Archive for the ‘Upstream’ Category
Posted on June 15, 2010 - by Larry - 1 Comment
Key Business as Mission Components
I have the opportunity to talk with quite a few of our Skybridge Community members. We are indeed a community in various stages of our journey here in Europe.
• We are pastors looking at this as a viable way to send workers to the field.
• We are marketplace workers looking for a job in Europe.
• We are workers already living in Europe.
• We are cross-cultural workers who are trying to plant churches and disciple people who want to integrate marketplace place workers into our strategies.
I see these five components essential in our community. In the words of a European businessman who is a follower of Jesus recently told me: “Please tell them to find jobs and come to Europe. We need this type of worker here.”
The Sending Church
One of the first things you should do if you sense a desire from the Lord to move to Europe (or anywhere for that matter) and work is to talk to some key people in your church. Maybe it is your small group leader, an elder or a pastor. I believe it is important that you have the support of your church in this endeavor. We love Acts 13 and the story of the Antioch Church. The Holy Spirit called out Saul and Barnabas for His work. The church prayed and fasted and sent them off. The church was part of the sending process. It was not an individual effort on the part of the missionary.
Just as people who serve with mission sending organizations need the affirmation, support and blessing from the church you need the same. Your sending church can pray for you. They can help support your ministry. They can provide you with spiritual and strategic accountability and they will hopefully desire to partner with you while you are here.
The Job
Another key component is finding a job. Perhaps you are already in an international company that would allow you to move to Europe. Most people find themselves trying to find a job in Europe. This is where networking comes in. What are your marketable skills? What job do you currently have? Can you find that same type of job here? Where can you look for a job in Europe? Can you find an international internship? Start a business? This can be a very tough stage in your desire to live overseas. It is rarely as simple as it sounds. It may take a year or so for this to happen, but do not be discouraged. You can take advantages of links that we may post, utilize our discussion board, talk to people already on the ground in the city you are wanting to go to.
Preparing to Live and Work in Europe
I believe the time to start preparing to live overseas is now. Start learning about your city. Start interacting with people who live there. Read everything that you can get your hands on regarding Europe and the country where you are wanting to live. Pray a lot and enlist some close friends to pray with you on this journey. There are also some excellent books and workbooks regarding living incarnationally in your city.
Try out aspects of living that are different then what you normally do. Take the bus. Walk a lot. Shop in “mom and pop” stores. Anything that you can do to put you more in touch with urban living will be time well spent. We also have a section in our site called The Reference Library. We have over 25 downloadable articles for you to read and interact with. We also would love to dialog with you on these on our site. We also can set up a Skype conversation about a topic of your choice. Just let us know how we can help you in this phase.
Local Ministry
One key success factor is for you to be connected to some sort of local ministry or community here in Europe. This could look different depending on where you will be living. We have some cities where we have other Skybridge workers where you could connect with on a regular basis in a missional community (see below). You also may find a local church where you can worship and serve. You may find some cross cultural missionaries that you can work with in starting small groups or churches. Whatever the Lord leads you to do we find this local component a essential to life overseas.
Missional Communities
While Skybridge is a virtual community in many ways, we do have some places where our members come together to pray, for accountability, to encourage one another and to work together on projects in a local setting.
We also have two retreats a year where you will have the opportunity to gather together with other Skybridgers from throughout Europe where we can share ideas, learn new skills in living missionally, pray for one another and encourage one another.
Posted on June 7, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
A BIG reason why
I must admit one of my favorite videos from our trip is this one.
Why?
This is one of the BIG reasons why I do what I do at Upstream Collective.
If I had one “DO OVER” in my church planting time in the states during the 90s it would be that I did not do enough to help our new churches think and act globally from day one. It was not in the DNA as Joesph says here in this video. Take a look at why I love this video.
Jet Set London // Paris – Joseph and Johnny from The Upstream Collective on Vimeo.
Being involved in God’s global vision for me was always in the future tense.
We become involved in missions once we …..
We need to find ways to encourage church planters to be involved globally from day one. If you have an interest in finding out some ways you can help us do this then contact me at larry@theupstreamcollective.org.
Posted on June 4, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
Next Steps
I am often asked “what are our next steps in global missions as a church”?
Before I give a quick easy as 1,2,3 answer (smile) take a look at this short video. One of the first things that needs to happen as a church is to figure out “to whom is God sending you?” This video is a good recap of London. Is God preparing you or your church to go to London ? If you have interest please email me at larry@theupstreamcollective.org
Stay tuned below for some next steps?
Jetset London // Debrief #1 from The Upstream Collective on Vimeo.
What are some next steps to engage globally? Here are some possibilities!
Never assuming but prayer and being obedient to the Holy Spirit top the list. Google, conversations with strategic people on the field, Divine appointments, scanning various opportunities abroad, etc… can all be important in gathering information to pray over and consider.
Your Church is also important - What is the make-up of your church? How has God uniquely equipped your church to engage in a place. God gave the Great Commission to the church so I believe he has also equipped your church to do just that. Taking a good look at who your congregation is and what are some experiences they may have would also be an important next step. The Upstream Collective is developing an online survey for churches to take that will help in this area. It is in beta testing at this time.
