Spurgeon College hosted the Fusion Commissioning Ceremony in Midwestern Seminary’s chapel on April 26, commissioning nine missionary teams to Africa and high security locations throughout the Middle East and South Asia.
Since 2005, Fusion has existed to equip believers for a lifetime of Kingdom service by training students to make disciples of all nations through a one-year immersive program. Each year, Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College sends several Fusion teams overseas and signifies their service through a commissioning ceremony.
Midwestern Seminary President Jason Allen opened this year’s ceremony by addressing Fusion students on the task before them.
After reading Romans 1:13-17, a foundational passage for Fusion students, Allen stated, “This commissioning service is a representation of God’s grace in the lives of these students for this summer and the rest of their lives.”
“The choice to study at Spurgeon College and partake in the Fusion Program is a gospel choice,” he continued. “The work before them is a gospel work, and we could not be prouder of their faithfulness to follow the call.”
Fusion staff then presented the Fusion students to family, friends, and the Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College community as having successfully completed phase one of their training.
Director of Fusion Erik Odegard said, “We are here today to commission these young men and women to the nations, but we are also here to celebrate a rite of passage for these students.”
The Fusion program consists of three rites of passage, each signifying major achievements and further commitments in the future.
Students completed their first rite of passage after Field Personal Training, an intense 2-week training at the beginning of the Fusion program. The Commissioning Service represented the second rite of passage, signifying their successful completion of several months of physical, emotional, and spiritual training. The third rite of passage will be celebrated upon their return to the States, as the students will then be commissioned to a lifetime of service of making disciples of all nations.
“Fusion has always been more than a one-year missions program,” Odegard said. “We want to train young men and women for a lifetime of making disciples. We want to instill this transcendent cause for the glory of Christ among all nations in each student.”
In addition to the three rites of passage, the Fusion Program consists of three phases. Phase one involves the training students receive before their field deployment, including training in transportation, security, risk-management, physical fitness, first aid, and more. In this phase, students also learned to live in community while sharing the gospel and engaging in gospel ministry on the streets of Kansas City.
Phase two is their global missionary service, while phase three involves the students living out the Great Commission for the rest of their lives.
Following an overview of the program by Fusion staff, Midwestern Seminary Assistant Professor of Missions Joe Allen III charged Fusion students to carry out their service with joy.
“The suffering you expect is often not the suffering you get,” he explained. “I do not want you to export a joyless Christianity. Enduring suffering with joy opens doors to the gospel.”
Allen continued to address students on the tools they will need to succeed in the mission. Expounding on Acts 16:25-34, he explained three essential tools for gospel ministry overseas: prayer, songs, and friendship.
After receiving this charge, Odegard asked Fusion students to reaffirm their commitment to the missionary task at hand.
Fusion students then stood to recite the Fusion Creed, which reads:
As a follower of Christ: I am called not to comfort or success but to obedience. Consequently, my life is to be defined not by what I do but by who I am.
Henceforth: I will proclaim His name without fear, follow Him without regret and serve Him without compromise.
Thus: To obey is my objective, to suffer is expected, His glory is my reward.
Therefore: To Christ alone be all power, all honor and all glory, that the world may know. Amen!
Nine Fusion teams approached the front of the chapel to receive a map to help them remember their successful completion of phase one of the Fusion program. At this time, Odegard commissioned each Fusion team, commending them to faithful service in their specific location, while all in attendance joined to celebrate each team’s commitment to the task before them.
Closing the Fusion Commissioning Ceremony, Midwestern Seminary Provost Jason Duesing prayed for each Fusion student, asking for God’s grace to be seen in their lives over the next three months overseas and for God’s glory to spread to all nations until Christ returns.
To watch a portion of the Fusion Commissioning Ceremony, visit Fusion Commissioning Ceremony with Joe Allen III – April 26, 2022 – Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (mbts.edu). For security reasons, portions of the ceremony were not filmed.
For more information about Fusion or to apply to the program, please visit FUSION (spurgeoncollege.com)