TWENTY-SEVEN years ago Stephen Mwakibinga popped out to his local grocery store. He never came back, at least not as the same man, for two evangelists met him on his way. There and then, in the dusty Zambian street, Stephen straightaway knelt and gave his life to Jesus.

It's characteristic of him both as a man and a leader - confrontation and vision, followed by obedience and action.

Stephen first heard about the Jesus Fellowship the same year as his conversion, but the Multiply International Leaders Conference in 2006 was his first taste of the real thing. He was impressed - firstly, by the depth of the fellowship.

For Stephen, lots of small churches can feel isolated and neglected, and it is to them that Multiply particularly offers the hand of fellowship.

"One can put to flight a thousand; two, ten thousand; so by standing together we can do more," he explains. "Also, the mission of Multiply is to be a house and a home for many who are standing by themselves."

This tallies exactly with the vision of Stephen's own church, All Nations Harvest, to be a home for everyone. "Our heart is for the needy," says Stephen. "We aim to see people make it in this difficult world."

That it's difficult in Zambia is certain - millions of Zambians live below the World Bank poverty threshold of $1 a day. The country was wracked by flooding in January this year, with houses near the mother church in Kitwe collapsing and the city hit by cholera after people drank unclean water. Four months on, in many areas people are still living on donated food and in temporary homes. All Nations Harvest helped with the feeding programme.

"Life hasn't been easy for many this time around but God is great and on our side," says Stephen, still with a smile.

The Jesus Fellowship's Jesus Centres - 24/7 church - inspired Stephen to open a clothes bank, and a school for street children runs in the church building too. The plan now is to open an orphanage, to rescue the children before they become hardened to street life, and work has begun on renovating the rooms for this.

"If Jesus had a church, would He be waiting for people to come back on Sunday?" asks Stephen pointedly.

Discipleship was another theme that struck a chord with him: "Firstly, the emphasis in the Jesus Fellowship is not just on a person coming to church on Sunday. Secondly, it makes those who are involved in discipling also not to be idle in the church. In many churches, 'the pastor' is doing everything - there's no room for others to develop. And sometimes in cell group, all people go for is 'who are we going to hear today?' But here, it's life outlived."

All Nations Harvest also wants to be a place where people are fathered and mothered in the Lord. Hence its mission statement: "called to reach, care, equip and empower people of all nations."

"Bible school is good but bible school does not father a person," explains Stephen. He personally was spiritually "fathered" by Bernard Nwaka for 19 years. "I just went from doing nothing to doing something," he recalls, laughing. "I did all sorts of stuff, and from that has developed into what I am today." Now he himself "fathers" a group of 13 "sons", some of whom are older than himself! "I feel there's much more I have to give to people," he continues. "I want many sons who say, 'God gave us a father, we had a father in our midst.'"

On his return to Zambia in summer 2006, Stephen lost no time in sharing the Multiply vision. For the first meeting, fifteen pastors turned up - the second time round, this had more than doubled to 35! Now there are regular monthly meetings in Kitwe. "Multiply has become a uniting factor for ministers in Kitwe from different churches," says Stephen. "It has broken through denominational barriers. It has broken through doctrinal barriers. And it has broken through barriers of superiority, as an open body - an arm of unity in the body of Christ."

Now Stephen is opening Multiply groups in other towns and placing city leaders to oversee Multiply activities and fellowship, along with Multiply fellowship of ministers and leaders every two months in towns where there are already Multiply representatives.

Beyond Zambia's borders, Multiply has extended into Congo, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania and Botswana, and it is hoped to have a regional conference in September 2008.

Also in the visionary pipeline are Multiply businesses, to enable member churches to fund their work. Two of the ideas floated so far are an internet café and a transport business.

In his first year of Multiply membership Stephen enjoyed a ministry tour with another Multiply apostolic leader, Pascal Orome from the Ivory Coast, that included welcoming him into the family home. "The strength is that when Pascal comes over to Zambia, it is as one of our family members in Multiply; it shows that we are a family belonging to a larger family," explains Stephen. In this past year, Stephen's relationship with Daniel Grimmer of the United Arab Emirates has also been growing as they partner to resource their leaders and ministers through training and equipping.

"I think Multiply is a very big tool that God can use," concludes Stephen. "You see, leaders are the most lonely people, in the church and in the corporate world. What they're looking for is a relationship of their peers, a strong attachment. They want someone who can stand by them, help them, minister to them.

"There are many networks claiming to be relational, but really there's no relationship at all. My desire is that Multiply can grow into this dimension where we go beyond conferences and gatherings, where we plunge together into the stream where it's real networking."

So come on in, the water's lovely!

---