to meet people in the community and explore new neighborhoods. It was clear the driver knew the city well, so I asked him about an imposing building that caught my eye. He told me it was a church. I was surprised by his response because I had heard that few people in this area were familiar with Christianity. When I asked him what they did a

The “Finish the Task” Perspective on Missions: Some Questions to Consider

May 14, 2020
6 min

The “Finish the Task” Perspective on Missions: Some Questions to Consider

If one only listened to the typical missions mobilization messaging, they would believe God’s mission has been reduced to a defined task of checking off the boxes of identified, unreached people groups. Missions researchers tell us that there are thousands of people groups who are unreached (or less than two percent evangelical) and that billions of people will perish if we do not go to them and proclaim the gospel. And the primary message of the modern mission era has been,

Relying on Jesus’ Authority and Presence as We Obey the Great Commission

Apr 27, 2020
3 min

Relying on Jesus’ Authority and Presence as We Obey the Great Commission

One of the most important missions texts in Scripture is the Great Commission found at the end of Matthew’s Gospel. In his final moments on earth with the disciples, Jesus sends them out on his mission with these words: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28.19, 20a, ESV). We reference these verses frequently as we try t

Guts and Glory in the Service of God

Apr 20, 2020
4 min

Guts and Glory in the Service of God

As I prepared for my stint serving as a missionary in East Asia, I decided to read a couple missionary biographies. One of them was To the Golden Shore about the life and ministry of Adoniram Judson in Burma. I was absolutely enthralled by the story, so much so that by the time my departure came, I had churned up a restless, almost rabid energy within myself. That’s one effect missionary biographies can have, particularly when we don’t focus on God’s hand in the stories. The

Maintaining Your Church’s Sending Culture in a Pandemic

Apr 13, 2020
4 min

Maintaining Your Church’s Sending Culture in a Pandemic

Chances are “figure out how to cultivate sending during a global pandemic” didn’t make its way onto the whiteboard during our 2020 strategic planning meetings. COVID-19 and its implications are grinding the world to a halt and our churches and ministries are not exempt. Many of us have been scrambling to figure out online platforms, tightening up our means of communication, meeting needs, and caring for people. As we settle into our new normal, maybe you’ve felt the crippling

Why You Should Cancel Your Short or Mid-Term Mission Trip this Summer

Apr 9, 2020
6 min

Why You Should Cancel Your Short or Mid-Term Mission Trip this Summer

Editor’s Note: This blog post is based on one of our recent webinars, “Adjusting Short and Mid Term Trip Plans” from Mike Easton. You can access this, and other, webinars here. In addition, Mike mentions a reflection journal developed to help students process their feelings about cancelling their summer trips. You can access this journal on our free downloads page. COVID-19 has already changed the entire world and will continue to affect it for years to come. Organizations th

Resource of the Week: 40 Questions About Islam by Matthew Bennett

Apr 2, 2020
1 min

Resource of the Week: 40 Questions About Islam by Matthew Bennett

On Monday, we published an article by Matthew Bennett discussing why it is important to learn about our Muslim neighbors in order to effectively communicate the gospel with them. In fact, Dr. Bennett has written an entire book to help you learn about your Muslim neighbors. Released this past Tuesday, 40 Questions About Islam was written for those interested in learning about Islam from the perspective of a confessional Christian who is hoping to help other Christians learn ho