Benjamin Stephan
Hello, my name is Benjamin Stephan. I am 26 years old and I am a full-time missionary in Mufulira, Zambia, Africa, whereI have been living for over two years. The things that have been accomplished in that time are incredible! For those of you who are not familiar with me or the work we do here in Zambia, let me explain.
I am a full time missionary for an organization by the name of All God’s Children Zambia. We are an American formed organization that does many different works. I am fully funded and supported by friends and family who believe in the work that is being done for the people of Zambia. The organization has four main pillars that we stand on. One pillar is health care. We are currently in the process of building a fully equipped hospital in a remote area close to the Congo border. This hospital will save the lives of many of the Zambians in the area, for there are over eight nearby villages that will be benefiting from this project. A second pillar is sustainability. Presently, we are in need of financial support, but in 2017 we started farming so we could begin raising money to support ourselves. In the future, our dream is to become fully self-sustaining instead of relying on the support of others. The third pillar is family support, in which I am involved. Through a sponsorship program, we help feed vulnerable families and we assist with education for orphans (including some up to university level). We teach people how to start their own business through sewing or selling vegetables in the market. We also have after-school programs for the children whom we are sponsoring to make sure they are getting well educated not just at school but after school as well. The fourth pillar is discipleship, and this pillar is the one that has captured my heart. I am currently the director of discipleship for our organization. I lead four discipleship groups every week and, through our commitment, there are over a dozen groups that meet weekly. I also teach occasionally at a local Bible school in Mufulira. We are seeing transformation take place in the lives of many people, young and old, through our work in Zambia.
I am writing this letter to inform you on how you can get involved in this ministry. I am coming back to the United States from June 8, 2018 until September 25, 2018. When I first planned this trip, it was just for a month to see friends and family and maybe speak at a few churches but later found out that God had different plans. My mom asked, “Ben why don’t you travel and see other churches and ministries while you are back and spread the word about what you are doing?” This shook me a little bit because it was much bigger than the vision that I had, so I told her I would pray about it. Within the next week or so a good friend of mine had sent me a message saying “Ben I had a dream that you were traveling around and sharing the love of Jesus everywhere you went, and everyone you were speaking to was touched by the love of Jesus.” That was confirmation enough for me! I have now planned to visit and speak at churches in four major cities. I will be in Cincinnati, Louisville, Peoria, and Kansas City. One of my goals is to fundraise for a special project for Loving God’s Children, which is to build a full scale community center where we can start a small Bible school, and further equip the people through education opportunities and to train people to create their own businesses.
My personal expenses are funded by monthly support while in Zambia, and that support will continue while I am in the U.S. But my living expenses in Zambia, quite frankly, are far cheaper than the traveling expenses I will need when visiting other churches and ministries in the U.S. I know God wants to send me, and I know His hand will be on me as I go. I am praying for additional funds for gas and food while I am traveling and sharing about our organization. Would you please pray about giving a donation to further God’s work? The money you sow into ministry will be multiplied not only by the people we reach now with the Gospel but also the ones we will reach in the future. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me through email at
[email protected]
This is a glimpse of what Ben is doing in Zambia: Every Wednesday he is preaching and teaching at a home church he started in a very poor village (the church is at the home of Patrick, a witch doctor they led to the Lord – the last picture below!), Ben also has a children’s ministry on Saturday with kids from this same village. On Sundays he leads a youth discipleship group. He meets weekly for basketball with others from the area and is sharing the Lord with them. Many days of the month are spent taking food to orphans and their caretakers. God is using him in a wide variety of ways – but he can only do this because of people’s support.
From Kelly, Benjamin’s mother:
Let me share an amazing, true story with you. In December 2017, one month before Benjamin left for Zambia, he was praying at the prayer room at IHOP (International House Of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri, USA). A man sitting in one of the side rooms kept catching his attention. Finally, Benjamin went in and introduced himself. The man asked if he was there for ‘the meeting’ and Ben said no, he explained how he kept noticing him and thought he should talk to him. The man invited Benjamin to stay and a few minutes later two other gentlemen joined them. When their meeting began, they told Benjamin that the three of them met together monthly to pray for missionaries.After they finished their meeting they asked Benjamin to tell them about himself. He said, ‘actually, I’m going to Zambia next month and staying for a year to help with building a mission hospital, orphans and widows, and whatever else God wants me do.’ They got excited and asked if he knew Dr. Thinus [he didn’t] – they said he lived in South Africa but had Bible schools in Zambia and several other nations in Africa. They said ‘you two need to meet up!’ They asked Benjamin to write a letter about himself, and said they would forward it to Dr. Thinus. They also gave Benjamin his contact information in Zambia. As Benjamin was leaving, one of the men said, “I bet before this is all over, you’ll be teaching in one of his Bible schools!” Benjamin called me later that day and said guess what happened today! He told me the story and said, “yea, this guy has a Bible school in Zambia in some place called MUFULIRA.” I said, “Benjamin, do you know WHERE we will be staying in Zambia?” He said, “no.” I said, “We will be staying IN Mufulira!!!!”
That was just the beginning of AMAZING things God would do in and through Benjamin!
Fast forward 15 months, along with helping care for orphans and widows, Benjamin met ‘Dr. T’ (his house was 1.5 miles from where he lived)! He became good friends with him, enrolled in his Bible school and was the first Muzungu (white person) to graduate from the school (and was the top of his class!), and the following year they asked Benjamin to teach a few classes in Bible School!