Adoption - They can adopt a cross cultural missionary or a national church planter or pastor already on the ground on the field. I have written some about this on this blog in earlier posts.
Partnership - They can create a partnership with a mission organization or network in the city or amongst a people they feel led towards. They can come along side of them in a variety of ways. One of the things we can do is make some strategic introductions if you need help in doing this.
The Sending Church – Others may feel they have the people and resources to mobilize efforts to become a sending church to that city. They may adopt a particular neighborhood as Branchlife Church is doing. A place to look if you have interest in adopting a neighborhood in London is this site.
I think a key question your church needs to answer here is how do we have an incarnational presence on the field? Is it by sending teams on short term trips, partnering with an existing strategy, planting a church, sending over a team of people to live, etc… Another possibility is to find people in your church who may simply find a way to transfer to a global city in their regular job and be salt and light in the marketplace and community that they live in cross-culturally. For more information on some ideas and resources on this see The Skybridge Community.
Whatever your next step may be I would be more than willing to talk with you and help you in any way that I can.
More soon on Jet Set London / Paris!
Posted on June 2, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
Why Europe?
Taking some time this week to review my time in London and Paris for our Jet Set trip. We had an awesome trip. Very excited about how God is using this time together.
As I took a look at the videos several things jumped out at me. I hope you will take a few minutes to take a glimpse at them.
The first one is a short video of Caleb Crider, the co-founder of The Upstream Collective. He talks in London and gives a great explanation on “Why Europe”. I often find myself having to answer this very question regarding missions in Europe.
We see three streams of culture converging in Europe making it a challenge for mission endeavors.
1. An incline of the post Christian worldview
2. An decrease in institutional Christianity
3. An increase in the influence of Islam
Caleb also talks about what we hope to accomplish at “The Upstream Collective”. Hope you will take a look.
Jet Set London//Paris – The Vision from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo.
Posted on May 24, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
member care
We do a lot of things on these trips. Our days and evenings are quite intense. We keep on the go a lot. We log in a lot of miles each day on foot and in the subway.
We also try to go to fun places in the city. We also spend a portion of each day we spend a portion of the day having missional conversations about various topics:
Who lives in the neighborhood?
What does church looks like here ?
What ministries exist in the area and who are they geared towards?
As we have walked around a lot in London we really see the world living here. It is quite amazing.
The opportunities abound here to be a part of planting churches amongst people groups from all over the world.
One of the most interesting conversations that we had today was with a person who does member care with a mission organization. They help overseas workers with a variety of issues. Life overseas can be a challenge. Crisis can happen. Stress can take it’s hold. After all you are not living in your home culture. Member care workers provide a lot of necessary help to missionaries and missionary families. They are valuable members of the missionary community.
As I listened to him speak to the group I was also reminded how cross cultural workers need to have sending churches that will help them, pray for them, encourage them, hold them accountable, provide resources, get involved strategically, etc.. I was encouraged later as I talked with several of the pastors on this trip who are saying that their church wants to adopt workers.
More from London soon. Please take a look at a few videos from the trip at www.edstetzer.com.
We also have some pictures from the trip so far on www.theupstreamcollective.org
Posted on May 21, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
Jet Set Trip: London / Paris
Today we start our jet set vision trip to London and Paris.
We are extremely excited about this trip and looking forward to what is in store for us.
We have some pretty neat appointments set up along the way. We should be able to follow along on www.theupstreamcollective.org and www.edtstetzer.com for videos and some podcasts as we journey along. You can also follow my twitter and facebook. You can also follow The Upstream Collective on twitter and facebook.
Though I anticipate we will have a lot of fun along the way it is really about watching the church think and act as a missionary. We hope lasting relationships will be formed with these pastors from the states to people working in these cities.
Last night several of us who are already here walked around the city. I am always amazed at how many people here speak English as a second language. There are people groups from around the world in this great city. I hope you will take some time these next few days to pray for the people here. Thanks.
More soon
Posted on February 19, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
7 reasons why I like working with young churches
I am headed to Atlanta to be with my good friend David Putman at ChurchPlanters.com Velocity conference. So I am on the road again.
I always love going to MountainLake church near Atlanta. If you are attending this conference be sure to look me up. I would love to see you.
This past week while leading our Upstream Jet Set tour across Europe I was able to think about some of the reasons why I like to work with young churches or church plants on the field. This does not mean I do not like working with other churches. I am just making some observations about why new churches can be great in missions. I think they make great partnerships for cross cultural church planting teams, working along side a national churches, or a church plant on the field.
So here is my list.
1. They are self starters. Since they are church plants they usually know how to get things started. They live in a constant state of start up mode. They know how to start something out of nothing.
2. They can live with ambiguity. This is life on the mission field. We rarely know what lies ahead on the field. This is how church planters roll. They are fluid.
3. They are explorers. They love to take a look into the unknown. Their exploring often leads to creative ideas for missional living.
