The Cate Family Update

Hello from the Cate crew! We realize that we have been here in the states much longer than expected and many of you maybe wondering what is going on. We would like to take this time to update you on where we are right now in the adoption process and what our plans are in moving forward. We will try and tell you the short version of what has happened, and where we go from here. :)
I guess most of you know us, but for those of you who do not we will try and catch you up a bit. We are a missionary family living in Brazil. We were sent out by our home church, Calvary Chapel Brandon, three years ago. The Lord lead us to plant a church in Rio Vermelho, Brazil two years ago and we have been blessed to be able to be a part of what the Lord is doing in and through Calvary Chapel Mocamba. Besides the normal weekly church services, we are involved in other ministries for the local kids such as surf school, English class, jujitsu, discipleship, etc. Because two of our kids were born in Brazil, we were able to receive our permanent visas which has been a huge blessing.
After not visiting the U.S. for a little over two years, we planned a trip back in December of 2009. The plan was to stay for about 5 weeks to see family, friends, our home church family and also to attend the pastor's conference. Little did we know that two days before our scheduled return date, the Lord would take us on one of the most exciting, faith stretching adventures we have ever been on.
As some of you know, we had Benji (now Josiah Cate) in our home when he was around a year old. We had tried to help out his single mother, and at the time we even talked about adopting him. Being that it was not the Lord's timing nothing happened, and we ended up moving to Brazil a short time later. After almost four years of not knowing where Benji was or how he was doing, we received a call regarding Benji and his younger twin siblings.

The kids and their birth mother were not doing well, Social Services were getting involved, and the kids were going to be placed into the foster care system. The very day that we heard about the situation we brought the kids home. At the time, we didn't know who was going to be their forever family, but we knew that the Lord wanted us to help these kids. After a few days, lots of prayer, and some serious confirmation from the Lord, we knew that these kids were meant to be our kids forever. Nathan stayed for an extra week to work on some of the initial adoption paperwork and then returned to Brazil. Because we were not able to travel with the kids until we had a court order from the judge, Danielle and all 6 kids stayed in the states at our assistant pastor Jim's house. (Praise the Lord for the Randall's hospitality!!) The first few months with the kids were very hard, but the Lord was faithful. The kids had been through a lot in their little lives, and with that comes many, many behavioral, physical, and emotional problems. It is so awesome to look back and see how far the Lord has already brought them in the last five months!
As far as the adoption goes we are almost done-Praise the Lord! We have the most important parts already finished, but it has not been officially finalized as of yet. The kid's birth mother, as well as all of the potential birth father's rights have been terminated. Also we have been completely approved as the adopting family(which is a much bigger process than you would guess if you haven't been through it personally).
Another HUGE praise report is the Lord's provision for the adoption costs that we have had to pay up to this point. When our adoption agency gave us the estimated cost of the adoption, along with airfare, it added up to be a good bit more than our yearly income! The state is not involved in helping us with any financial aid. We knew that God would have to provide. We are so blessed to be able to say that most of the adoption costs have been paid! Praise the Lord!
As this adoption process is coming to an end, we would like to ask you to keep us in your prayers. The judge has given us a court order to enable us to take the kids home to Brazil, and finalize the adoption from there. Now all that needs to be done in order to get back to our ministry in Brazil is to get passports, visas, and 8 plane tickets home. We know that for this to happen it will have to be another miracle from the Lord, being that we have no other financial resources left.
We want to thank all of you who have been there for us these last few months through your prayers, encouragement, and support. We have been blessed beyond measure to be surrounded by our brothers and sisters in Christ during this time! You can find us on Facebook: search “Nathan Cate”, “Danielle Cate”, or “Calvary Chapel Mocamba” for the church in Brazil.
Or you can email us @ nateandani@hotmail.com
Danielle also has a blog @ http://thecate8.blogspot.com

- If you would like to help financially you can give through Calvary Chapel Brandon with a note attached specifying that it is for the Cate Family.

Calvary Chapel Brandon’s Address: 1331 Kingsway rd.
Phone: (813)681-5318 Brandon, FL, 33510