Dear Friends,
“Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
(Psalm 34:8)
As we are writing this update, we are just getting settled into our new housing in Birdsboro, PA and preparing to begin ministry at High Point Baptist Chapel starting in September. We are thankful for how the Lord has led us here and look forward with anticipation to what He will do in us and through us for His glory at High Point.
We left South Africa June 27 and returned to the States on June 28 with our hearts full because of what the Lord allowed us to experience over the past 6 ½ years in George. Saying goodbye to the people of Life Fellowship Church and our ministry team was incredibly difficult for us. Acts 20:37 accurately captures our final days in George: “And there was much weeping on the part of all . . .” We certainly experienced the goodness of the Lord as we watched Him work in the hearts and lives of those He brought to Life Fellowship Church. We thank God in all our remembrances of our precious Life Fellowship Church family and remain confident that He will complete what He has begun in their lives (Phil. 2:3,6).
Our final month in South Africa was marked by seeing the Lord’s goodness in both challenges and blessings He brought our way. On June 1, we had the blessing of participating in the dedication of the Bybel Baptiste Church in the Pacaltsdorp community of George. We are grateful for the generous giving of several churches and individuals as we helped facilitate the building of the church for this local body of believers and a new home for Pastor Alfonso Katts and his family.
On June 4, we made an unplanned trip to Cape Town for Danielle to have surgery on a basil cell carcinoma spot on her nose. We saw the goodness of God in the process of discovering the cancer as well as how the Lord opened doors very quickly for Danielle to have the needed surgery and give her some time for recovery before we packed up our home and said goodbye to our beloved church family. While the full healing process could take up to 9 months, we are thankful for positive post-op reports from the doctor and for a relatively smooth recovery to this point.
Another significant challenge of this transition is the moving process as well as the process of re-establishing ourselves once again in the States. Just two days before we left South Africa, our shipping company informed us of an additional $2,000 charge for our container due to weather delays in Cape Town. We have experienced the Lord’s goodness as He has provided $10,600 of the $15,000 cost to ship our belongings back. Please join us in praying for the provision of the remaining cost, as well as patience as we will likely be waiting until early October for our container to arrive. Please also pray for the Lord’s provision as we incur a substantial amount of expenses to re-establish ourselves here, including a vehicle purchase and some items for our home. The Lord has graciously provided one car already and a furnished home for us to live in on the property of High Point Camp.
As our resident ministry in South Africa comes to a close, we will be wrapping up our formal relationship with GoSendMe Global. We are thankful for their ministry to us over the past 10 months as our missions agency. They will receive support gifts through the end of August and will be cancelling recurring gifts during the month of September. Any gifts given to help with our container expense or transition expenses can be given in two ways:
- Until August 31, gifts can given online at our webpage with GoSendMe https://gosendmeglobal.org/missionary/troy-and-danielle-gahman. Simply follow the instructions to make a donation. These gifts will be tax deductible.
- Gifts can be given to us directly or sent to us at the following address:
Troy and Danielle Gahman
200 Chapel Road
Birdsboro, PA 19508
Gifts given directly to us will not be tax deductible.
As we come to the end of our time in South Africa, we are well aware of the fact that the Lord knew exactly what He was doing in directing our steps to George, South Africa. We are also fully aware of the fact that, on a human level, He gave us that opportunity in large part due to the generous and willing partnership of so many individuals and churches who have faithfully supported us throughout the duration of our ministry there. We are deeply humbled and eternally grateful for those of you who have joined with us by giving sacrificially so we could do what the Lord called us to do. Eternity will reveal the impact your faithful partnership in gospel ministry has had on many lives in South Africa.
This will not be our final update, as we will share some ways we plan to remain involved and connected to the ministry in South Africa and how you could as well if you would like to continue to invest in what the Lord is doing there. But for now, we wanted to share the evident goodness of God throughout our time in South Africa and specifically during our final month in South Africa. We also want to invite you to continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in South Africa and to pray for us as we begin ministry here at High Point Baptist Chapel.
For the Sake of His Name,
Troy and Danielle