"Is there not a cause?"
THE CATO FAMILY
MISSIONARIES TO RS, BRAZIL
Dear Co-Laborers in Christ, September 2009
We have hardly had time to breathe since we landed on American soil about four months ago. So far we have visited 39 churches. I came down with a fever while traveling to meetings in Missouri and Kansas and was laid up two days in a hotel and ended up missing four meetings. It has been two weeks and my voice is just starting to come back from that sickness. I coughed so hard that I pulled my neck out and had to wear a neck brace for some time. During this time I had to drive my family from Ohio to Oklahoma City with a U-haul to enroll my two oldest girls in Bible college. It was a memorable experience to say the least. Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; I know God has a purpose.
Diane has had some health problems that she is battling. She has much pain in her right lower back and hip area. The doctors have determined that it is arthiritis in her faucet joints and she has had three injections for pain and had a small operation where they burn the nerve endings. She is doing better but please keep her in your prayers. Amber is still on medicine for epilepsy but has not had any more occurrences and may be able to be taken off the medicine in a year or two.
I have been encouraged visiting churches and seeing God’s blessings. Like I have said many times, we have the best supporting churches of any missionary. We have seen at least 20 people make decisions for Christ during our meetings and I know of at least four for salvation. We were able to see some saved at a vacation Bible school that we helped at and some saved out on visitation. We must evangelize while we can. It is also my desire to see some surrender their lives to full time service as foreign missionaries. Mat 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. Please pray that God would send someone to help us down in Southern Brazil! We have a short furlough and were not able to schedule all of our supporting churches due to scheduling conflicts, distance and time so if you are one of our supporting churches and I have not spoken to you yet, please get in contact with me by e-mail or phone. I will also be sending a DVD of our ministry for those that we were not able to see.
Our church in Colina Sorriso is still holding it’s own. We do have some bad news though, brother Anderson and his family have moved back to their home town in Santa Maria. So we are six people short of what we were in attendance. The good news is that it is God’s work and he will supply the members as we are faithful praying and preaching and teaching the Bible. Ivanio, the deacon who is watching our house and the church there is doing good and holding fast. I am proud of him and Carine as they have really grown in the Lord in the past two years since their conversion. Please pray for us as we finish up with furlough! We have about 27 churches to visit still and are scheduled to leave for Brazil on December the 1st. We enjoy seeing our brothers and sisters here but already are homesick for the work in Brazil. That is where we belong and by God’s grace I would like to start another church when I get back. I don’t know how we are going to do this but the need is so great and there are many suburbs with over 15,000 people with no gospel preaching church.
2Co 10:16 To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you,.. 1Co 15:34 ..for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.
By His Grace
David, Diane, Amber Sarah & Lori (Bible College)
Web site: http://catofamily.4t.com/ e-mail m2brazil@yahoo.com Phone 251-504-7846
MISSIONARIES TO RS, BRAZIL March 2009
Dear Co-Laborers in Christ,
In six weeks we will be heading for the states for a much needed furlough. We hate to leave the work here but it has been four years since we have seen our family and friends and we have one daughter (Sarah) in Bible college and will be dropping off another one (Lori) in August. We also are looking forward to reporting to our supporting churches on what God has done here in Southern Brazil. A lot has been done but much more needs to be done. I have tried to contact all of our supporting churches either by phone or by e-mail, if I did not get in contact with you yet and you would like for us to come by and report please e-mail me. We will only be doing a six month furlough and my calendar is pretty much filled but I still have some openings and I would love to come by and report on our work and see you again.
The church here is growing, we just baptized five people and a new family of six that just moved from another city has joined our church. Our living room is getting too small to hold everyone; we are averaging over 20 people per Sunday service. Soon we will have to rent a building. Praise the lord! In January Missionary Brother Jerry Lantz & his wife Atalia came down from São Paulo to help us with Vacation Bible school, we used a local school gym and averaged about 50 children per day; eight made professions of faith in Christ. We just held our first mission conference with Pastor Valcides missionary to the Indians of the Amazon and Veteran Missionary Joe Hawkins. (Please pray for Brother Joe as he fell and broke his collar bone while visiting his daughter.) Our church voted to take on Brother Valcides as our very first missionary at 200 reais per month which is equal to about $80.00. Amen! A missions minded church is a growing church. We are still doing house to house soul-winning and park evangelism on Saturdays. The new family is a blessing and helping with the ministry here, we plan to mount a speaker on his car and go down the streets advertising our church and preaching the gospel.
Lori will be graduating from school and we are planning a nice graduation party for her and have invited about 50 people to attend. We are so proud of her, she wants to serve the Lord and attend Bible college with her sister.
