Peter Pollock is a man of many talents. Famous for his International Cricket achievements (1961 – 1972) as South Africa’s Premier Fast Bowler and as the father of the former South African Captain, Shaun Pollock. This is the story of Peter’s greatest discovery.
About Peter
Peter Pollock is a man of many talents. Famous for his International Cricket achievements (1961 – 1972) as South Africa’s Premier Fast Bowler and as the father of the former South African Captain, Shaun Pollock.
He is also well know as an established author, journalist, columnist, business executive, sports administrator, family man and as well as a travelling evangelist.
Whatever he does bears the stamp of commitment to the pursuit of excellence. This is the story of Peter’s greatest discovery …
In the Pursuit of Excellence
On a Sunday evening in August 1981, as my wife Inez was getting ready to go to church, I flopped onto the TV couch with a cold beer in hand. I could hear Inez humming a happy, clappy church tune that I found to be very threatening. Why should she be so happy, after all the weekend was over and we had another week of business pressure ahead?
As I sat watching the TV, the music that signified a ‘religious’ program started playing. I would normally change channel, however on this occasion I continued to watch the program because the issue under review was the ‘happy, clappy movement’ and being ‘born again’.
Cutting a long story short, I watched the whole program! As one debater was speaking out against the movement, I was thinking, “This is confirmation of what I have been trying to tell my wife. She needs to listen to this truth.” Inez sat uneasily watching the program with me.
I said to her, “See lovey, the TV is confirming exactly what I have been telling you”. Her lift to church arrived so I was left to watch the rest of the program by myself. During this time alone things began to happen that turned me from the critic of this ‘born again’ stuff to becoming increasingly interested in it. As I was watching the debate I began to see my sinfulness and the answer to being set free from it, and how to be forgiven!
As I was pondering what had just taken place, the phone rang and it was my wife asking me to come to a friend’s place for a cuppa. Normally I would be in bed by nine but this night I was still awake. To my wife’s surprise I said, “yes I would come”.
When I arrived, Henry Hauser, former Springbok soccer skipper and his charming wife, May, were there. May was a counselor at the Church and sat with me explaining how wrong I was about the ‘born again’ experience. I listened, because the experience I had just been through while watching the TV had prepared me for what May was saying. A couple of hours later we got up to head for home and as I walked towards the door May slipped a piece of paper into my hand saying “you may need this later”.
After we got home and while Inez was in the shower, I took a look at what was written on that piece of paper May had given me. It said:
“Lord Jesus I come to you today just as I am. I thank you that you accept me just as I am. I admit that I am a sinner and repent of my sins of the past. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins and please come into my life and become my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my will to you right now. Thank you for coming into my life and forgiving my sins.”
I slipped down to the back garden, away from everybody and said this simple prayer.
What had started out to be an ordinary day became the greatest day of my life. Conversions do not come more suddenly than this and my life was never to be the same again. I was a growling lion who had been changed into a lamb.
I’ll never forget this moment, there were no bells, trumpets or lightning flashes, but there was a distinct awareness of a giant burden being lifted off my shoulders. I sobbed like a baby who had been trying to take on the world on his own, trying to satisfy those self consuming, never ending goals and yardsticks.
Before my conversion I had done things my way. I was conditioned to the world’s value system and could not see the forest from the trees, right from wrong, or light from darkness. But those few life changing moments in my back garden opened my life to the truth that, “Jesus is the way, the truth and the life”.
From that moment on, my life began to change until I gave up my business, tucked my Bible under my arm and set off to preach the gospel – the good news of Jesus Christ.
Today God has called me to travel the world and share my story and preach His Word.
Peter Pollock
A word from Shaun Pollock (Peter’s son)
“With the worldly success my father has achieved on the sports field and elsewhere, he sees himself as a servant, using his achievements as a catalyst to bring the Word of God to all people. As a devoted evangelist, he displays the same tenacity that made his such an accomplished fast bowler.”
Shaun Pollock
(Former Captain of the South African Cricket Team)
(Article taken from a FGBMFI pamphlet. Used with permission.)
