The adventures of Sister Epi

From the time she first arrived at the Community House, it was plain that Sister Epiphania was very much a Sister. We used to joke with her and with one another that she saw all the young men in the community as fit material for the seminary, and she was never shy to tell them so. She had come to us in an emergency and we gave her refuge for two or three months while she sorted out her life.

She was the sort of Sister that, if she went to town by bus, in her grey habit and white veil, someone would always stop and give her a free lift. Even if she was accompanying another to the bus stop and was not going anywhere herself, cars would stop and people would try to insist that they give her a lift.

One day she went to town and this big posh car stopped for her. When she was inside, a man in the back spoke to her and said, ‘Are you not going to greet me, Sister?’ It was only then that she realized that Mr Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank, was the one giving her a lift.

He joked with her on the way, asking her questions like what she thought was the solution for the economic situation, and what she thought of the President. Sister responded in a similar joking manner, ‘The President? Ah, yes. Who is the President, by the way?’ When she alighted, he said he would have liked to give her a gift but he did not have any money in his pocket, only foreign currency.

Sister had a great gift of ‘helper’, and this was very evident as she made herself useful in different ways in the house. What she lacked, however, was the gift of tongues, and this she very much wanted. We did try to help her with this but we could see she was not ready and so we decided not to hurry but to give her time.

Eventually, we were having a Seminar at the Community House and I said to her, ‘Sister, you are taking part in this together with everyone else.’ She did not seem too happy about that but seemed to think that, as a Sister, she should be helping to give it, not to take part. However, when the time came she was there, in humble obedience, sitting on the carpet together with the others.

When we reached the time of preparation for baptism in the Spirit and people were praising God aloud, Sister Epi was quiet and ‘in her place’. I started to move her around a bit and prevented her from returning to her usual place. I have to confess that I took her by the shoulders and shook her and shouted in her ear that she should forget for now that she is a Sister and open her heart up to the Lord and praise Him right out loud. Did I overdo it? I felt I had, but Sister accepted it and responded. Anyway, by the end, we were all happy that Sister was praying in tongues along with everyone else.

Sister Epi would go occasionally to Archbishop’s House seeking help for her problems. When she did this, she would always have two or even three bishops, as well as one or two priests, listening to her and giving her advice.

She was coming one day from such a visit and mulling over their advice as she walked through town when she suddenly realized she was in the midst of lots of expensive cars and police and soldiers. Sister Epi realized she was in the midst of government ministers and even the president, as she could hear the voice of president Mugabe calling out from his car, ‘This is my Sister; she is a Sister from my church’.

One big police officer, with buttons and badges on his uniform, came up to her and told her she was not supposed to be in this area. Sister began to apologise and wanted to leave but he said, ‘No, you must stay and say a prayer for us.’

She said she would pray for them as she went, but the officer said, ‘No, you must pray right here’. She was shaking as she prayed aloud there for all those big people, for wisdom for the President, and whatever else, but they were supporting her with big ‘Amens’ and other encouraging comments.

What plans does the Lord have for our Sister Epi’s life that He puts her through such experiences? Sisters and priests can be the most difficult people to help. Many of them seem so fixed in their way of life that they are not very sensitive to the wind of the Spirit. Yet they are God’s servants and the Lord is with them.

Anyway, Sister Epi is now in Zambia for a while. She was in tears when she left us, and I knew we would miss her too. We wait to hear what other tales she will have to tell us when she gets back.