Please pray for our church while we are in the states. Brother Ivanio and Bro. Anderson deacons in our church will be running the church while we are gone. They will both be taking turns preaching and teaching the Bible. I will also ask some Pastors and missionaries to come and preach sometimes. God is blessing the work here and I am already looking forward to getting back in December. The future is as bright as the promises of God! Thank you for your faithful support and prayers!
THE CATO FAMILY
Missionaries to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Dear fellow laborers, friends and loved ones,
These last three months have been a blur. I spent one month in the USA visiting family and helping Sarah get settled into college. When I arrived in Brazil we had to move to another house. That has taken about a month of our time looking for a house, moving, fixing up the house we were in and the one we were moving into. Moving is such a pain. I keep thinking of that verse: Rev. 2: 20“He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” It would not hurt my feelings at all if he came today. “This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through”
We had to move the meetings of our church to our new house. Praise the Lord, He gave us a house with another large living room to hold preaching services and Bible study. We still live in the same suburb so that makes it easy for members who do not have cars. We try not to make a habit of picking people up for church as that creates a dependence that is hard to break later on when the American Missionary turns the church over to a Brazilian pastor. We will pick up children and older folk when it is raining and take them home after dark.
Our numbers had dwindled when I went to the states but now they are climbing again. We had 10 for the teens meeting last Saturday and 12 for Kings Kids Bible club. Now that everyone knows where we are at I believe the numbers will continue to grow. Ivanio and Carine are really coming along good in the Bible Institute. They plan on becoming missionaries one day and hopefully will be able to watch the work here while we go on furlough. We watched over two other ministries for the first two and half years that we were here, so we had a late start with starting a local church here in Caxias do Sul. I am confident however that God will bless the ministry here and that many will be saved. We are meeting Wednesday nights specifically praying that God will do something special here in this city of 500,000 of which for the most part are idolaters and spiritists. There are ten of us who meet every Wednesday. We need the boldness and power of God to witness and preach to these people who have been blinded for centuries. Please pray with us brethren!
Prayer Requests: * Saturday Soul-Winning Outreach * Nursing Home ministries * English Bible Class * Bible Institute * Sunday Preaching Services * Wednesday Prayer Meetings *Tract Distribution * Sarah in Bible College * Our Health * Ivanio & Carine * Salvation for our new neighbors & Rosangella, Sydnei, Odilone, Henrique, Rodrigo, Alexander, Fabiana, George
* Spiritual growth of church * The Street Ministry that we are planning on starting (We have ordered thousands of Gospel tracts and will make some scripture signs, there is a large park in the middle of town where we can go and witness) If you can help with the tract ministry please send us some Portuguese Gospel tracts or money to buy some. We need thousands and thousands!
Our address is: David Cato Caixa Postal 1206 95001-970 Caxias do Sul, RS Brazil, S.A.
I would also like to thank you for your faithful support financially and prayer wise. I believe that we have the most faithful supporting churches of any missionary. I mean that! God Bless you for your faith and help with the ministry here in Southern Brazil. Looking forward to seeing you during furlough in 2009.
July __________ Aug.___________
By His Grace, Sep.__________ Oct. ___________
David, Diane, Lori, Amber & Sarah (Bible College)
Web site: http://catofamily.4t.com/ e-mail m2brazil@yahoo.com
Dear fellow laborers, friends and loved ones, July 2008
In one month Sarah and I will be boarding a plane bound for the U.S.A. To enroll her in Bible College. When Sarah was a little baby Diane and I dedicated her to the Lord. It is with mixed feelings that I return to my native country, sad because I will miss my little red headed girl and yet joyful because she has grown up to be a beautiful Christian lady. She believes that God would have her to be a missionary. Of course Diane and I are hoping that she will be a missionary to Brazil.
God has given us much to do here in the way of ministry and many out reach opportunities have opened up. We are now preaching at two nursing homes. Diane and the girls are still teaching the children once a week with the King's Kids program. We have two preaching services per week at our church. I am teaching a Bible course in English at a local English school and also teaching a seminary course to a couple who are planning on being in the ministry full time. We also have a gospel tract ministry, Saturday door to door visitation and soul-winning. (There is something about going door to door that just takes the pride right out of you). We also use monthly teens, men and ladies meetings to reach new people. Please pray for us as our plate gets more and more full. We plan to come home in 2009 for a short furlough.
Praises:
- We have a new family that has joined us
- A family was baptized with the exception of the wife
- Some have made professions of faith
- The new couple Ivanio & Carine that God has sent to help us!
