One Lady. Five Hundred Churches.
Ground Zero — Webuye, Kenya
Webuye, Kenya is the ground zero of Go Multiply in Africa. Our first discipleship retreat there was in 2015, and what God started in that place has now resulted in the multiplication of over 15,000 churches in over 12 countries across East Africa. When we talk about what a Disciple-Making Movement actually looks like, Webuye is one of the clearest pictures we have.
In 2023, we returned to Webuye for another discipleship retreat, this time held on the farm of Isaac — our top leader in Africa. The team deliberately tried to limit the numbers. They invited 100 people. Instead, 250 showed up.
They rented a truckload of mattresses. People slept everywhere — inside, outside, in hallways, under trees. It was not a polished event. It was not a comfortable event. But God provided everything that was needed, and what happened in that place over those days is still multiplying today.
In 2023, we returned to Webuye for another discipleship retreat, this time held on the farm of Isaac — our top leader in Africa. The team deliberately tried to limit the numbers. They invited 100 people. Instead, 250 showed up.
They rented a truckload of mattresses. People slept everywhere — inside, outside, in hallways, under trees. It was not a polished event. It was not a comfortable event. But God provided everything that was needed, and what happened in that place over those days is still multiplying today.
She Came Because Her Pastor Was Too Busy
Among the 250 people who showed up was a woman whose pastor had been personally invited to the training. He was too busy to attend. So he sent her — the senior church lady in his fellowship — with one instruction: learn everything you can and come back and report what you learned.
She was one of the most enthusiastic and participative people in the entire training. She absorbed everything. She asked questions. She practiced. She took it seriously in a way that only someone can when they sense that God has placed something significant in their hands.
And then she went home.
She was one of the most enthusiastic and participative people in the entire training. She absorbed everything. She asked questions. She practiced. She took it seriously in a way that only someone can when they sense that God has placed something significant in their hands.
And then she went home.
You Can't Do That Here
She did exactly what her pastor had asked. She went back and shared everything she had learned with him — the DBS process, the disciple-making principles, the multiplication strategy, all of it.
His response stopped her cold.
"You can't do that here," he told her. "If you do that here, you will break my church."
He wasn't wrong about the breaking part. Jesus Himself said that you cannot put new wine into old wineskins — that if you try, the old wineskin will break and both the wine and the wineskin will be ruined (Mark 2:22). New wine requires a new wineskin. A rapidly multiplying disciple-making movement cannot be contained inside a traditional building-based church system. The structures are simply not built to hold it.
But the pastor's instinct was to protect what he had built rather than release what God was doing. And that decision set in motion a chain of events that neither of them could have predicted.
His response stopped her cold.
"You can't do that here," he told her. "If you do that here, you will break my church."
He wasn't wrong about the breaking part. Jesus Himself said that you cannot put new wine into old wineskins — that if you try, the old wineskin will break and both the wine and the wineskin will be ruined (Mark 2:22). New wine requires a new wineskin. A rapidly multiplying disciple-making movement cannot be contained inside a traditional building-based church system. The structures are simply not built to hold it.
But the pastor's instinct was to protect what he had built rather than release what God was doing. And that decision set in motion a chain of events that neither of them could have predicted.
Her Excitement Was Contagious
She did not sit down quietly. She was too full of what she had received.
She shared it with everyone she knew. She talked about it at every opportunity. Her excitement was genuinely contagious — the kind that spreads not because someone is pushing it but because something real is happening and people can feel it. Before long, she had around 100 people who wanted to learn how to make disciples who make disciples alongside her.
The pastor noticed. And instead of celebrating what God was clearly doing, he felt threatened by it. He told her to stop.
She looked at him and said, essentially: you decide whether I should obey you or God.
And then she kept right on going.
She shared it with everyone she knew. She talked about it at every opportunity. Her excitement was genuinely contagious — the kind that spreads not because someone is pushing it but because something real is happening and people can feel it. Before long, she had around 100 people who wanted to learn how to make disciples who make disciples alongside her.
