Our Approach

Church-Centric Sending

Upstream Sending is a church-centric global missions organization. Our model seeks to empower the local church to be the primary sender, with Upstream Sending supporting the vision and people sent out globally from the local church.

A growing number of church mission leaders want greater responsibility in sending and mission engagement. Missionaries also increasingly want a deeper connection to their sending church. Upstream Sending seeks to be their trusted partner to provide structure, training, expertise, and relationship along the way.

Sending Network

We believe that relationship is at the core of our ministry at Upstream Sending. Our partner churches agree. As we’ve talked with missions pastors and leaders over the years, we have been told over and over again that they want to be connected to and learn from one another; they want deep relationships with like-minded churches and church leaders. In response to this shared desire we have created the Sending Network.

What is the Sending Network?

The Sending Network is a community of partner sending churches, and their mission leaders, committed to personal relationship with one another, sharing best practices, and to collaboration for more and better global mission engagement. The Network is the structure we have put in place that allows us to relate to our churches, our churches to relate to us, and our churches to relate to one another. 

The Sending Network centers around the following key areas:

  • Relationship & Collaboration

    At the core of the Sending Network is relationship, the churches’ relationship with the organization and churches’ relationship with one another. We believe that if this new model of church-centric sending is going to work it has to be built on a foundation of trust (between the sending church and organization) and ongoing communication. This structure of communication includes regular video calls, accessibility to our church leaders, and more.

    We also see a value of the network helping to build relationships between churches and fostering ministry collaboration for more effective cross-cultural ministry.

  • A Seat at the Table

    One of the motivating factors in the creation of Upstream Sending, and the reason many of our partner churches have joined us, is to have a meaningful voice in sending and field engagement. Our sending churches want a seat at the table. Few, if any of them want to make all the decisions, but they do have a valuable perspective and want their thoughts and convictions to matter in sending and missions engagement.

    We have structured our organization, and the way we relate to our partner churches, to give them a seat at the table — a meaningful voice —both in the way they engage globally and in the overall vision and direction of Upstream Sending.

  • Resources & Empowerment

    Because we see our church mission leaders as friends, co-workers, and valuable to the ministry of Upstream Sending; we want to make resourcing them a priority. We do this through a variety of ways including communication with leaders, books, webinars, and access to the Upstream Collective’s portal of sending church resources. We are also committed to looking for new ways to resource our church leaders.

Membership Benefits

  • Access to sending through our Field Network.

  • Yearly mission leader gathering.

  • Resources to empower better sending.

  • Facilitated communication and collaboration.

Membership Expectations

  • Active involvement in the Sending Network.

  • Developing relationships with other Network leaders.

  • Monthly financial commitment to Upstream Sending.

Field Network

Many sending organizations rely on their own internal network of employees to receive new missionaries. This is a proven model and one that works well. However, we believe there are additional ways of sending and receiving missionaries that are helpful to the sent one, healthy for the field team, and empowering to the global church.

What is the Field Network?

The Field Network is Upstream Sending’s model for how we send missionaries and do cross-cultural ministry. Not only will we send to established Upstream Sending teams, but the Field Network will also tap into our global network of relationships to allow sending to trusted partners, including:

-Vetted national partners
-National and international churches
-Global non-profits
-Other sending organizations’ teams

This network allows for more flexible, collaborative receiving, connecting missionaries with trusted global leaders, and facilitating partnerships with other sending organizations.

  • Sending from Local Churches

    All that we do seeks to help local churches send well. A core part of sending well is to send to health teams that are known, align around a set of beliefs and practices, and are committed to receiving well.

    We help churches and their set ones find teams, national partners, and international organizations that are good fits for receiving new sent ones and ongoing ministry partnership.

  • Received by Trusted Teams

    The Field Network is not just about sending, it’s about receiving well and advocating for healthy mission practice.

    At Upstream Sending, we desire the field team to be ready and willing to receive new sent ones well. Therefore, we commit to only facilitate the sending of a missionary once we know the field team or national partner is ready to receive them. This includes asking prospective field teams to go through an onboarding process that better prepares the receiving team and establishes shared expectations.

  • A Network of Leaders

    The Field Network is also a network of ministry leaders. We are creating a community of leaders that relate to one another across nationalities, learn from one another in ministry, and are encouraged practically by Upstream Sending and its community of sending churches.

Field Network Process

In order to join our Field Network, we ask prospective field teams and national partners to align around the following criteria:

Our processes are focused on alignment rather than authority. The desire is not to control the way people engage in ministry but to cultivate collaboration and clarify expectations for both the receiving team and the sent one. We believe this will improve the potentially devastating mismatch and misunderstanding that can happen between teammates, national leaders, sending churches, and organizational leaders. 

Benefits for the Field Team and Team Leader

  • Greater clarity and health for teams.

     

  • A community of global leaders.

  • Leadership development and encouragement from Upstream Sending.

 *The focus of the Field Network is ministry collaboration and leader empowerment. Upstream Sending is not committing any financial support to field teams or national partners.

 Field Team Practices

The following are team values and practices we ask every team or partner organization in the Field Network to agree upon and put into practice. The application of these values and practice will look different depending on the team and location. Upstream Sending will provide resources and templates to help field teams develop the following values and practices, as needed.

  • One.

    We will be humble learners of our host culture, people, and local church leaders.

  • Two.

    We are committed to the local church in our field context.

  • Three.

    We value team members as whole people, not just the work they produce.

  • Four.

    We will provide a defined level of community for all members on the team.

  • Five.

    We have an accountability process for our team members, including our team leader(s).

  • Six.

    We have an organizational structure, decision making process, and conflict resolution process.

  • Seven.

    We have a clarified onboarding process and mentorship for new team members.

  • Eight.

    We give strategic direction and training for ministry engagement.

  • Nine.

    We make sure everyone knows their role on the team and where their gifts can be used for strategic ministry.

  • Ten.

    We value the churches that send people to the field and seek to honor them through communication and ongoing relationship.

  • Eleven.

    We have an expectation that every team member will maintain a deep abiding relationship with God.

 Ministry Alignment

Ministry Alignment Framework