- Lori finished her ACT test and all the girls have finished school for this year
Sarah as she starts her first year at Bible College
Diane and I as our first girl leaves the nest
Growth of our church and the new believers
The ministries of our church
Ivanio and Carine as they study in the Bible Institute
Our furlough coming up in 2009
Rosangella, Sydnei, Odilone, Henrique, Rodrigo, Alexander, Fabiana & George for salvation
Please pray for Rio Grande do Sul. An area filled with religious lost people. About 90% of the people here are either Catholic, Spiritist or some type of cult. People need the Lord.
Thank you so much for your faithful support and prayers!
I Corinthians 3:9
For we are labourers together with God:
David, Diane, Sarah, Lori & Amber
Missionaries to Southern Brazil Feb 2008
Latest News
I will be visiting the states in July to enroll Sarah in Bible college. We will miss her, she loves the Lord and is such a blessing. She will be the first one to leave the nest. I am a tough Marine but I know that I will cry when that time comes.
I would like to take a short furlough in 2008 but our church is in it’s infant stages and I can not leave it for more than a month. We hope to take a furlough in the summer of 2009. I plan on making a DVD of our work with more details of our ministry and make it available by the fall of this year.
Praise the Lord, the work in Nova Petropolis seems to be going good with the leadership of Wendell Barros. We still help them from time to time but are trying to concentrate our efforts here in Caxias do Sul.
We are currently working hard to get ready for vacation Bible school. We have rented a building nearby and plan to have any where between 40-60 children. The girls will be doing a puppet show and we will have some help from another missionary that we had helped earlier with his VBS.
The dollar continues to fall in value, it has fallen from 2.55 to 1.75 since we arrived 2 1/2 years ago. However our supporters have been very generous and faithful and we have been able to make it without too many difficulties. Thank you so much as you make it possible for us to be here!
Thank you so much for you prayers and support! We Love you all! The Girls send their greetings also.
Prayer requests
* VBS and follow ups
* Evangelism and Visitation, more souls to be saved in 2008!
* Ministry with the College Students
* Please pray for our current families!
* Our health, my stomach has been bothering me for some time now.
* Sarah as she prepares for Bible college.
* Lori and Amber as they continue homeschooling
* Amber is doing better but still has to take epilepsy medicine.
* Diane as she teaches, cooks, cleans, visits folks, and puts up with me. She is such a blessing.
* Someone to watch our house and work in 2009
* Our financial Support
Because of Calvary,
David, Diane, Sarah, Lori and Amber
Dear Friends, August 2007
In the last three months, all of us have had the flu, I spent two weeks in bed with the flu. Diane hurt her back, Amber had an ingrown toe nail cut out. We found out that Amber and our new Rottweiler puppy both have epilepsy. They both have to take Phenobarbital which is for epilepsy. Praise the Lord for the trials and that we are all doing better now. It is 71 deg. F outside right now with the sun shinning. Amen! Ain`t God good!
Our Wednesday night Bible studies are beginning to grow one person at a time. Some of the ones who have started with us are no longer with us. 1 Jo 2:19* They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: Sadly here in the land of the Catholic and Spiritist, they will embrace religion if it does something for them like heal them, promise them wealth and fame, etc. Idolatry is a curse to these people. We have a lady by the name of Diane who has shown fruit and is growing in the Lord. Please pray for Rosangela, she has made a profession of faith but does not seem to be growing and often refers to her good works. She brings her family and is faithful to the services. Another lady asked Diane today if she could come to our Bible study! Praise the Lord! We are studying through the book of John with them. I am in the process of making a special information-invitation packet to hand out door to door. Please pray that God gives me wisdom as to how to do this. We want to blanket this city with the gospel. We are looking for new ways to evangelize. Please pray for us as God has burdened us for this great city. It is hard to get religious peoples attention. They look at us as a cult just like JWs or Mormons. Only God can get their attention, that is why we need your prayers!
The work at Nova Petropolis is still going strong. We did lose one of our best workers. Claudio whom I thought would help us, felt the Lord leading him to attend a Bible Institute in another city about 100 miles from here. We hope the Lord uses him in that area. We are having a big day next month, Gaucho Day! Sort of like Cowboy day, there will be open air cook outs, Chimmarro, horse back riding, and everyone will dress like Gauchos. It will be a lot of fun and we hope to draw some new people to hear the gospel message. God is still blessing the Kings Kids club, three children accepted the Lord two weeks ago. The devil however has been mad and is fighting our efforts. The local community has launched projects on Saturday for the children such as soccer, food, dances, etc. and has managed to take some of our children away from the Bible club. Grrrr! I hate the devil and his stinkin tricks! When you try to serve the Lord, there will always be opposition! We are currently looking and praying for a Brazilian pastor to take over the church there in Nova Petropolis. We love the people there and want to help and will continue to help them in any way that we can but God has burdened our hearts to start a work here in Caxias do Sul. A city of over 400,000 people. Nova Petropolis has 18,000. It is hard to pastor a church 40-50 miles away and start a church at the same time.
