For the past three years, Catherine Coaty has been a catalyst to fuel passion for missions giving at GracePointe Baptist Church. Since last February, she has raised and given $3,224 to missions.
Catherine raises money by collecting soft drink cans for recycling and baking goods. She looks for empty aluminum cans wherever she goes, including getting empty cans from the Kentucky Baptist Convention building.
Her history of missions giving goes back three years when, at age 4, she heard GracePointe ask for pledges for its missions giving program. Her parents (Jon and Jess) said she was emphatic about setting a goal for herself — not one linked to her parents.
Her parents tried talking her into a modest $25 pledge. But Catherine wouldn’t have it setting her own goal at $100. And she intended to reach it by picking up the many aluminum cans she saw around her neighborhood.
She even came up with a slogan — she tells everyone: ‘You can do something and every can counts.”
Catherine’s hard work sparked others at GracePointe to be more intentional toward missions giving. Jess Coaty said her daughter’s passion caught fire in the church and others followed her lead.
This second-grader is exemplifying the message of Isaiah 11:6: “And a Little child shall lead them.”