My father is a theologian. (He is also an economist, but that is another story.) He lives on First Hill. He lives here because living in Zimbabwe in this day and age is impossible. When I visit the old theologian, we usually eat and talk about the Bible, about this or that gospel, this or that miracle, this or that moment when God speaks to a human. Recently, we talked about angels: are they an effective or ineffective means of communication? If ineffective, what then is the best medium for God-to-human messages? Possession? Burning bushes? Whirlwinds?

Last night we talked about the Vaspostori, a Christian sect in Southern Africa that believes that the Bible should be followed not only to the letter but to the fashion. Vapostori strive to look and live exactly like the people in the new and old testaments.

“They are a continuation of the apostolic tradition,” my father says as his cooks vegetables and fish. “What the apostles did is what they do. They are the only group I know of that has not established buildings for a place of worship. They meet out in the open. They walk with long shepherd staffs. They wear robes that are white in color, like Middle Eastern people would wear in Jesus’ time. Overall, they want to maintain tradition directly: the clothes, the worship order, the the theology itself. But the one good thing about Vapostori? You will never find them at your door looking for a job. They make their own jobs.”