Please pray that God will send us a Brazilian worker to help us with the work here in Caxias do Sul. Right now it is just our family and a few baby Christians.
Thank you for your faithful support! May God richly bless you and your ministries!
The Cato Family
Dear Brethren, May 2007
Greetings from cold Southern Brazil! The average annual temperature here is 60 deg. F. It is cold here and so is the spiritual condition. Our city of Caxias do Sul (Pop. 412,000) is about 80% Catholic and 60% Spiritists (many Brazilians practice Catholicism and spiritism) and the rest are mostly cults and false religions. Please pray for us as we try to give the gospel to these spiritually blind people! We are still having Bible studies in our house on Wednesdays and have two faithful ladies and their children attending who were recently saved. We try to make visits at least once a week. Recently we have been going door to door with a religious survey and it has given us the opportunity to witness to several people. A lady prayed to accept Christ as Saviour last Saturday!
The work in Nova Petropolis seems to have hit a brick wall and seemed to all but stop! As many of you know, I took the reins of a church that is about 20 yrs. old and with it 20 yrs. of problems! You veteran pastors know what I am talking about. Some folks have been getting saved and we baptized four people recently and are planning another baptism here soon, however I have been having problems getting people involved in the various ministries that we have been trying to start. Yesterday after teaching on Evangelism the people began to give excuses why they could not evangelize. The main reason seemed to be that they thought the church had a bad testimony and that they were not worthy! I found out that one of the young preachers (I am training two preacher boys) had just recently been falsely accused of attempted rape. The small city is ablaze with this gossip. I did research and looked into it and it is 100% false and the girl is a liar (Even the girls dad does not believe it!) but the Devil is slick and the damage has been done. There are also two families within the church that have been feuding for many years. (jealousy and envy) Last night we had a meeting and got some things aired out. Some anger was shown and some tears shed and the church is in the healing process now! God will get the victory! Please pray that God will give me wisdom as I lead this church on the right path. The church has potential and there is so much to be done for our Lord here in this spiritually dark region. We are starting a “Kings Kids Club” on Saturday afternoons and will be having a missions conference in a few weeks. I have been praying that God would touch one of the young preacher`s heart about starting a new work in a city nearby and last night he came to me and asked what I thought about him starting a church in that nearby city. (It was hard to hide my emotion, I almost started crying!) We are going to do a survey and begin plans to evangelize this new area!
Please pray for: Claudio, the young man who wants to start a new work; Dalvan, the one accused of rape (that boy has potential, I believe that is why Satan is attacking so much); King`s Kids Club; our missions program; evangelism in Caxias do Sul and Nova Petropolis; growth of the new converts; the salvation of those we have been witnessing to; Diane`s outreach to the neighborhood ladies and that the Lord`s will be done in everything that we do! Please pray for Sarah as she is graduating this year and wants to attend Bible college next year. She is teaching English to help raise money for Bible college. We are so proud of our girls!
Thank you for your faithful support! May God richly bless you and your ministries!
The Cato Family
February 2007
Praises! 1. People are still getting saved Amen!
2. We have two people doing Bible studies
3. We have been able to show an evangelistic film to several
families
4. We have five people scheduled to baptize on February 4th
5. We are starting a new Bible Institute in February with about
five students
6. We just started a nursing home ministry and may be starting
another one soon!
7. We are averaging about 45 in the morning church service
8. Our Home Bible study is averaging about 10 people including our family
Prayer: 1. Pray for lost souls and for our soul-winning outreach
2. Pray for the new converts, Norberto, Rachel, Rosangela, Eunice, Elias, Mateus, Cleji
3. Pray for the Bible Institute students Cleselio, Beno, Dalvan, Ariane, Cleni and Pedro
4. Pray for the new nursing home ministries
5. Pray for the church in Nova Petropolis and our home Bible study
6. Church camp for the teenagers Feb. 12-16
News: The girls got another parakeet to replace the one eaten by the dog. Amber just had a birthday and is 11 yrs. Old now. Our furniture debt has been paid and we were able to buy a water filter. Sarah will be graduating from High school this May and will stay one more year to help in the work here before heading for Bible college. She wants to be a missionary. My Uncle and Grandfather passed away within these last few months. Let’s witness to our family before it is too late! Diane is still teaching English and has been able to witness to several students. Three have been saved through this outreach. God bless you and thank you for your prayers and financial support allowing us to stay on the mission field!
Okay! It is time for someone to visit us! We invite anyone who supports us financially or in prayer to visit us. It will be the best vacation/mission trip you have ever taken. Our phone number and e-mail is at the bottom.
Psa 8:1 “..O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.”
