The Ministry Tableნიმუში

Going Upstream To Break Cycles

One day, two men fishing by a river hear children screaming as the current drags them under. They rush to pull them out—one after another—until one man finally stops, climbs out, and walks upstream. When asked why, he replies, “I’m going upstream to find out who’s throwing them in.”

Every generation faces the temptation to settle for quick fixes, but the late Reverend Desmond Tutu once said, “Instead of just pulling people out of the river, we need to go upstream and figure out why they’re falling in.”

Jesus hasn’t just called us to react to problems; He’s anointed us to confront the systems, patterns, and cycles that keep people bound. It’s easier to just keep pulling people out of the water, but the Kingdom calls us to go further upstream.

We see this in the life of Jesus. He entered the world in poverty, born in a manger because there was no room for Him anywhere else. He knows what it feels like to be overlooked. That’s why He never overlooks us. Later, when the disciples tried to overlook and push children aside, Jesus stopped them. “Let the little children come to me,” He said, breaking the cycle. What had happened to Him—being pushed out—He refused to let happen to them.

That’s what going upstream looks like. It’s not just surviving what tried to drown you—it’s making sure others don’t have to face the same thing. It’s leveraging your influence, your resources, and your voice to stop oppression at its source.

Josiah, the young king of Judah, modeled this too. Generations before him had left idols standing on the high places of Israel—monuments of sin that kept the nation trapped. But Josiah went upstream. He tore down the Asherah poles, broke apart the altars, and restored true worship. He understood that revival doesn’t begin with singing songs alone—it begins with breaking what is breaking the people.

Upstream work isn’t always glamorous. It often looks like prayer, advocacy, discipleship, and standing with the vulnerable, but this is where real healing begins.

The call is clear: Don’t just rescue. Restore. Don’t just survive. Break cycles. Don’t just respond to the river—walk upstream with Jesus. Because upstream is where justice flows, and where the Kingdom of God breaks into the world.

Mark Atkinson
Northeast Field Director, Care Portal
Associate Minister, Church of God of East New York
New York, NY
https://www.careportal.org/leadership/