Our Ministry Philosophy

A ministry philosophy describes a group’s approach towards how they go about their ministry. It’s a look underneath the hood, so to speak, to see the missiological engine that propels the ministry forward. At Upstream, we think it’s important to be upfront about what values drive us. You deserve to know these details if you’re considering being involved with us.

Below are a few paragraphs that attempt to give a picture of who we are, what we care about, and some of the missiological commitments that inform our service. 

A Word About Digital Strategies and “Mass Distribution”

In Asia we discovered that many unreached people have smartphones, even in isolated areas. For example, Himalayan Buddhist monks want to add us on social media. Unfortunately, some digital strategies fail to meaningfully engage the unreached by overemphasizing breadth at the expense of depth. While mass distribution methods are well-intended, unseen harmful effects can result from viewing numerical distribution as the ultimate goal.

Upstream is all for wide distribution, but not when it becomes ultimate. Meaningful gospel engagement means that presenting Jesus in a way people understand takes precedence over manufacturing results (the number of people reached, counting conversions, etc.). Mass distribution digital strategies can sometimes over-report and place unnecessary pressure upon on-the-spot conversions. Instead, we prefer to carefully build tools to engage specific ethnic groups and trust God’s timing as we do evangelism.

Why We Believe Customized Bible Apps are Practical and Effective

We certainly desire many unreached people to access Jesus through our tech solutions. Wide distribution is a criterion, but it is not the only outcome we seek. We reflect our emphasis on quality by creating customized and contextualized Bible applications in partnership with missionary teams. We aim to hold the values of breadth and depth together, and we build our products to reflect these emphases. For example, in some cases it may be easiest to direct a field team to YouVersion (a well-established Bible app with thousands of languages). But for many missionary teams, the unreached groups they work with cannot navigate YouVersion or other text-heavy apps. Our contribution to a holistic Scripture engagement plan often involves facilitating initial gospel distribution before the Bible is even available. The product is typically a combination of recorded Bible story sets, artwork and illustrations, and other media. In low-literacy contexts where the Scriptures are not yet available, this is often a practical and effective way to introduce the unreached to Jesus.

We Are Not a Media Group

There is now a common understanding in missions communities regarding “digital ministry.” These sorts of media groups often use social media and other tools in closed countries to find seekers and introduce them to Christians. Oftentimes, the end goal is to facilitate a face-to-face meeting. This is not the same type of thing we are doing. Media groups use existing tools, but Upstream builds tools which don’t yet exist. Because of this distinction, we allow field teams to set specific goals for how they use the tools that we build. Our job is to build high quality, engaging apps which field missionary teams can pick up and use.

Theology Drives Methodology

While the views articulated below may not reflect the views of all those involved with Upstream, they nonetheless “chart the course” for our work by grounding us theologically and missiologically.

Since doctrine always drives strategy (whether stated or unstated), we want to be upfront about our doctrinal distinctives. We hold to the historical creeds (Apostle’s Creed and Nicene Creed) and confessions of the church (Westminster Standards).

We believe that unity in Christ establishes and promotes healthy fellowship across denominational and doctrinal lines. A respected mission conference website puts it this way:

We believe that the cause of unity in the church is best served, not by finding the lowest common denominator of doctrine, around which all can gather, but by elevating the value of truth, stating the doctrinal parameters of church or school or mission or ministry, seeking the unity that comes from the truth, and then demonstrating to the world how Christians can love each other across boundaries rather than by removing boundaries. In this way, the importance of truth is served by the existence of doctrinal borders, and unity is served by the way we love others across those borders.¹

Upstream volunteers represent a broad range of Christian traditions, and we love that! We believe this powerfully displays the unity we share in Christ. At the same time, we believe it is worth stating the distinctives upfront held by Caleb and others as we guide the ministry forward.

The Southgate Fellowship

The Southgate statement is a wonderful document that takes the five solas of the reformation and works them out into principles for modern cross-cultural practice. Caleb (an Upstream founder) is a signatory. The affirmations and denials in the Southgate statement reflect the principles that steer our thinking about media engagement for the unreached.

¹ https://www.crosscon.com/beliefs/