October 2006
Dear Friends,
Thank you for your prayers and support, isn't God good!
News: We have turned over the work in Cidade Nova to John and Neila Yelle who have just recently returned from furlough. Keep them in your prayers! Sarah, Lori and Amber have really come a long way in learning Portuguese. Sarah is looking forward to Bible College, Lori took some art classes and Amber loves to play with the dogs. All three are taking piano lessons. They grow up so fast! They are already 17, 15 and 10 years old. Since our last letter, a church in Nova Petropolis about twenty miles from here has asked us to help them during a transition period. The church has been without a pastor for one year. They have several men who want to study the Bible. We hope to start a Bible Institute with these young men. My goal is to train the Brazilians in soul-winning and to be Christian leaders. This church will also help us some with the ministry here in Caxias do Sul. (Caxias do Sul has about 500,000 people and very little gospel preaching churches!) We are working with the Germans in Nova Petropolis and the Italians in Caxias do Sul. There are even a few Brazilians mixed in here and there. We need soldiers in our ministries!
Praise: *We were able to lead a young lady and some children
to the Lord recently in Bairro Serrano. *My foot and leg are doing better! I can now do door to door visitation and soul-winning! (I could not walk for two months after I broke my ankle!) *We had nine teens at our first teen meeting in Nova Petropolis. Two made profesions of faith. * We had over 50 in attendance last Sunday morning. Six people came forward during the invitation professing Christ as Saviour! Amen!!! It was friends day and we brought six people from Diane’s English class; three of these accepted Christ as Saviour!
Prayer Requests: *Please remember to pray for the work in Bairro Serrano! We had 21 children last time we held Bible club there; however no adults have shown any fruit of salvation yet. *The church and work in Novo Petropolis. *Pray for Darvan, a man who has been called to preach but got involved with a girl. We hope to be performing a wedding for them soon. He is currently under church discipline. *Pray for Claudio, another young man called to preach and seeking the Lords will as to where God would have him go. *Pray for Diane’s English class, she currently has about 30 students. It is our goal to win them to Christ.
* Please pray that the three who accepted Christ will grow in the Lord and that we will be able to start a church with them here in Caxias do Sul. * Pray God will give us workers!
Because of Calvary,
David, Diane, Sarah, Lori & Amber
Update on the Cato's in Southern Brazil June 29, 2006 Dear Friends, Just wanted to update you on our ministry here and share some prayer requests and blessings with you. News and Praises: * I managed to break my ankle bone about three weeks ago. I was running in the rain and tried to jump over a mud hole and slipped and landed on my twisted ankle. Please pray that it heals quickly, the hospital put a splint on it and it seems to still be pretty swollen and blue with bruises. I try to stay off of it but I think I hop around way too much on my crutches. There are so many things to do and I feel so far behind. Also traveling by car here on these bumpy roads aggravates my leg worse. Anyone who has ever had a broken leg knows what I am talking about. * We have found a house to rent anticipating the return of John and Neila. We are beginning to look for furniture and major appliances. We are going to all the used furniture stores, etc. We have already found some good deals. * Two new families are attending church now in Cidade Nova and two people accepted Christ as Saviour last Sunday. (I almost did not go to church and preach that night because I had fallen on my broken leg. You just can never tell how God is going to work) Prayer Requests: * Please pray for the church in Cidade Nova and us as we give the responsibilities of the church back to the Yelle family. (They started the church about seven years ago.) It will be a big void in our life as we have given of ourselves for that ministry for over a year. * The new work in Bairro Serrano. That work has been put on hold for a few weeks because of my broken leg. We have two families doing Bible studies there so far and some have accepted Christ as Saviour. Diane has made some visits to these families since I became an invalid. * Please pray for our finances! Besides all the furniture and appliances we have to buy, Diane has to order over $1,500.00 worth of Homeschool books and DVDs this month for the upcoming school year. * Pray for spiritual victory here in Caxias do Sul ! (Pop. 500,000) Our goal is to start Fundamental Baptist Churches(plural). We know that only God can do that, so please pray that we stay fired up, in His will and filled with the Holy Spirit! Thank you for your prayers and support! By His Grace, David Cato and Family Missionaries to Southern Brazil
THE CATO FAMILY March 2006
MISSIONARIES TO RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL
Praises:
Our soul-winning outreach is growing! Right now we have two families, one lady and five teenagers that go out at least once a week. We are currently using two methods. 1. Door to door passing out invitations and gospel tracts. We witness when they permit us to do so, very few Catholics will let a stranger just show up at the door and talk to them, but we try! 2. We visit friends of our members and contacts that we have previously made. At their table usually sipping chimarrao we will then present the gospel to them from an open Bible. (Very effective) Please pray for our soul-winning outreaches! We have seen several people come to the Lord this way. We also have big days at the church where members invite others to come and hear the gospel.
