On Mission in VT - April 2025
It’s hard to believe another two months have passed since our last newsletter. This has been a long and exhausting winter, but we have many updates and prayer needs to pass along to you.
Youth Deep Freeze 2025
It’s hard to believe another two months have passed since our last newsletter. This has been a long and exhausting winter, but we have many updates and prayer needs to pass along to you.
Night to Shine took place on February 7 and we maxxed out all available space at the Barre Elks Lodge. For those of you not familiar with this global ministry sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, Night to Shine is a prom for the special needs community that includes a gospel focus. We have a leadership team that works year-round planning the event and raising the funds necessary to pull it together. Our community really rallies around this event! We had 85 Honored Guests attend, and we coordinated the efforts of over 160 volunteers. At least 30 community businesses and individuals donated money, supplies, and services. If you would like to donate to this event, please visit www.fccbarre.org/nts.
At the end of February, Trey, along with other volunteers, took 35 students to the Deep Freeze camp in Berea, NH. This is the third time they have gone, and our students are greatly impacted by the discipleship that takes place there. Again, our church worked together they raised the funds needed for this event as several of these students would not be able to attend without full or mostly-funded support. On that note, our student ministry continues a steady growth both numerically and spiritually. One of our young men felt led to begin a small group Bible study with other high school guys. That group has been meeting for over a month now.
With this additional small group, we have seen a total of three new small groups form in the past six months. Please pray as we work to make disciples who make disciples!
Barre, where our church is located, has a homeless crisis. The state, to this point, has allowed those without permanent residences to stay in local hotels for short periods of time, but this effort has not reversed the issue. Many individuals and families (children included) are in encampments with very little in the way of resources. Our church assembles backpacks for those who are homeless. These backpacks include items such as shampoo, wash rags, toothpaste, a toothbrush, bottled water, hats, non-perishable food items, and so much more. We place a Bible in each backpack. Once they are assembled, a representative from the police department picks them up for distribution. To this date, we have assembled and distributed over 600 backpacks! We know there is more we can do, so please pray along with us as to how we can take this effort and leverage it for a gospel witness.
We are thrilled to share this update from the Williamstown Community Church, the church plant we were blessed to lay the groundwork for from 2022-2024:
The church has now officially chartered! This means they are now autonomous with their own constitution and bylaws!
They have outgrown the library in the Williamstown Middle/High School and are beginning to meet in the auditorium.
They have started a youth group that meets on Sunday nights.
They had 15 unchurched/unsaved men participate in their men’s breakfast.
Tyler Ballard (pastor) has been discipling and training three of the men in that church to pray, study, teach, and lead. He meets with them every Tuesday for 3-4 hours.
They have had several come on Wednesday nights for evangelism training.
New families have joined this church, bringing the weekly average attendance to around 35.
They have started assembling gospel gift bags to bring to every door in Williamstown.
They we will offering free coffee and passing out gospel tracts in the schools in April.
In the last 6 months, God has given them over 500 Gospel-sharing opportunities!
Robyn was nominated for and chosen to receive recognition as one of Vermont/Northern New York’s 20 Outstanding Women. This nomination was given by the founder and president of the non-profit she has worked for since we arrived in 2022. All of the women chosen are heavily involved in their communities and were treated to a special evening to recognize their efforts. Please pray for Robyn as she continues to seek ways to make a meaningful difference in Barre.
As Robyn types this, she is sitting in an airport waiting for yet another winter storm to pass before she can board her flight to Knoxville, TN. She has been invited to speak at an event for teen girls at First Baptist Church of Lenoir City, TN. While she is there, she will be able to connect with her family and with Rachel and David. Please pray for her safe flights and for the event where she will speak.
Lastly, we received some MAJOR news a couple of weeks ago—WE ARE GOING TO BE GRANDPARENTS!!! Rachel is due sometime in early November. Trust us, we will give plenty of updates along the way!
We have several upcoming events, and we could use prayer support. Please pray for the following:
Our Easter Egg Hunt Outreach (4/12/25) and our Good Friday and Easter services
Our VBS (6/23-6/27). For the first time in a few years, our congregation will be carrying the bulk of the teaching, but we do have a great team coming from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Bryant, AL to support us. Our daughter, Rachel, and her husband, David, are also coming to assist. Please pray for all of us as we plan and train for this outreach. Pray for the children and families we will have the opportunity to minister to.
Pray for a new youth discipleship event we are holding in July. Life Church from Greensboro, NC, will assist us. We are keeping them very busy while they are with us as Life Church will be painting the interior of the church building for us!
Pray for Robyn as she wraps up her final semester at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She will graduate on May 16, so we will all be traveling to Wake Forest, NC, to see her walk and receive a hard-earned Masters Degree in Christian Education.
Other prayer needs:
Pray for Barre and surrounding communities. The percentage of those in the state of Vermont who claim “None” as a religious preference (meaning Atheist or Agnostic) is currently at 46%. WE NEED MORE WORKERS HERE!
On that note, pray for our church. We continue to see growth numerically and in deep discipleship, but there is so much work to do. Again, we need more seasoned believers to partner with us in this endeavor as we work to raise up disciplemakers within our own congregation.
As always, please pray for our children. You can pray for Rachel with her pregnancy and for Rachel and David together as they seek God’s will for their marriage and ministry together. Pray for Joshua as he works through his classes at Norwich University and seeks to do well there. Pray for us as parents—these stages of life are quite unique as our children move into independence.
Pray for our extended families as Robyn’s dad and Trey’s dad continue their journeys with Alzheimer's and dementia, respectively. Both families are making difficult choices regarding long-term care, and we appreciate your prayers over them all. Please pray for us as we continue to carry out this mission God has called us to. The sacrifices are many, but we remain faithful.
In Christ,
Trey, Robyn, & Joshua Cates
12 Cassie Street
Barre, VT 05641
mhcates3@gmail.com / trey@fccbarre.org
HOW TO GIVE TO OUR MINISTRY
Tax-deductible donations can be made through our sponsor church. Make checks payable to the following:
Faith Community Church
30 Jones Brothers Way
Barre, VT 05641
Please write “Cates-VT Church Planting” in the memo line.
Online Donations can be made at:
https://pushpay.com/g/fccbarre
Please write “Cates-VT Church Planting” in the memo line.
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