January 2013 02-01-2013

Greg, Tammy & Bean’s 2012

This is a story of God moving (The photo above is taken outside our house in Bristol at Greg’s surprise birthday bash with some of our close friends! Tammy cooked up a storm for us, again!)

Well hello, and compliments of the season to all of you. For those

whom we have not seen or spoken to over the past little while, we hope and pray that the Christmas was a blessed one and that 2013 will be superb. But just a recap over what’s been going on with us over 2012. Wow, what a year it was!

This time last year we were living in Trinity College, Bristol and Greg was part of the way through his final year of Theology, but we had no idea what our future held and were really seeking God’s guidance. It was around this time that we were trying to decide, after a less than pleasant first try, whether to give the Anglican Church another go. After much prayer and discussion we made the decision for Greg to go forward for the Ordination process in Bristol.

Amazing blessings:

July 12

Aug-Sept 12

Nov 12

Dec 12

Tammy finds out we’re pregnant! So excited! So nervous!

Greg gets Ordained as a Deacon into the Anglican

Church.

We move back to the motherland! South Africa you beauty!

We move into our new home with a Jacuzzi a view that you can sit and look at

all day!

Trinity College, Bristol. A real God-spot and a place where learning and relationships go hand in hand.

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A montage of Trinity College

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We joined St Matthew’s Church, Cotham, Bristol and life continued with us both not really knowing what or where God wanted us. We also had the scary prospect of paying for 2 terms worth of fees at Trinity College in order for Greg to complete his diploma in Theology. It was a very stressful time, one in which we really had to literally rest and trust in God. We had no idea where the money was going to come from.

In early February Greg came up with the idea to do a sponsored

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walk from Bristol to Bath along the cycle path, which used to be the old rail route, a distance of 27km. It was all planned for the 3rd March. Greg made an announcement at the College lunch on Wednesday 8th February and also sent an email out to friends. He said that we were doing a sponsored walk and we were hoping to raise enough for two terms fees and if there was anything left over we would use it to fund our mission trip to Zimbabwe. By Friday the 10th February at 17h00 the fees were covered; all 5,000

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of it! Wow, wow, WOW! Praise the Lord!

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Our visit to Vic Falls whilst in Zimbabwe April 2012

Greg presenting Bibles to the staff at Petra High School,

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Grandpa John Pocock 1922-2012

A cake that Tammy made which won the 1st Prize at the Bristol

Vineyard Summer Party

On the walk from Bristol to Bath along the cycle path - 4th March 2012

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We had been invited back to Petra School in Bulawayo, where Greg had visited the year before. Tammy was seriously doubtful that we would be able to go, but God was so faithful to us again as people continued to bless us and we were able to pay for our flights.

We flew to Zimbabwe at the end of March and felt our time in Bulawayo to be such a blessing. The wonderful, generous spirit of the people we met. Zimbabwean’s are still able to smile such broad smiles even after all they have been through. Please continue to pray for the country.

From Zimbabwe we flew down to South Africa to see friends and family and it was during our time in Pietermaritzburg visiting Tammy’s Mom that Greg received a phone call from Nigel Jukes the Rector of St Agnes' Church telling him that there was a job going as Curate at St Agnes' Church and would he be

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interested in applying? Greg told Nigel that he wasn’t yet ordained and Nigel responded by saying he was sure that Bishop Rubin, the Bishop of Kwazulu-Natal could work something out! This was all completely out of the blue! St Agnes had been looking for a Curate for a number of months and one of the church members, Dalene had been praying and asking God to guide them to a person suitable for the job. She got Greg’s name and mentioned it to Nigel who asked her to try and get his contact details. In the meantime, we had put our South African mobile number up on facebook for friends to contact us while we were out here and that’s how he was able to phone us!

Greg really felt this was a God thing, Tammy however was a little bit more wary and felt that it might just be an encouragement for the future. Greg met up with Nigel a few days later and then the Bishop

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the following week. Things looked tentatively positive and we were trying to get our head around the whole possibility that this might be right. We also went to a 9am service at the church. Greg was blown away by the fact that the liturgy was multilingual: English, Zulu and

Afrikaans, and Tammy was blown away by the amazing Zulu worship as we all went up for communion.

St Agnes' Church in beautiful Kloof

The SUIS Em’seni Campsite where we had the 40th Anniversary of SUIS in April

2012.

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It’s scary being faced with your hearts desire to return home, not wanting to fully grasp this possibility in case it fell through, but we continued to pray and seek God. Offering Him our concerns and fears, and being reassured and guided continuously. We flew back to England with this huge news and shared it with our family and friends. A few weeks later Nigel rang Greg and asked him if he could fly back to South Africa in June for a week for a more formal interview process, also to give him a chance to meet more church members and get a feel for the place. We had to make the important decision to not go the Anglican route in England as the Bishops Advisory Panel was scheduled at the same time that Greg would need to be back in South Africa. He had an amazing time and one of the most important

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aspects of his time there was that he got to watch the Springboks beat England LIVE at Kings Park! Praise the Lord!