The faithful support of our churches! 1 Cor. 3:9a “For we are labourers together with God:..”
Prayer Requests:
Our discipleship program. The liberal churches and the cults are after our baby Christians. Sometimes they steal them before we can get them strong with the milk of the Word. A shame that many will go after other Christians instead of going after the lost.
Pray for the salvation of Clovis and Letiça, the husband and daughter of Ivonne, a faithful Christian lady in the church.
Pray that God will lead us to the right area to start another church. We are currently considering starting a church in another suburb in the Northern part of Caxias do Sul. A veteran Brazilian Pastor has also asked us to help in his area near Porto Alegre. We only have six more months here until John and Neila Yelle return to take over their work.
Our Bible Institute. We now have four students.
* The other night while coming home from teaching at the Bible Institute, I saw several strange lights in the woods. The next day I went to investigate and found two dead chickens, one dead goat, and a dead rabbit that had all its` feet cut off. Next to them were candles and a bowl of blood. Macumba! Sometimes at night we hear the eerie sound of their drums. They dance to the music of the drums until a spirit enters their body. Spiritism is very popular here. They offer up these sacrifices to bless or curse someone. What a shame! I heard of one poor woman who bought three shiny apples to donate to the demons while her children went hungry. She was asking the demons to bless her and give more food! It is estimated that 1/3 of the people living here participate in such sacrifices which is called macumba.
* Everybody is healthy and the girls are growing too fast! We love it here!
Because of Calvary,
David, Diane, Sarah, Lori & Amber
MISSIONARIES TO RIO GRANDE DO SUL, BRAZIL
THE CATO FAMILY
NOVEMBER 2005
Praises:
* Seven people have accepted Christ as Saviour since our last prayer letter. One man, Carlos, 11 years ago was the only survivor of a train wreck. He was blown 50 feet through a window and landed in the top of a tree. He told me that now he has been saved twice.
* We have started a Bible Institute with material from our brethren in Bahia and Manaus. We have one very dedicated couple who are attending so far and another young man will begin in January.
* A member of the church just called and asked me if I could go with him to visit some lost family members! Also another lady, “Ivonne” has gotten on fire for the Lord. Diane and she has led a sister and brother-in-law to the Lord! I am just about to have a fit! Excuse me while I just jump and shout a little bit!
* We have officially applied for our permanent visas! The Federal Police said they see no problems and that we should have our visas within six months. Praise God!
Prayer Requests:
* Our soul-winning outreach. Right now we have two families and one lady that go out at least once a week.
* The new converts. Most of them are doing Bible studies and we will baptize them soon in the river.
*Pray that God will lead us to the right area to start another church.
* The need: (What I saw recently on an interior trip) Lajeado and region 150,000, One S.B. church which works mainly with German people. Santa Maria 300,000, with one Fundamental Baptist church and a few S.B. churches. Cruz Alta 70,000, no gospel preaching church. Passo Fundo 200,000, with three small S.B. churches. Carozinho 30,000, no gospel preaching church. Lagoa Vermelha 30,000, no gospel preaching church. Vacaria 60,000, one conservative Southern Baptist church. Caxias do Sul 500,000, one Fundamental Baptist (the one we are working in), two liberal S.B. churches and several Reformed (Pentacostal) ”Baptist” churches.
News:
* Our house was robbed and cleaned out last month . Almost every thing of value was stolen. We lost about $5000,00 worth of merchandise including two computers, watches, video camera, digital camera and many other items. I sent an email to 126 of our friends and churches. They prayed for us and many of them responded with love offerings. We were able to replace many of the items that were stolen. I stand in awe of the great God that we serve and our faithful supporters who came to our aid in time of need. I am typing this letter on my brand new computer! Thanks to all of you who helped!
* We have since put in an alarm system and steel bars on the windows and doors.
* We got a new puppy (Hopefully one day he will be a big strong guard dog)
* Lori has braces now.
* We found a piano teacher for the girls.
Special Points of interst:
Gauchos drink Chimarrão a very strong green tea.
Most Catholics in RS also practice Candomble and Alan Kardec which are forms of spiritism.
Caxias do Sul is 2,369 feet above sea level.
It is colder here than Alabama!
Rio Grande do Sul is made up mostly of immigrants from Italy, Germany and other parts of Europe
In His Service,
David, Diane, Sarah, Lori & Amber
THE CATO FAMILY
MISSIONARIES TO BRAZIL
JULY 2005
Dear friends,
Greetings from Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil. Sorry it took so long to send out a formal prayer letter! I sent out one via e-mail about a month ago but do not have everyone’s e-mail address. Please send your e-mail address to me at m2brazil@yahoo.com if you did not receive our prayer letter via e-mail.
