AFTER a turbulent time as a priest in his native South Africa, Father Robbie Dennis has settled into pastures new and green in Llantilio Pertholey writes LESLEY FLYNN.

He is the new vicar of St Teilo's Church with St David's Church, Llanddewi Skirrid and Bettws Chapel. He and his wife Diane are just adjusting to their new life in the vicarage at The Pines in Mardy.

Born in Athlone, a suburb of Cape Town, he and his wife did not meet until they were in their teens, although they only lived a street apart. Both attended high school but they met on the cricket field which was used by the school and the cricket club of which Diane's father was chairman.

Said Robbie: "Diane's father was also a teacher at the school and because of his association with the cricket club she used to keep the scores during a match."

She must have been attracted to his sunny personality as much as his cricket skills which saw him play right up to first class cricket, for they stayed in touch and married in 1972.

Diane's father was one of a group of cricket enthusiasts who encouraged the great Basil D'Oliveira when he was not allowed to play first class cricket in his native country because he was not white.

After serving an apprenticeship as a plumber Robbie went on to become a quantity surveyor with the sanitation company, but his calling was too strong and he entered the church 20 years ago. He was ordained by the charismatic Bishop Desmond Tutu and then served in several large parishes, the largest being Bredasdorp, the southernmost part of Africa which has seven churches and is a large agricultural area.

He and Diane recalled their time in the parish. "When we moved in the church warden told us exactly where to place our furniture and we were getting quite cross but it turned out he was doing it to save us from getting hit by pot shots from gangs with guns."

He chuckled: "At funerals you had church wardens holding out big bags for mourners to place their guns which would be locked up until the end of the service and then handed back."

But the couple soon learned they were protected because they welcomed everyone into their church - whether they were gangsters or not. This did not stop them receiving death threats when the then president of South Africa, the great and inspirational Nelson Mandela asked if he could attend one of Robbie's church services.

Robbie said: "We had to have a series of meetings about this, even though it was just another Sunday service, and the candle I planned to present to the president had to be taken away and forensically checked before I was handed it on the morning of the service by the chief of police." When asked if he was fazed when preparing his sermon for a service attended by Nelson Mandela he replied: "No, of course not, it was Christ The King Sunday so I based it on Ezekiel and Psalm 23 and the good shepherd theme. I was basically telling the world - because it was broadcast in many countries - that you need to be a good shepherd and I likened Nelson Mandela to the shepherd in the psalm. He refused to continue the baptism of fire which some of the ANC members thought would bring about change.

"He refused to accept violence and I said that was how the world should be. He asked me before the service if he could interrupt and I said of course, so he stood up and called the children forward and asked them what did they want to become and he asked if any of them wanted to be president of their country, and he told them they must always work for peace,

"We gave him the pink candle which we would normally use on the third Sunday of Advent and he accepted it."

Father Robbie and his wife then spoke of what happened after the service which was attended by 1,000 people, with another 1,000 crammed into the church hall with a big screen relaying the service.

The first telephone call was answered by Diane and the caller threatened to kill them both because Father Robbie had just given communion to Nelson Mandela. After three or four similar calls they rang the police and went off to a family barbecue to enjoy themselves and put it behind them.

That did not deter them in their mission, but it was when their son Jolland told them he would lie in bed and listen to the bullets flying overhead and he could identify which gun had been used. Said Father Robbie: "We checked the bullets around our home the next morning and he was right, so we decided enough was enough and it was time to move."

The changes in South Africa during this time were many and Father Robbie was in his forties and his mother was 70 before they voted for the first time. During this time many of the young clergy and some older ones held ANC membership cards and Archbishop Desmond Tutu found out about them preaching about the party from the pulpit. "He was a wise man and he wrote to all his clergymen asking anyone who belonged to the ANC to go to his residence and between 60 and 70 of us turned up. Many hotheads were going to sort him out but he simply said if anyone held a membership card they should place it on this big empty table and nothing more would be said, if they would not they should put their dog collar down and he would never see them again. Only one guy took off his collar because he was angry but the others persuaded him against it and we all left with our tails between our legs and pledged to be good priests in future. I did not have an ANC card but I was an activist. Sometimes you have to be very wise."

Although Robbie and Diane now make their home in Wales their children, Jolland and his sister Olivia still live in South Africa.

Jolland has just married Donna, who they call their second daughter, and he works as an IT engineer in education while Olivia is desktop publishing manager for a distant learning college, and Donna is one of the engineers in charge of runways in all airports in the country.. All three have visited Wales and hope to come over and spend Christmas with their parents.

After spending three months on sabbatical in Britain in 2004 Robbie went back home and told Diane he would like to continue his ministry in this country and she agreed. He was inducted as priest in charge of the parish of St Matthew with St Mary in Crumpsall, Manchester. He said: "It was a lovely area with beautiful people and we both loved it but we left to come south and I was lucky enough to be appointed a minor canon at St Woolos Cathedral in Newport in 2008."

He and Diane are looking forward to this latest part of their spiritual journey. Father Robbie said: "I am looking forward to this part of my ministry, ministering with people, I am not sitting six feet above them and each person has a story to tell and each person is worth much more than we give credit."

Diane also brings her own special talents to Llantilio Pertholey. Having worked in the clothing industry all her life she made her husband's vestments for his ordination and he still treasures them.

They were welcomed to the parish by a full congregation at St Teilo's, led by the Bishop of Monmouth, the Very Rev.Dominic Walker, the Archdeacon of Monmouth, the Ven.Richard Pain, the Vicar of Abergavenny, Canon Jeremy Winston, the mayor of Abergavenny, Councillor Norma Watkins and the chairman of the local community council, Councillor David Spencer.