On Mission in Vermont -
Cates Family Newsletter
September 2011
DISASTER RELIEF UPDATE: NOTE: After reading this newsletter, if you your church would be interested in sending a team or funds to help rebuild a home impacted by the flood, please email Trey (tcates@newlifevt.com) As many of you have read in previous updates, our town was hit incredibly hard by Hurricane Irene earlier this month. As many as 100 homes in Northfield and the surrounding towns were flooded, damaged or destroyed by the heavy rains, which caused the Dog River to flood its banks. The response from Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams was almost immediate with assessors showing up just two days after the event. By the end of the week we had a Disaster Relief trailer, volunteers, and a laundry and shower facility set up for those affected by flooding. Most importantly, God has opened up the doors for us to boldly witness to families in our community and we have already seen two people respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
While crews have been working inside the homes, our church members and Disaster Relief Chaplains have been prayerwalking our streets and sharing the love of Jesus Christ. We have seen many people open up to conversations about faith. At least two people talked with Disaster Relief chaplains and placed their faith in Jesus. Others have spoken directly with Trey about how they can have hope in this time of tragedy. Please pray for our stamina as we minister to so many hurting people. We are hoping to move quickly over the next few weeks as winter sets in by mid-October in our area. It will be very difficult to continue work during our harsh Vermont winter. In addition, Trey works part-time doing IT work at a local flooring and tile company and his boss is a Christian. Last week they walked through some of the gutted-out homes our teams have been working on and they are trying to coordinate efforts to help people replace their flooring when the time is right. Trey sees this as a blessing as God has placed him in a bi-vocational position where his other “job” can help minister to those in need and while he is able to witness to his co-workers and the families at the same time. Please pray for the rebuilding efforts as Trey, his boss, and church family seek to share Christ through the rebuilding process. Many of you have inquired about our own church building. We also took in some water, but no mud this time as work was completed to divert the flow around the church. However, water seeped in from under the building, and we ended up with about an inch of water in the basement. As a result we will need to pull up our floors, install a sump pump, and lay new flooring. BEYOND THE FLOOD: So if you’ve done the math, you will see that almost half of our congregation this last week was made up of college students. This is a very real ministry That being said, we are experiencing growing pains! Our church building is simply not big enough to handle crowds of this size. Please pray along with us that God would show us what the next steps are for our church. Our Upward sports program also kicked off three weeks ago. We are currently running basketball and cheerleading programs for children at our local Elementary School. Our biggest ministry to children is happening outside the church walls! We have 11 children playing basketball and over 20 involved in cheering! We are thankful for many volunteers who give of their time every Tuesday for practice and Saturday for games. We are also thankful to have an impact on the families represented by all those involved in our program. Pray for the unchurched families involved in our Upward Sports program that they may come to faith in Jesus Christ and join in our church fellowship at New Life. ADOPTION UPDATE: We have been actively in the process of adoption since January, and we would very much like to have names and faces to put with it! You can also follow our blog at: http://joyisinourhearts.blogspot.com. Like coffee? We have a store set up through Just Love Coffee, a coffee distributor of international flavors. This organization gives $5 of every item sold through our portal to us for our adoption expenses! As we have court costs, travel expenses, and agency fees coming up, it is necessary for us to raise these needed funds. If you are interested in helping us in this way, you can find the portal at http://www.justlovecoffee.com/thecates. And if you know someone who loves coffee and who would love to support adoption, please pass this information on to them! Please keep our adoption process in your prayers as we follow God’s will in growing our family. Thank you again for all your prayers, support, and encouragement as we seek to follow God’s calling daily here in Vermont. We are blessed to know so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are lifting us up in prayer. May God bless YOU as you serve Him on YOUR local mission field wherever He has called you. Other Prayer Requests: We would also ask you pray for Kevin and Christin Pounds (and their children Jude and Wren) who are planting a church in Burlington, VT. Our church has agreed to sponsor their church plant through our local association, and we are exited about their plans to share the gospel with Vermonters and international refugees in the Old North End of Burlington. You can read more about their ministry at www.serveburlington.com Pray for Trey as he works his part-time job. Pray that Trey will have his time multiplied so that he can also complete his church responsibilities. Pray for him as he prepares his sermons and Bible studies. Pray for Robyn as she teaches Women's Bible study. May God grant us His Spirit of wisdom as we teach and preach His Word. Pray that we can effectively develop leadership teams to carry out our growing ministries. Please pray for the men in our community. Pray specifically for “J”, “L”, “G”, “T”, “J”, and “M”. These men are directly connected to families in our church and Trey feels specifically burdened to see them become disciples of Jesus Christ. Pray for wisdom as He seeks to share Christ with them. Pray for us to have good relationships with our neighbors and the people we encounter every day. Pray for us to make new, life-long friendships with families in our community. Pray for the other Bible-believing churches in Northfield to proclaim the Gospel without fear, and pray that we can have good relationships with churches of like faith. Pray for our associational leaders in the Green Mountain Baptist Association, the Baptist Convention of New England, and the North American Mission Board. Pray for Godly wisdom in our leadership and for cooperation among the churches in the New England areas to proclaim the name of Jesus with great boldness as we carry out the Great Commission. Thank you for your prayers! Trey, Robyn, Rachel, and Joshua Cates NAMB Church Planting Missionaries 14 Kimball Avenue Northfield, VT 05663 Financial and Ministry Needs for New Life Community Church:
Please make tax-deductible church resource donation checks payable to: Cates Family Support Needs: You can make your tax-deductible pastor support checks payable to: This Month's Ministry Photos:
Follow our journey - Visit www.newlifevt.com/cates/news |
Greetings from Vermont in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Our relief efforts started out with three concentrated weekends of work comprised of volunteers from our own church and also neighboring churches in Barre and Washington. Last week a Disaster Relief group from Kentucky and the Baptist Convention of New England helped us start work on our eighth home! Each home has to be cleared of debris, have sheetrock, insulation, and flooring removed, and sanitized with mold-killing cleansers. 
some families are abandoning their homes because of the overwhelming costs of repairs. Some will not get financial assistance unless they lift their homes above the flood plain. Some homeowners are being denied assistance altogether. Please pray that we might have wisdom as to minister to these families in their time of need.
, and we have many who are serving in our church in worship and children’s ministries. Others are leading Bible studies on campus. We are thrilled with the growth we have seen and cannot wait to see what takes place in the lives of these students this year.
New Life Community Church - P.O. Box 133 - Northfield, VT 05663 - www.newlifevt.com