Epp experiences miracle after miracle
Staff writer
John Epp feels he has experienced several miracles in his lifetime, one as early as age 11, that have literally saved his life.
Born in Lincoln, Kan., he grew up in Barnard, the fifth child of Glen and Anna Mae Epp of Hillsboro.
His family moved often during his years of growing up because his dad was an ordained Baptist minister. The family lived in Leoti, Uniontown, Ipswich, S.D., and George, Iowa.
At the age of 11, John experienced convulsions and was diagnosed with a brain tumor after one of the local doctors did a CAT scan.
He was referred to specialists in Kansas City. Before the family made the trip, he recalled being prayed for to be healed.
When he arrived in Kansas City and tests were redone, no tumor was found. Doctors in Kansas City had mixed reactions — some feeling it was a miracle. John feels he indeed experienced a miracle. The convulsions never returned.
In 1982 he graduated from high school in George, Iowa. After graduation, he attended Freeman Junior College in Freeman, S.D., for one year before transferring to Highland Community College in Highland.
Graduating in 1984 from Highland, he went to Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg. Epp majored in history and minored in English receiving a bachelor of arts degree in 1986.
"I was not certain what I wanted to do," John said. "So I moved back home in the fall of 1986 and helped my brother-in-law paint Ensor House Museum, a farmhouse museum in Olathe."
John has done house painting for approximately 20 years while attending college and when he was in between jobs.
For more than two years from March 1987 to Nov. 1989, he worked at WalMart in Hiawatha.
For a short stint he worked at Lincoln National Corporation in Fort Scott.
"It was a high stress job, and during that time my sister became severely ill. I knew I had to help her with her family," John said.
During this time, John's dad was diagnosed with cancerous cells in his eye and had to go for surgery in Philadelphia, Pa.
"I was the only one who was able to drive them there," John said.
For a number of months, John helped his parents by driving them to the various appointments for his dad's eye.
In August of 1991, he decided to go to Bob Jones University Seminary in South Carolina. He attended school there for one year.
John had planned to finish out the three-year master of divinity program, but things drastically changed for him — another miracle, according to John.
In May of 1992, he was in a severe traffic accident traveling to Washington, D.C., for a weekend outing with friends.
"I should have died," John said. "I was asleep in the back seat and not wearing a seatbelt. I was thrown from side to side in the car."
Through a long series of going to doctors, John was finally diagnosed with having two compression fractures of the spine.
He was disabled for six months and moved back to Kansas with his parents during his recuperation period.
After searching for several jobs during this period, John contacted the late Dave Breese at Christian Destiny in the fall of 1993. Breese said he did not have an opening at the time.
John moved to Hillsboro in January of 1994 and applied to go to Tabor as a full-time student.
"I finally went in to meet Dave, and he said 'Let's pray to see what the Lord says about a job.'"
Three weeks after moving to town, John began working part-time and then full-time as a shipping and receiving clerk at Christian Destiny.
"That's another miracle, too," John said, "because I did not have a job when I came to Hillsboro. I went in there and it all worked out."
John continues to work there after nine years. His duties include working with accounts receivable, data entry and processing, working with credit card orders, and other office work.
"Since we moved around a lot while I was growing up and because of the different circumstances in my life, this is longest place I have lived and worked," he said.
In November of 1995, while visiting in Topeka with a friend, John was involved in another car accident.
"Here again, I could have been killed, but I experienced another miracle," he said. "I was wearing my back brace, and I felt that helped me."
John only received a broken knee in that accident, and he was wearing his seatbelt.
John said he knows God has something for him to do because he has experienced miracle after miracle in his lifetime.
John is single and spends a lot of time with his family. He has lived with some of his brothers and sisters for the summers or semesters while attending college.
"Being a single uncle, I know my nieces and nephews very well," he said.
"I have 26 of them, and I know all of their names. I am very close to them, and I have a special interest in each one of them."
"People wonder how I can keep their names all straight, but it's not hard they're all individuals."
