Fusion Viewbook

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TO OBEY IS MY OBJECTIVE, TO SUFFER IS EXPECTED, HIS GLORY IS MY REWARD.


The Fusion Motto articulates the transcendent cause which every element of the Fusion process must serve. Fusion leadership, advocates, and candidates alike

TRANSCENDENT CAUSE A transcendent cause is not something that we do in addition to everything else; it is the one factor that motivates everything we do.


understand that this motto defines the authentic Christian life; therefore, it is committed to memory and recited regularly as a continual reminder.

Identities hidden to protect students who may be serving in sensitive areas around the world.


Academic accreditation. _

Intensive missions training. _

Great Commission fulfillment. Visit S P U R G E O N C O L L E G E . C O M / F U S I O N

to learn more about the application process.

Spurgeon College, at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, provides Fusion as part of the B.A. Intercultural Studies degree.


THE STATE OF THE MISSION The greatest tragedy in all the world is that God is not receiving glory among unreached and unengaged peoples on this planet. Billions of people around the globe live in places of utter darkness where they will be born, live, and die without ever hearing an authentic witness to the Gospel message. Many of these people are unreached and unengaged because they live in a hard place. We believe that young Christians are uniquely equipped to reach hard places, but they lack the training and experience required.

THE FUSION PROCESS The Fusion process consists of two semesters on Spurgeon College’s campus in Kansas City where students grow in their understanding of Jesus and His call. They are taught to live according to a transcendent cause and are asked, “Is it worth it?” as they prepare to take the calculated risk of proclaiming God’s glory among the nations. The process is then concluded by a three-month deployment with International Mission Board missionaries in hard places around the world.

THE INTERNATIONAL MISSION BOARD (IMB) The International Mission Board is the international missions sending agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. The IMB’s mission is to make disciples of all people in fulfillment of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20. Over 6,000 people groups—1.7 billion people—still live with little or no access to the Gospel.

FUSION’S VISION To release biblical adults committed to a lifetime of making disciples for God’s glory.

FUSION’S MISSION To equip young believers for a lifetime by providing a directional process from adolescence to biblical adulthood.


RITES OF PASSAGE: A rite of passage is an event through which a child comes into adulthood. Specifically, at the end of the process, all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of an adult are conferred on them. In Fusion, rites of passage are used to instill discipline, give direction, and confer responsibility for kingdom service and leadership.


T R A IN I NG LOCATION:

Spurgeon College campus in Kansas City, Missouri.

PURPOSE: To develop the most highlytrained young adult volunteers on the mission field.

DURATION: Two semesters (240 days)


PHASE

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PURPOSE: In order to make disciples of all nations, the believer must first be taught the truth of the Gospel and be shown how to live in response to it. ADVOCATE: An advocate is a Fusion alumnus selected by Fusion leadership as a model of a young adult pursuing biblical adulthood. Advocates are entrusted with the responsibility of teaching and training cohorts to orient their lives according to the Gospel.

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PHASE 1 - STAGE 1

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Spiritual [ TRAINING ] _

LIFE-ON-LIFE DISCIPLESHIP Fusion candidates are placed into cohorts (teams) that live, eat, pray, and train together every day throughout the Fusion process under the discipleship of their advocate.

CHURCH PARTNERSHIPS All Fusion candidates partner with healthy churches in Kansas City and learn firsthand what it means to be an active, healthy church member.

LOCAL MINISTRY Cohorts are taught the basic principles of evangelism, discipleship, and church planting. They will implement this knowledge by seeking to reach unreached peoples in Kansas City alongside long-term efforts.


PHASE

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LOCATION: Spurgeon College Kansas City, Missouri Spurgeon College is poised to be an influence in one of the fastest growing, yet deeply unreached, regions in the United States. Kansas City is home to over 100 languages and more than 1.5 million lost people. The vast majority of people in the Midwest— over 75% in fact—have not accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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PHASE 1 - STAGE 2

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Academic [ TRAINING ] _

WORLD RELIGIONS Exceptional faculty and seasoned missionaries teach the essentials of understanding worldviews and other religions so that students can communicate the Gospel effectively among those who would otherwise never hear.

LANGUAGE STUDY Each week, students participate in three hours of directed classroom study of the foreign language that they will be using during Phase 2.

PERSONAL DISCIPLESHIP AND EVANGELISM Course offerings center on preparing students to engage the world around them as they orient their lives around the Gospel.

ACCREDITATION All Spurgeon College classes are fully accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Fusion students have the opportunity to take advantage of the beautiful campus and full amenities of the College and Seminary.


PHASE

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A WORD ON PHYSICAL TRAINING: Fusion is designed to provide a ministry experience for candidates with varying degrees of physical fitness. It is our goal to help students maintain healthy eating and exercise habits throughout the process. This will prepare students to minister in places that require them to live and travel in a much more physically demanding way.