We are very excited about being here. I am chomping at the bit to start a church in a new area; however, we have promised John Yelle, (another missionary who is on furlough) to watch the church he started and also their house and belongings for one year. We do need some time to relearn the language, the local slang and culture. The people here are known as Gauchos, (a Brazilian cowboy mixed with Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and maybe some Indian and even German). They are a hard working, Independent, proud people. They are mostly of the Catholic religion and fiercely traditional. So, our work is cut out for us but we know that God can break the most stubborn heart. Please pray for us as we get adjusted here.
News: ***The church here is going great! We have visitation and soul-winning every Saturday at 2pm.
***We were able to buy a vehicle, (Hyundai Galloper) a seven passenger SUV which runs on natural gas which is about 1/3 the price of gasoline.
***I cut the tip of my finger off cutting wood; they sewed it back on at the hospital and it is doing fine. Thank God it was not worse!
***We have internet, so please feel free to e-mail us, send pictures and we can also send pictures to you.
***The American dollar has continued to fall in value. We have had a lot of expenses also lately which is normal when you first move to a new country. We thank every one of you who gave extra towards our travel fund, as this helped us tremendously and has kept us out of the red.
***Praise the Lord! We are officially at 99% support. (There are still others who have promised support yet!) Wow! We did it! God first of all; you who have given by faith and of course our efforts of going and telling our story. Thanks!
Prayer: ***The congregation here, pray that they grow in the Lord and that they stay in church
***Our witnessing, that their hearts will be receptive to the gospel
***Our health
***That we will learn the language and culture better
***The Bible Institute (We have two students now and will gain a third soon)
***Pray for Everton, a man who just made a profession of faith last Sunday
By His Grace, David Cato & Girls
The Cato Family
Missionaries to Brazil March 2005
Dear Friends,
Ain't God Good! I know that is not proper English but it sure says what I am thinking right now. We are nearing the end of our deputation journey with sadness, fear and gladness. Sad that we will be leaving family, friends and our native land for many years. Fear of the unknown, places we have never been and situations we have never experienced. Glad that we will soon be with the people of whom God has called us to work with; the people whom Jesus died for. I am so glad and happy that God is using me and my family! I know that He has a great work for us to do in Brazil! I can understand how the apostle Paul felt when he said; "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry" 1 Tim 1:12 We have seen souls saved, people rededicate their lives for Christ and some called into full time ministry. However, our heart aches to be about the King's business in Brazil. Please pray that we will always be soul winners filled with the Holy Spirit!
We just came from cold, snowy West Virginia. Thanks, Bro. Jesse, and the good folks of Rock Cave Ind. Baptist for giving us a nice warm house to stay in! We have picked up several more churches for support. Just recently two churches in West Virginia, one church in Kentucky and five churches in Florida have promised financial support. That puts us at about 90% of our needed support level. We have just six more weeks of meetings to raise our final support. Our target date to be in Brazil is June 9, 2005. We are working hard and praying that the necessary funds will come in. I believe they will. Some churches have indicated that they may support us at a later date.
Prayer needs: * Please pray for our Visa situation! We may be able to re-instate our permanent visa once we arrive in Brazil. We will be applying for a one year religious visa so we can ship many of our things. Brother John Hawkins and the CBMB (World Baptist Mission of Brazil) is helping us with this Process.
* Our Travel Fund Thanks, Southpoint Baptist for the .00 that was sent for this need! Besides our plane fare and shipping costs, our largest expense will be for a vehicle. We are praying that we will have the available funds to buy a good used dependable car.
In the next few months, would you please consider helping us with this expense? Any amount will be helpful and appreciated.
In Christ's Service,
Prayer Letters:
December 2004
Dear Friends,
Praise the Lord from whom ALL blessings flow! We are currently at 80% of our needed monthly support level! This would not be possible with out YOU! Your prayers and financial support have made this possible. Thank You!
**News: We have really enjoyed the fellowship and opportunities to preach but are anxious and chomping at the bit to be about the work in Brazil.
We just bought the Rosetta Stone's Portuguese Course levels 1 & 2 on Ebay. The girls are learning fast and Diane and I are brushing up on our grammar. It is the best course I have ever seen! We have just received our passports and will be applying for our visas soon. We hope to get a permanent visa right away because of our two oldest daughters having been born in Brazil. The visa is called a "Family Reunion Visa". We will be traveling to Miami, Florida in early January to speak with the Brazilian Consulate about our visas. We have 14 meetings in Florida; then will be heading for KY, OH, WV, PA & NY for meetings in March & April. We have about 35 meetings planned but need to schedule 10 more.
