KANSAS CITY, Mo. (MBTS) – Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College students spent the summer proclaiming the gospel, strengthening local churches, and serving ministry partners across the world through a faculty-led mission trip to the Philippines and deployments with the Fusion missions program.
“We are thankful to see God deepening and expanding our Great Commission work as more and more students are going out to the nations,” Allen said. “I trust that you will be encouraged as you read this update and sense the evidence of God’s blessing on the students and faculty of Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College. We are profoundly thankful for the work of the Lord that is reflected in this report.”
In the Philippines, a 27-member team led by Joe M. Allen III, assistant professor of missions at Midwestern Seminary, traveled to the island of Palawan, sharing the gospel with more than 170,000 people across 556 schools.
In partnership with the Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association, the team also distributed more than 175,000 gospel tracts during nine days of ministry.
“I was so proud of our team,” Allen III said. “Everyone worked hard, waking up early, traveling long distances, preaching their hearts out, and enduring scorching heat and torrential rainfall.”
At the same time, 76 participants served through Fusion, Spurgeon College’s missions training program, engaging 59 people groups across Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America. According to the program’s summer report, Fusion participants gave 5,130 gospel presentations, reported 93 professions of faith and 59 baptisms, and trained 1,276 national believers.
The summer included 33 Fusion Impact participants serving for three weeks, 42 college-level Fusion participants serving for three months, and one Fusion Masters participant. The deployments took students into a variety of ministry contexts, allowing them to participate in evangelism, discipleship, leadership training, church ministry, and outreach efforts alongside missionaries and national believers.
Proclaiming the Gospel in the Philippines
Spurgeon College students Parker Deaton, Eli Norman, and Cayden Jackson served in the Philippines alongside Midwestern Seminary students Daniel Holsten, Jacob Katsion, Lincoln Katsion, David McElrath, Cissy Namukasa, and Hannah Pratt. Members of Fellowship of Grace Church and other churches also participated in the trip.
Each morning, the group divided into 10 teams consisting of Americans, Filipino pastors, and translators. The teams departed around 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. and visited as many schools as possible before students were dismissed in the afternoon.
Each team averaged slightly more than six schools per day. With approximately 300 students at each school, the teams spoke to more than 170,000 people throughout the trip.
“The Lord answered countless prayers leading up to and during this trip,” Allen III said.
At each school, team members presented the S.A.F.E. acronym, which stands for Secrets, Alone, Force, and Exchange, before sharing the gospel. At the conclusion of each presentation, they distributed a gospel tract titled “Welcome to Heaven” to every student and teacher.
In areas with significant Muslim populations, most schools allowed the teams to share the gospel and distribute tracts, although some teachers and principals ended the presentations or prevented literature distribution.
Teams also traveled by boat to remote islands, visited communities with limited access to the gospel, held gospel film showings, and preached in local churches.
Serving Alongside the Global Church
Fusion teams similarly encountered a range of cultures, religions, and ministry needs. Some participants spent their summer initiating gospel conversations, while others concentrated on discipling believers, training local leaders, and supporting existing churches.
In South Asia, students saw the importance of ministry that extends beyond initial gospel proclamation. One participant wrote that a summer originally expected to center primarily on evangelism instead revealed the urgent need for sustained, biblical discipleship.
“This work set before the church to go and make disciples of all nations is not only for missionaries,” the student wrote. “Discipling believers is needed. Sitting down with them and reading the Bible together is faithful. Having hard conversations that change people’s perspective about life is faithful. Pointing brothers and sisters to Christ is faithful.”
Another student reflected on seeing the relationship between faithful pastors and healthy congregations. The experience convinced the student that missions work must include equipping pastors to shepherd their churches and helping believers grow in daily discipleship.
Elsewhere in Asia, Fusion participants developed relationships that opened doors for continued gospel conversations. One team renewed a friendship with an individual who had first encountered Fusion students the previous summer. After further conversations and attending a local church, the individual professed faith and began foundational lessons with the church’s elders.
The student described the experience as a reminder that salvation belongs to the Lord and that missionaries serve as participants in work God is already accomplishing.
Watching God Work Through Weakness
In East Africa, Fusion teams participated in evangelism, church planting, conferences, discipleship, and leadership development.
One participant was unexpectedly asked to preach in a local language after another speaker became unavailable. Although the student felt limited by the language barrier, the message included a gospel presentation and an invitation to respond.
“It was so evident that God powerfully worked through my weakness,” the student wrote. Seventeen people responded and subsequently requested baptism, according to the student’s account.
Another team helped establish a church among a previously unreached people group. Students worked with national believers, shared the gospel throughout the community, held Bible studies, and helped prepare a local pastor to continue leading the congregation after the team departed. By the end of the deployment, six professing believers were attending the newly established church, five of whom had been baptized.
Strengthened Through Service
In the Philippines, Allen III expressed gratitude for the Lord’s protection and provision throughout the trip. Aside from common ailments, the team experienced strong health and stamina while maintaining unity amid demanding travel and ministry conditions.
“He granted our team sweet unity and fellowship,” Allen III said. “He protected us along the treacherous mountain roads. He also allowed our luggage to arrive safely.”
The team faced its most significant travel difficulty on the return journey when its flight from Manila was delayed eight hours. The delay created several missed connections, and the team arrived in the United States one day later than planned.
Despite the challenges, Allen III said the group maintained a spirit of joy and cooperation.
“The work was toilsome, yet no one complained,” he said. “A sense of joy and camaraderie characterized our team because we knew our labor was not in vain.”
Although evangelism was the primary focus of the trip, Allen III said discipleship was another significant outcome, particularly among the American participants and their Filipino ministry partners.
“Every participant testified that they grew spiritually during the trip,” Allen III said. “They each confessed that they came to love the gospel more deeply, care more for the lost, preach with greater confidence and competence, endure hardship more willingly, and lean harder on the Lord.”
Across both the Philippines trip and the Fusion deployments, students received repeated opportunities to communicate the gospel across cultural and religious contexts, serve alongside established ministry partners, and witness the needs of churches around the world.
Reflecting on the demanding schedule in the Philippines and the scope of the opportunities God provided, Allen III emphasized the continuing need for Christians willing to proclaim the gospel.
“The harvest is truly plentiful,” he said, “but the laborers are few.”
To learn more about Fusion, click here.