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PHASE 1 - STAGE 3

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Physical [ TRAINING ] _

PURPOSE Fusion maintains that the body is the Lord’s and must be stewarded as a gift from Him. Therefore, healthy eating and regular exercise should be practiced by the disciple.

WEEKLY CHALLENGES Every week, Fusion cohorts will be challenged with a series of exercises ranging from sprints, endurance runs, circuit training, and resistance training.

DAILY EXERCISE In overseas contexts, cohorts must be accustomed to “Cross” rite of passage achieved upon completion of ground school.

walking varied distances to reach places of ministry. Therefore, Fusion cohorts walk everywhere on Midwestern Seminary’s sprawling campus in preparation for the overseas reality. In addition, there are multiple events during the Fusion process where cohorts will be expected to traverse difficult terrain for upwards of 15 miles per day.


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PHASE

PURPOSE: To access the unreached in hard places, Fusion prepares its cohorts for the realities of living and working in harsh environments.

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PHASE 1 - STAGE 4

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Contextual [ TRAINING ] _

GROUND SCHOOL Fusion cohorts live in a boot camp environment for two weeks in order to develop resilience in the face of the physical and emotional challenges that await them in hard places.

WILDERNESS SURVIVAL & FIRST AID Students will receive practical survival skills that will enable them to minister in hard places, even if their basic needs of food, water, and shelter are not given to them. First Aid is a helpful life skill for any adult; however, it is particularly necessary for those serving in the hard places where medical facilities may not always be readily available.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION All Fusion teams are prepared for the realities of international travel through transportation training in Kansas City and throughout the United States by utilizing planes, trains, buses, taxis, and subways to scatter the Gospel seed.

PERSONAL SECURITY Fusion cohorts are trained to avoid known dangers and to minimize security threats to maximize a thriving witness in hostile regions.


DISCIPLESHIP: Disciples learn from Jesus to become like Jesus. Compelled by the gospel and empowered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, disciples turn from their sin, trust in Jesus as Savior and submit to Him as Lord, are baptized, and belong to churches. Disciples are identified by six marks: transformed heart, mind,affections, will, relationships, and purpose.


“Map” rite of passage achieved upon completion of Phase 1.

GLOBAL MISSIONS PURPOSE: Cohorts live out their training on the international mission field.

DURATION: One Summer (90 days)


PHASE

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LOCATION: Fusion leadership places candidates on a country project at the completion of ground school, during Phase 1, according to their gifts, skills, and passions. DURATION: 24-48 hours (varies according to destination and mode of transportation)

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PHASE 2 - STAGE 1

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Deployment _

HARD PLACES Most of the unreached people groups remain untouched by the Gospel because they live in places that are physically demanding, spiritually dark, and ideologically opposed to the Gospel.

UNREACHED/ UNENGAGED PEOPLE GROUPS Two thousand years after the Great Commission was issued, there are people groups around the world who still have no one targeting them with the Gospel message. Fusion takes the Gospel to people who would otherwise be born, live, and die without ever encountering an authentic Gospel witness.

PACKING SUGGESTIONS Cohorts are taught to pack lightly and smartly so they will be equipped to move quickly and work effectively during their mission.

CALCULATED RISK There is a level of inevitable risk associated with the mission to proclaim the Gospel among unreached people groups in hard places. However, the risk has been accounted for through a high level of training, prior planning, and in-country partnerships.


PHASE

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PURPOSE: Upon arrival, cohorts quickly become acclimated to their host cultures by taking on the attitude of a learner and beginning to communicate the Gospel faithfully and effectively. MEANS: Cohorts have used a variety of means to connect with and serve their host cultures, such as ethnographic research, disaster relief, English tutoring, tourism, and community development.

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PHASE 2 - STAGE 2

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Culture _

LANGUAGE STUDY Through immersion in foreign contexts, Fusion candidates effectively build upon their foundation in the local language.

CROSS-CULTURAL STUDIES Cohorts are immersed in a new culture which forces them to consider how to articulate and demonstrate the Gospel in contextually appropriate ways.

GLOBAL MISSIONS Fusion candidates learn the biblical foundations of global disciple-making and get to align their lives with God’s reconciling work in the world.

MISSIONS PRACTICUM Under the supervision of International Mission Board teams, Fusion students partner together to implement the Wordbased church planting practices learned in Phase 1.


PHASE

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LOCATION: Fusion expects its cohorts to participate in advancing the kingdom in areas that IMB workers are unable to reach, thereby supporting (rather than hindering) the long-term efforts in the region.