The pastor noticed. And instead of celebrating what God was clearly doing, he felt threatened by it. He told her to stop.
She looked at him and said, essentially: you decide whether I should obey you or God.
And then she kept right on going.
Kicked Out of One Church. Started Five Hundred.
Eventually the pastor ran out of patience. He removed her from his church.
This did not deter her. It emboldened her.
Instead of quieting down, she rented a house not far from the church building and opened her doors. She invited people to come and receive the same training she had received from Go Multiply. About 100 people came.
She trained them. They went out. And within six months, she and her trainees had started over 500 house churches — in the same region where she had been asked to leave the one.
This did not deter her. It emboldened her.
Instead of quieting down, she rented a house not far from the church building and opened her doors. She invited people to come and receive the same training she had received from Go Multiply. About 100 people came.
She trained them. They went out. And within six months, she and her trainees had started over 500 house churches — in the same region where she had been asked to leave the one.
You Do the Math
These are small fellowships — about 20 people each. But do the math.
500 churches x 20 people = 10,000 disciples.
In six months. From one woman. Who was sent to a training because her pastor was too busy to go himself.
What other method produces that kind of multiplication in that kind of timeframe? What program, what event, what strategy comes anywhere close? The answer is none — because this isn't a strategy. This is what happens when ordinary, obedient people receive the pattern Jesus gave and are released to use it.
The building-based model cannot contain this kind of growth. The old wineskin cannot hold this wine. But a woman with a rented house, 100 willing people, and the DBS process? She can start a movement that transforms a region.
500 churches x 20 people = 10,000 disciples.
In six months. From one woman. Who was sent to a training because her pastor was too busy to go himself.
What other method produces that kind of multiplication in that kind of timeframe? What program, what event, what strategy comes anywhere close? The answer is none — because this isn't a strategy. This is what happens when ordinary, obedient people receive the pattern Jesus gave and are released to use it.
The building-based model cannot contain this kind of growth. The old wineskin cannot hold this wine. But a woman with a rented house, 100 willing people, and the DBS process? She can start a movement that transforms a region.
This Is What Jesus Is Doing in These Last Days
This is not an isolated story. This is a pattern. All across East Africa, and in nations around the world, Jesus is multiplying His followers faster than the population grows — because He intends to finish the Great Commission before He returns.
He is not waiting for the right building. He is not waiting for the right budget. He is not waiting for a professional with the right credentials.
He is looking for people like this woman in Webuye — people who hear something true, believe it deeply enough to act on it, and refuse to stop when someone tells them to sit down.
The gates of hell did not prevail against her. The gates of one man's church did not prevail against her either. She kept moving, kept sharing, kept multiplying — and 10,000 people are now gathering in His name because of it.
This is the ekklesia of Jesus doing exactly what Jesus said it would do.
Will you join Him?
He is not waiting for the right building. He is not waiting for the right budget. He is not waiting for a professional with the right credentials.
He is looking for people like this woman in Webuye — people who hear something true, believe it deeply enough to act on it, and refuse to stop when someone tells them to sit down.
The gates of hell did not prevail against her. The gates of one man's church did not prevail against her either. She kept moving, kept sharing, kept multiplying — and 10,000 people are now gathering in His name because of it.
This is the ekklesia of Jesus doing exactly what Jesus said it would do.
Will you join Him?
What God is doing in Webuye is happening in communities around the world — and it can happen in yours. Learn more about Disciple Making Movements and how to get involved at GoMultiply.org. To learn about what God is doing right here in America, visit TimetoDiscipleAmerica.com.
Posted in Blog
Posted in field report, Kenya, Africa, multiplication, House Church, DMM, discipleship, Great Commission, Go Multiply, gospel
Posted in field report, Kenya, Africa, multiplication, House Church, DMM, discipleship, Great Commission, Go Multiply, gospel
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