**Prayer Needs: Travel Fund ,000 1. Visas $1,800 2. Plane tickets ,000 - ,800 3. Shipping costs $1,500 4. Dependable Used car ,000 - ,000 5. Home School books & videos ,500, The sell of our house and motorhome, God's power in our lives and for lost souls in Brazil. We need 10-15 more supporting churches to be at 100% of our needed support level.
2Cor 10:16 "To preach the gospel in the [regions] beyond you, [and] not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand."
1Cor 15:34 "Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of
God...."
By His Grace,
David Cato & Family
September 2004
Dear Friends,
*Thank you very much for your prayers and support! We are currently at 70% of our needed support level. We are excited and thankful for what God is doing in our lives. We are planning to leave for Brazil by May or June of 2005. Please pray that our support level will be at 100% by then. I have 37 meetings scheduled until then but need more in Florida for January and February.
*My survey trip to Brazil was a blessing. I had the privilege of visiting John & Neila Yelle's work in Rio Grande do Sul and also Lanny & Judy Wood's work in Sao Paulo, Brazil. They are both doing a great job and it was good to be able to speak in Portuguese again. We have prayed about it and believe God would have us to work with John & Neila in Rio Grande do Sul. They have asked us to watch their work for them when they go on furlough next year. The city they are working in has over 400,000 people and has very little gospel witness. The predominate religions there are Catholicism and Spiritism.
*I have barely had time to breathe since I got back from Brazil a month ago. Just in August we have traveled over 2,300 miles visiting churches in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Ohio; preaching, teaching, singing,(our girls do the singing) and showing slides. We participated in two camps, one for missionaries and the other a children's camp in Ohio. (Six children made professions of faith at the camp in Ohio, Praise the Lord!) I also had to do some extensive brake work on our motor home. Thank God my father-in-law helped me on that one! We are just happy to be busy serving the Lord and am content knowing that we are in the center of His Will! God Bless you until we meet again!
June 2004
Dear Praying Friends,
*It seems just like the other day since I sat at my computer and wrote our last prayer letter. Time goes so fast. I am reminded of the scriptures in Romans & James: Romans 13:11,12 "... for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand:" Also in James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what [shall be] on the morrow. For what [is] your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." These verses remind me that what we are going to do for Christ we must do soon and with urgency! I found out that a man whom I had witnessed to in December of last year died just recently in a fishing accident. He was a good man but lost and did not know Christ as his Saviour. He did not know that this would be his last year on earth. It makes me think of the people who will die without Christ this year; especially those in Brazil who have never heard a clear presentation of the gospel.*
*July the 14th I will leave for a survey trip to visit John and Neila Yelle in Rio Grande do Sul and also Lanny and Judy Wood in Sao Paulo Brazil. Please pray for safety on this trip and that God will give us a greater burden than ever for the Brazilian people.
Updates:
**We are currently at about 63% of our support and it is steadily increasing.
** Since our last prayer letter we have seen 12 people accept Christ as Saviour and 34 surrender their lives to the will of God.
**We have been in 168 churches since January 2003
**We are still having fun and are just beginning to catch our second wind! We can not stop until we
accomplish that which He has called us to do.
In His Service,
The Cato Family
March 2004
Dear Praying Friends,
We are over half way now; it seems just like yesterday that we hit the road on full time deputation. We have been on the road now for sixteen months. Our heart is in Brazil but we must raise the funds needed in order to keep us there when we get there. Please continue to pray that God would move people's hearts to support us on a full time basis.
Blessings & Answered Prayer: * Almost every service these last months we have had people make *** decisions for Christ, either dedications or rededications. Two small girls were saved just recently. Now * that is exciting!
** Praise The Lord! We are now at 53% of our support (We are past midway, each percentage is a step closer to Brazil!)
** A preacher gave us a very nice Computer. Thanks Bro. White!
** No major accidents or sicknesses
** New Support. Amen! We have had at least fourteen churches take us on for financial support since December of last year and some have increased their support.
Prayer needs: * That we would be filled with the Holy Spirit of God constantly!
** Meetings to present our ministry. If you know of someone I could call for a meeting * please drop me a line via e-mail. I have used up many of our contacts and need a fresh supply.
* * That our motorhome would hold up.
* Money for home school books.
News: * Amber and Lori have lost more of their teeth. Amber's nickname is now snaggle tooth.
** Sarah turned the big age of 15 on March 2nd. (They grow up too fast)
** Sarah added more songs that she could sing in church
** Diane is still homeschooling, cooking, doing laundry, correspondence, paperwork, and just being * my wonderful wife & mother to our girls.
By His Grace,
Dave Cato & Family
Come on down and drink a big cup of steaming chimarrao with us!