4. They have lots of energy. They work very hard. They do whatever it takes to get the job done.
5. They are bold in their witness. I have noticed that most of these planters and young churches actively find ways to share their faith in natural ways.
6. They are practical. They have a keen sense of what works and they move towards that end.
7. They are risk takers. They do not like to fail but they are not afraid of failing or taking a chance.
Posted on February 12, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
Our excursion into Montpellier
On Thursday we traveled from Montpellier to Paris. We had an awesome day in Montpellier. We split up into two’s and explored the city yesterday afternoon.
Here are some quick take aways about our time there.
We definitely just began to scratch the surface but I think we did well considering the amount of time we were in the city. When you split into twos then you can accomplish more for sure.
We prayed as we went about the city.
We all found good cafes to do some observing. As usual that is important to me.
Several in the group had great conversations with people in the city to learn about the people and the city. Trying to strike up conversations is a must. There are usually one or two in a group that seem to do very well at this type of information gathering.
We found good maps at the train station. These were helpful to get us to the hotel on foot. We were lucky this time and stayed a hotel within 1 kilometer.
We talked to the hotel clerk to find out some things about the city and where to start looking at certain sections of the city. In a large city it is hard to see it all so we asked about the university that was there and decided to look and be around that section. We have noticed on this trip from ministries such as The Hamburg Project and The Berlin Project that they do well focusing on a part of the city and then developing their ministries and church plants from there.
We also observed several “nodes” or gathering points for people and traffic. This city was unique that in the center there is no car traffic only foot traffic, bikes and trams. So you have this entire city center that is full of life. Large open areas for people to gather.
Several in the group did some quick Internet research on the city. They found out that nearly a third of the people were 25 and younger. The city has that kind of energy and feel to it.
We went into shops. Strategic consumerism is another place to gain information. Local shop owners can tell you a lot about their city.
We explored the boundaries of the city center and looked for major landmarks. We did not notice any evangelical churches and a fewer amount of Catholic churches compared to other cities. Granted we did not see it all but explored only in the city center. I would want to do more research in this area for sure. What is the current status of the gospel there?
The next morning we went out again. We sipped on coffee and talked about the things that we learned together. Debriefing our time together and taking some notes about what we learned is helpful for the future.
I must say this type of activity is one of my favorite parts of these trips. I love going into a place and start trying to figure out the language, culture, people. I love dreaming with others about what work could look like here and how to engage the people with the Gospel. I am enjoying my time with this team from the Village Church. All of this team have traveled abroad. Several have lived abroad. You will see a video soon on www.theupstreamcollective.org from a guy by the name of Jason who lives out his life in an area of Dallas that is quite impressive.
I have been thinking some about why I think younger churches should be involved globally. These churches have lots to offer. I will write a post on that soon. I know they are teaching me a lot.
Posted on February 10, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
Italy
This was the first time that I have visited Milan and Turino. One thing that we have been talking about as we have traveled south are the similarities and differences of the different cities.
We started our journey in Denmark and now we are in France after visits in Germany and Italy.
We have noticed several things. One particularly obvious thing for me is the language. It was quite amazing in Denmark at the level of English the Danes could speak. As we went to some more diverse areas of the city where immigrants lived we would find some language challenges but when we approached Danish people they usually did very well in English. I still believe long term workers there would need to learn the language to get into the heart language of the people but for a strategic short term teams then the language issues there could be less of a barrier.
As we moved into Hamburg and Berlin we noticed a more diverse culture and less people who could speak English but usually you could get around and talk to people at some level.
When we moved into Italy and France much of this seemed to change for us. I have countless times tried talking to the people in Italy and France in Spanish when they could not understand English. I usually do well at making mistakes in language situations. Some say it is a gift, or a curse. grin.
Two things that stick out to me apart from language issues.
No matter where we have gone as we have talked with nationals and people ministering cross culturally in these areas the consensus is that less than 2 percent of the people are evangelical.
The second part is no matter how hard we try we cannot be cool enough to make it work here. It is a God thing! Only the Lord can open up the hearts of the people here. I pray He will use us on this trip. I pray the Lord will use churches like The Village to engage Europe. I pray for all of my fellow workers in Europe who are day in and day out living out there lives here and dying to self. I know the Lord is faithful and He alone will sustain you and give you opportunities.
Posted on February 7, 2010 - by Larry - 0 Comments
Jet Set Trip Weekend
Our jet set trip really should be a planes, trains and automobiles trip. We have used all three today to get from Germany to Italy.
Really impressed with the team from The Berlin Project. This is an initiative of Redeemer in NYC. As we talked with their pastor and listened to his story he has such a heart for that city and is working hard at planting other churches in Berlin. I like church planters that want to plant churches that plant churches. Here is there site but it is in German.
We stopped by Milan this morning on our way to Turino and was able to visit Jason who is a friend of mine who lives there. We should have his video up in the next day or so on our Upstream Blog. He has a great ministry with atheletes in Milan. You will want to check out his video.
Tomorrow we are going to meet with some new contacts here in Turino for us. We will let you know how that goes.
Meanwhile we are going to enjoy at least three great things about Italy:
Espresso
Ice Cream
Food
