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UPSTREAM BLOG
The Upstream 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!
Brian McClure
Mar 25, 20244 min read
Field Perspective on Advocacy Team Care
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...
Bradley Bell
Mar 18, 20243 min read
Leading the Advocates
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...
Mike Easton
Mar 12, 20243 min read
Microskills for Advocates
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...
Christian Townson
Mar 4, 20244 min read
The What and Why of Advocacy Teams: Nurturing and Supporting Sent Ones
The role of advocacy teams has become increasingly vital to global missions and church planting as a means of caring for missionaries as...
Mike Easton
Feb 26, 20244 min read
Beyond Reverse Culture Shock Introduction
I’m a World War II history nerd. I have watched almost every documentary out there on this time period. As the largest conflict in...
Kelsey Jarjour
Feb 5, 20245 min read
Four Practical Ways to Care for Missionaries on Furlough
If you have ever served in long-term missions or known someone who has, then you know that following the missionary call God often...
Abigail Newport
Dec 25, 20234 min read
Questions to Ask TCKs
One of the best ways to show love to the third culture kids (TCKs) in your church and missionary body is to ask them questions, but it...
Shirley Ralston
Aug 28, 20235 min read
Mobilizing Marketplace Workers in Your Local Church
As a returned global worker, I occasionally get this request from our church’s mission’s office: “We had a visit from someone about to...
Larry McCrary
Jun 29, 20231 min read
Long-Term Missionary Care
I just ran into one of your missionaries and asked them to describe in one word the kind of care they have received from your church that...
Larry McCrary
Jun 26, 20234 min read
How Can the Sending Church and Organization Work Together in Missionary Care?
A sending church provides ongoing care in partnership with a missions organization by building a relational structure that nurtures the...
Bradley Bell
Jun 22, 20234 min read
A Practical Way to Structure Your Church’s Missionary Care
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...
Matthew Hirt
Jun 19, 20235 min read
Serving Sent Ones in Hard Places
Sending missionaries from your church is exciting, but caring for your sent ones long term is often very difficult. Caring for them when...
Caleb Alford
Jun 15, 20233 min read
Sending Does Not Mean Letting Go
Sending someone does not mean letting them go. It means holding on tight to the relationship so that the nations may know the glory of God.
Ryan Martin
Jun 12, 20236 min read
Post-Field Care: Plan, Presence, and Pathways to Reengagement
Post-field care can be the most challenging care for churches to provide. Missionaries come home for numerous reasons—scheduled visits,...
Ryan Martin
Jun 8, 20234 min read
On-Field Care: Prayer Is Not Just the Means to Do the Work—It Is the Work
“Prayer does not equip us for greater works—prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher...
Ryan Martin
Jun 5, 20237 min read
Pre-Field Care: The Oft-Forgotten Element of Missionary Care
Church leaders should recruit like coaches. Successful coaches know what type of players they want, and instead of waiting for them to...
Shirley Ralston
May 29, 20237 min read
Creating a Network of Care Trip Goers
Is Your Church Ready? Care team, what do you do when one of your church’s global workers reaches out and asks for help? What if your...
Natalie Ford
May 1, 20234 min read
Connecting with Kids on the Field
Rarely do children wake up and say, “I want to move across the world and leave my home and friends so my family can tell people about...
Shirley Ralston
Jan 16, 20238 min read
Five Reasons to Revisit Your Partners
Trips with Purpose - Intention to Care Last year, two of my family members participated in a short-term trip to one of our church’s...
Larry McCrary
Aug 11, 20226 min read
A Case for Missionaries Taking a Sabbatical
I recently came off a two-month sabbatical. My board at The Upstream Collective had given me the opportunity to pick a couple of months...
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