Lots of good info and discussion in yesterday's post (you can still join in the discussion there).

From a missionary serving in Taiwan:

I have been asked to speak a little about Taiwan and Taipei. Taiwan is a Tobacco Leaf shaped island 60 kilometers off the coast of China. 22 million people call the island home. There are over 6 million people who make the city of Taipei home. The city of Taipei is a safe and comfortable city where people of all ages can move about and be involved in all sorts of activities to share the gospel. Though there have been missionaries and churches here for many years many people have never heard the gospel in a way that is easy for them to accept.

Taipei is a modern city that is technologically advanced. Technology is the primary element of the economy of Taiwan and Taipei. Taipei is the home of Taipei 101, a 101 story office building which at is the tallest building in the world. While in Taipei we will be able to visit this building and see the views.

In 1950 5% of the population of Taiwan was Christian, today 2% of the population is Christian. The opportunities for ministry is endless.

The average size of churches is 25 - 35 people. In recent years the responsiveness of people to the gospel has grown.

The local religion is a combination of Buddhism, Taoism, local fold religion which could best be called animism. In the past many people would want to take Jesus and place him on their god shelf with all their other idols. Many times people are very willing to talk about issues of faith. In many ways these people are still pre-modern. We will take the participants of this trip to visit at least one temple while on this trip.

I believe that this will an exciting opportunity for North American believers to experience a new and challenging way of ministry and church planting.

Information regarding the team and trip:

Our vision with the Upstream Collective is to help churches find where they can be effectively involved in mission. Lots of churches already do a lot in mission, but when a church is going a hundred different directions, it can be hard to be unified and purposeful. We try to make Jet Set trips (like the upcoming one to Asia) an equal balance of education, connection, dreaming, research, and worship experience. The trip isn't the end, though- it's the beginning of an ongoing relationship with a Collective of like-minded churches and missionaries.

How this trip can help your church?

From Michael Carpenter:

I had the privilege of traveling to Rome, Italy and Marseilles, France with Larry, Caleb, Ed, and others a couple of months ago. We toured the cities, met the missionaries who live and work there, discussed mission challenges, strategies, and the prevailing worldview of Europeans. However, I also smelled the air. I tasted the food (even had Indian food in France). I met Italian and French people who had become friends of those we worked with. I saw with my own eyes the spiritual emptiness of a Sunday morning service in Rome that had become a tourist attraction more than anything.

These are the things a person needs to catch a vision for global mission. Because until you smell the air, taste the food, and shake people's hands can the vision become "real." Our church plant had said from day one that we need to discover what God is doing not only where he has sent us to plant this particular church, but also around the world. And until I went on the vision tour did that vision of Matthew's Table engaging in God's global mission become a reality. That is to say, we now have focus in a world full of distractions as well as opportunity. A focus, that I believe, is a direct result of participating in this trip.

Furthermore, we are in the beginning stages of creating a partnership in Rome. We recently had one of the guys we worked with in Rome share his story and the work they are involved with via a skype video call in a Sunday service.

This particular Sunday, we all shared in an Italian feast, (chicken marsala - we eat together every Sunday) listened, asked questions, and prayed together with our new friend in Rome. This experience brought home another piece of the reality of God's global mission into the minds and lives of our community of faith. We all have now committed together to partner with the work in Rome.

So, I said all of that to say, if you are looking for a way to connect with God's global mission in Asia, then here is your chance to do just that.

From Lane Harrison:

I was really excited about the trip to Italy and France with Upstream. While I didn't know those guys yet, I knew Ed and loved the vision for what Upstream is trying to do. The trip was great from first to last. As with any international trip we had some changes in schedule, but they were all handled very well to keep the team moving and 'on-task'. I took three of my church members with me that I was hoping to use as leaders on trips and within LifePoint for missional work. I could not have planned or hoped for a greater response from them. They were totally stoked from the trip. One has been sending me e-mails since he returned with insights for mission that the Lord is giving to him and his own convictions about being a missionary at home. He led a guy to the Lord for the first time yesterday through his work! Being able to 'see the field', interact in the culture and personalize the labor was invaluable for us and ultimately for LifePoint. We are now praying, dialoguing and planning what it looks like for LifePoint to engage in international, Gospel-centered church planting in these areas. We were never interested in just a couple of trips to 'see what was going on'. From the start we wanted to participate in the labor. We know God is leading us in this as we obey his call. I'm thankful for Upstream and the path they are helping us to build to the international field. I know they will be a vital part in preparing LifePoint to engage in global church planting.

By the way if you have not seen this video of Ed interviewing Michael in Rome you need to take a look at it.
http://blog.theupstreamcollective.org/2009/05/25/video-ed-stetzer-interviews-michael-carpenter-in-rome/

What if you can't come:

One thing that's especially exciting about this trip is that you'll be able to follow along even if you're not able to come with us to Taiwan.

We're going to post interviews with Ed, photos of the sights, video of the teaching sessions, and info on the groups and church planters we meet along the way.
We'll use Twitter to keep you up-to-date, (@edstetzer and @theupstreamc) and we're going to experiment with some live webcasts as well. (Of course, with the time difference, you'll be sleeping during most of the action...)

You'll be able to follow along here at edstetzer.com or at theupstreamcollective.org.
By the way, there are some spots still open for this trip. If you're interested, let us know soon! Email Larry@theupstreamcollective.org