advocacy | Upstream Collective

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.

Human beings all have needs, and those who live cross-culturally are no exception. We can meet each other’s needs in many ways. I have...

I once had a turtle named Fred. Fred liked to eat watermelon. But I went on vacation and forgot to leave Fred any watermelon. When I came...

When you have a struggle in life, who do you go to? Is it a friend? A pastor? An older man or woman? A counselor? When someone in your...

The role of advocacy teams has become increasingly vital to global missions and church planting as a means of caring for missionaries as...

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...

A sending church provides ongoing care in partnership with a missions organization by building a relational structure that nurtures the...

When I was six years old, my parents accidentally forgot me at church. Both of them had driven that day, and they simply pulled away...

Relying on the local church for travel, lodging plans, and fellowship has long been the norm for those sent out to deliver the Good News.

Maintaining healthy souls on reentry is a community effort that takes time and commitment.

Providing for the needs of the body lays the groundwork for rest and renewal of the mind, alleviating stress in sent ones’ reentry process.

Professional Christian counseling may be necessary for returned workers who have experienced trauma or levels of high stress on the field.

We as missions pastors/leaders have the opportunity to equip lay members of our congregations to meet the needs of missionary care.