Serving as full-time Christian workers in Spain and Germany has taught us a lot. One thing we at The Upstream Collective have seen first-hand is that God’s work in Europe isn’t limited to one vocation. Rather, God is calling people from all professions and all kinds of churches to get involved in what He’s up to in Europe, whether that means being globally active from a physical distance or daring to jump the pond.
Another thing we’ve been learning is that God will use that kind of involvement in Europe to better prepare North American believers to be more effective locally as they seek to live out the Great Commission. Our goal is to coach churches and individuals to take a more active role in incarnational missions in North America and Europe.
That’s why we started the Upstream Collective, a small nonprofit with the goal of equipping churches through
- Awareness campaigns about the spiritual need and opportunity in Europe.
- Connecting Christian professionals in Europe to stateside churches who can adopt and commission them
- Training seminars for churches on how to develop strategies for missional engagement of people groups
- Leading small groups on informal vision trips to European cities
- Openly sharing innovative new ideas and best practices across a loose network of churches and missionaries
The Upstream Collective is a loose network of missional leaders that reaches across the U.S. and Europe. We actively partner with several groups, churches, and organizations. For more about what we believe, please read our Doctrinal Statement.
Larry McCrary
Just over six years ago on New Year’s Eve 2001, Larry and Susan McCrary arrived with their two children in Madrid, Spain. It was the beginning of a new adventure for these church planters, whose previous experience had been planting attractional, seeker-oriented churches in Georgia, Texas and Tennessee.
But the hard, dry spiritual soil of Madrid’s wealthy suburbanites drove home the need for the McCrarys to live more incarnationally – not to pursue traditional, attractional evangelism methods with their Spanish friends, but to simply live life with them and let God work through those relationships. Little by little, Larry and Susan began casting this vision for their home church and others in the United States. Volunteer groups came regularly, knowing that they were coming to bless the lives of the families with whom they would interact. Sometimes that took the form of sharing a truth about Jesus in a conversation. Sometimes it meant teaching an English class. Sometimes it happened over a cup of strong Spanish coffee.
After years of doing life with their Spanish friends in Madrid, the McCrarys accepted a mobilization position with the International Mission Board’s regional office in Western Europe, resulting in their move to Germany, where they currently reside. Their relationships with their Spanish friends, however, remain strong – and God is at work.
It is the work God has been doing in the lives of these friends – and countless other examples of incarnational, missional living among not-yet-believers – that have inspired the McCrarys to pursue a new God-given vision: that of effectively connecting emerging churches in the United States with the needs of the peoples of Western Europe. Larry’s extensive education and experience in both church planting and missions – on both sides of the pond – have prepared him and his family uniquely for this opportunity at this time.
Caleb Crider
Despite having been on trips to Zimbabwe , Russia , Turkey , and Germany, Caleb had no idea what he and his family were getting themselves into when they moved to Spain in 2002. Fortunately, the years he had spent in church ministry outside San Francisco , California really gave him a head start in understanding the European post-Christian worldview. The Criders immersed themselves in Spanish culture, and their desire to see a truly indigenous expression of Christianity among Barcelona ’s Catalan people group led them to some creative approaches to foster natural and personal interaction with people.
Caleb developed a ministry strategy that led a team of church planters to focus in three areas: art, social action, and culture exchange. They started by organizing the Barcelona Company network of artists; an initiative that encourages collaboration among creative people. Their involvement in non-profit and charity organizations, such as Barcelona ’s “Art Solidari” (Art Solidarity) and “El Casal del Infants” (Children’s Community Center) gave them a way to minister to Catalanes and other people groups in a tangible way. Finally, Caleb is a founding member of “Intercambio Internacional” (International Exchange), a registered Spanish nonprofit organization that promotes the sharing of cultures and worldviews through culture exchange trips and studies abroad.
The Criders have extended their team to include the participation of various missional churches from the States. Western Europe is not the place for shouting from the street corner or some big fancy program. God is raising up relational churches who are well-suited for international missions. The Criders are committed to helping them find ways to minister incarnationally in the European context.
