missionary care | 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’m a World War II history nerd. I have watched almost every documentary out there on this time period. As the largest conflict in...

If you have ever served in long-term missions or known someone who has, then you know that following the missionary call God often...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Sending missionaries from your church is exciting, but caring for your sent ones long term is often very difficult. Caring for them when...

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.

Post-field care can be the most challenging care for churches to provide. Missionaries come home for numerous reasons—scheduled visits,...

“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...

Church leaders should recruit like coaches. Successful coaches know what type of players they want, and instead of waiting for them to...

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...

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...

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...

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...