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PHASE 2 - STAGE 3

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Mission Assignment _

GOSPEL SOWING Fusion cohorts sow the powerful Gospel message among the non-believing.

ENTRY STRATEGIES Teams search for those people living in hard places who have a heart softened by God through abundant sharing of the Gospel. Those gifted to lead will be identified and trained so that the Gospel will continue to advance, long after Fusion teams have left.

DISCIPLESHIP Fusion cohorts train those who believe to orient their lives around the risen Christ in obedience to His commands.

CHURCH PLANTING Students partner with long-term IMB teams to see thriving, healthy, reproducing churches form among those coming to Christ.

LIFE WITH MISSIONARIES Fusion does not operate independently but in thriving partnership with IMB teams that have long-term strategies in place to see their targeted people groups come to Christ.


MOVING FORWARD: When students complete Fusion, their identities are profoundly changed and their lives are completely transformed.

Sharing the Gospel is no longer just an option but simply what they do, regardless of where they are, whether they are studying in a coffee shop in Kansas City or visiting a village in South America. Fusion does not find its success in what happens during the process, but in what happens through the transformed lives of those who have completed it.


GRE T COMMISSION “Coin” rite of passage achieved upon completion of Phase 2.


PH AS E

THE FUSION CREED: 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!

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a

story:

In high school, I always said I wanted to be an explorer for a

magazine. I longed for adventure and discovery but assumed

that Christianity was for the nice kids and people who wanted to settle down. I was jaded with the familiar form of Sunday

Christianity as I knew it and the disillusionment of a life with no genuine commitment to Christ.

It was that summer when He called me—everything was

new and real. He didn’t call me to go back to a routine I had known; He called me to transformation—to Himself.

In Fusion, we learned discipleship by committing to Jesus and

to one another in small cohorts. It wasn’t enough to just be

myself. I had to submit myself to my brothers as we banded

together to bring the gospel to those who don’t know Jesus.

All the while, the Fusion leadership taught us about the costly gospel and continually forced us to decide whether or not

Jesus was worth everything.

In Phase 2, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by

people who had never heard a clear witness to the true

gospel of Jesus. We studied a foreign language with diligence

and committed to sow the gospel seed abundantly. We had to answer the question whether or not the gospel was worth it

in the midst of ideological opposition, argumentative friends,

stressful living environments, and spiritual forces of darkness.

Through it all, we were steeled in our resolve to sow the gospel and driven to closer camaraderie and intimacy with Christ.

I am no longer a Fusion candidate, but I am a disciple. I see

that biblical adulthood means responsible action in light of

Christ’s worth among the whole world. While I don’t live

overseas, I strive to stay in community with believers and

spread a passion for Jesus’ glory among all the nations from my small corner. My life as a follower of Jesus is not defined

by comfort or success but by obedience to my returning King.

- Russell Savage


. Call to Action REQUIREMENTS: Those applying to Fusion must have or exhibit the following:

- Willingness to submit to the Fusion process.

- High school graduate (23 years or younger).

- Admittance by Spurgeon College as a student. - Approval by the International Mission Board as a student missionary.

Visit S P U R G E O N C O L L E G E . C O M / F U S I O N to learn more about the application process.

PRICING: Primary costs include:

Additional purchases:

- Tuition

- Phase 1 food & housing

- Training costs

- Overseas expenses

- Additional packing list provided

AVAILABILITY: Limited spots are available. To ensure applications are considered, students are encouraged to begin the application process as soon as possible.


Fusion recognizes that its participants will face risks inherent in reaching people in hard places around the world. However, we avoid and minimize those risks by the following measures:

- Intense practical training for field realities (240 days of training for 90 days of travel). - Partnering with IMB teams that live permanently in

the countries in which we work. - Adjusting to information received through IMB Risk Management.

Nevertheless, the decision to carry the Gospel to these places around the world despite the known risks demands that Fusion candidates ask the question, “Is it worth it?” Those who answer “Yes!” are well on their way to becoming fully mature biblical adults who will live their entire lives according to the transcendent cause of glorifying God. The International Mission Board and its partners reserve the right of final selection for all applicants based on the applicant’s current health, fitness, emotional, spiritual, or maturity level. This means that Fusion reserves the right of acceptance into Fusion and international service placement. Once accepted, if Fusion’s leadership perceives a problem with a participant, whether physically, emotionally, or spiritually, it is Fusion’s goal to personally work with each candidate and get them to where they can be best used by the Lord in mission service. This is for the protection and safety of both the candidate and the entire Fusion team.


M AT T H E W 2 8 (ESV)

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Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”



_ 5001 N. Oak Trafficway Kansas City, MO 64118 _ 816-414-3777 FU S I O N @ M B T S .E DU SPURGEONCOLLEGE.COM/FUSION


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