He returned to England feeling really positive about the job, the church and South Africa in general and then we waited to hear if we had got the job. So many anxious days of waiting with even more question marks, were we really going to pack up our lives and return home now? Finally we found out that Greg had got the job! Within 6 months we went from not knowing what we were meant to be doing to God giving us the desire of our hearts to return to South Africa and minister to the people we love so much, and we didn’t do anything to make it happen, He did it all!

On the morning of 18th July, we found out that Greg’s lovely and amazing Grandpa John Pocock

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had passed away and on that same evening Tammy did the first of many pregnancy tests which all came out positive! A day of sadness and joy, a life ended and a new life discovered! Our little bean, or Grammy (Greg & Tammy!) We still haven’t found out whether it will be a boy or a girl… is due to arrive on around the 20th March 2013, we’re going to be parents: Eeeeeek!

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While Tammy was battling with morning sickness we sorted out our house and the movers came and boxed it all up on the 30th July. We moved out of our lovely Lodge Cottage at Trinity and house sat for people for 3 weeks while they were in France. We then spent 2 weeks saying goodbye to friends and family and then Greg flew to South Africa on the 28th August, leaving Tammy to finish work

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and wait for her British passport.

We spent 2 and half months apart, Greg settling into work and life in a new place and Tammy finishing up things in the UK. It was really hard being apart, especially with pregnancy hormones raging in Tammy and Greg having to find his feet in a new congregation and town. A huge Thank You to the Miller’s, the Krelle’s and Mom and Dad

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Wynn for looking after her! Greg had a count down timer on his computer and the whole church was given regular updates on her impending arrival. She finally became a British Citizen and got the maroon passport and arrived home on the 17th November! (Ululations and Praises!)

She arrived in South Africa just in time to say her hellos and

Tammy and her little loved one!

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then Greg was off on his Pre-Ordination retreat and then on the 24th November he was Ordained as a Deacon in the Anglican Church. It has been quite a lot to take in!

Life in the parish is lovely! Kloof is such a charming place with so much green! We have met such warm and generous people and we have been thoroughly accepted and loved. Adapting to life back in South Africa has had some challenges, facing poverty and crime on a daily basis in the lives of those around us is hard but we know we are where God wants us to be.

We moved into our new home on the 10th December, it was about the 16th place Greg had viewed and it is AWESOME. It’s a 3 bedroom detached house in a complex with an open plan living area so Greg can watch Tammy cooking in the kitchen, with a lovely verandah, garden and an awesome view over a field and valley. We sit out on the ‘stoep’ and have our coffee, rusks and quiet time in the

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morning and marvel and thank God for all He has done for us this year.

We miss our family and friends in the UK but this clearly was God’s plan, and we are so glad that we are able to be and to live and to rest in God’s plan with his provision!

A final word from Revd Greg: I think the most important thing with God, is when he says “Go!” You obey! And the interesting thing about the word obey, is backwards it says “YEBO” (Zulu for Yes!) We have said Yebo, and we feel a deep sense of peace being back where we feel we belong.

We hope that you all had a blessed Christmas and that 2013 is a blessed year for you all. We know many of you have had a tough 2012 and we pray that God continues to keep His loving hand upon you, give you renewed strength and get you through to a time of joy and peace.

Greg, Tammy & Bean.

Tammy has been lovely! She has been

pregnant like a Queen!

She faces every day with elegance and poise and she

bears her pain gracefully. I pray that she will find her niche in this country that she loves and

people will appreciate her for all that she gives.

Greg doing what he loves best! Golf with

Table Mt. in the background!

He is superbly happy in Kloof, he has preached on a number of

occasions and even got an ovation after the first one! He is slowly finding his calling within the church and he loves every

minute of it.

At the Ordination in the Cathedral in Pietermaritzburg; Greg greeting his little bump!

42 Forest Hamlet, 51 King George Avenue,

Forest Hills, Kloof, KZN, 3610 +27 31 7624800

Greg: +27 712424890 Tammy: +27 79 0293217

Family away is never comfortable, but when they are close in your heart, they are close!

We miss Greg’s side of the family a lot but with Skype, emails and the odd Ordination service and

Spot & Cathy’s wedding coming up early in 2014, it is bearable. And we are so happy to see Jo & Cara

Hackland and all the rest of Tammy’s family again.

Greg, Tammy & Bean’s Address

Be blessed and have a great New Year!