Author: David Lont

Dear friends, family and supporters,

We’d just like to take a moment to update you on our activities over the last couple of months. God is so good! We have been enjoying His presence, His people, and the work that He has placed under our care.

Mexican Independence Day

September 16 is Independence Day in Mexico, but by tradition, most celebrations take place the evening before. September 15 was a Sunday, so we enjoyed a typical celebration after our church service with those of the congregation who decided to stay and celebrate with us. We all enjoyed eating a variety of traditional Mexican foods and playing some of the old Mexican-style games together.

Advanced School of Ministry in Houston

The following Monday, we took a plane to Houston for the Advanced School of Ministry seminar there. We spent about a week with some of the pastors and leaders in the Hispanic community in Southern Houston, teaching a seminar on finances.

We arrived in Houston just as a tropical storm moved in, and there were several flash food warnings in area. As we taught, the flood alarms would go off every few hours (a bit distracting, I must admit) and we’d look out the windows of the little church to make sure we weren’t surrounded by water yet. One of the afternoons, several of the people couldn’t get back to where they were staying, so they had to stay at the church. We are happy to report that the water never reached the church, and the Lord took care of all of us during those days of heavy rain.

God is good, and we enjoyed teaching, worship and the presence of God. We also enjoyed meeting new people, some with a real hunger for God. It was a blessing to work with our team members Pastor Jacobo and Pastor Humberto during the seminar.

Team Retreat

The first weekend of October we did a team retreat at a hotel in Real del Monte (the mining village where Sara was born), which is a picturesque town founded by Cornish miners, located about an hour from Tulancingo. We dedicated two full days to worship, prayer, Bible study, teaching and team-building activities. We enjoyed great fellowship, food, and above all, we had a really good time learning together in God’s presence.

We were a total of 10 people who play key roles in our local church in this moment, including our daughter, Anna, who is 16, and Zabdi, the 14 year old daughter of Carlos and Shaddai García (leaders in the church), who has a wonderful heart for prayer and worship. It was definitely the best retreat we have done! There was so much good ministry among the team members, as we prayed for one another, worshiped together and worked to build a team vision.

We came home a bit tired after two intense days, but very blessed and pleased with the results. I believe that God has united our hearts with those who are serving together with us, and that this retreat has been a great encouragement to this team and by extension, to the local church.

Translations, Bible School and Seminars

This is the time of the year that I spend many hours working on material for the Advanced School of Ministry and the Online Bible School. I just finished work on a 160 page manual for a course I plan to record soon for the Bible School. Sara and Anna are participating as course facilitators, and together they are working with about 70 students each week, which is almost half of all our online students.

I have begun work on our next Advanced School of Ministry notebook manual (150+ pages), Anna is translating a book by Pastor Dick Iverson (which I am editing and formatting after she does the translation), and we are also constantly writing new teaching material for our church. As you may have inferred, we are keeping very busy.

We always have time for everything.

One thing that I have often stated throughout the years is that I always have time for everything. When I say that, I mean that we always make time for the things that are really important for us. I believe that God has given us time to do all the things that He wants us to do. The key here is to do His will, and not just fill our lives with “busyness”, or things that drain us of time and energy.

Remember the story of Mary and Martha? Martha was so busy, always doing many “things” for Jesus, while her sister, Mary, sat at His feet to hear His voice. We must not forget that Jesus said that Mary chose the better part.

So when I say that I always have time for everything, spending time with Jesus is definitely part of my daily schedule. Is it a part of yours?

Thanks!

Sara and I really appreciate those who follow our ministry, read our letters, pray for us and support what we do. We’re participating in the Kingdom of God together. Thanks, and keep up the good work!

In His Love,

David and Sara Lont with Anna

Download this as printable PDF.

Hello, friends, family and supporters.

Wow! Summer has gone by so fast. We sure hope you have enjoyed it… trips to parks, family outings, picnics, enjoying the nice weather, ice cream 🍦. We had a good summer and enjoyed some time off from our “regular” work for a couple of weeks this summer.

Trip to Michigan

We spent about two weeks in Michigan at the end of June and beginning of July. It was wonderful to be able to get away and see our family, spend some time together and simply “relax”. We were also able to visit Fellowship Church in Grandville and meet several of the people who have been faithful supporters of our ministry throughout the years.

Our time in Michigan was pretty much planned before leaving Mexico, so we didn’t really have much down time, but we enjoyed spending some time in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and also a few days in Indiana. On the 4th of July, we saw the parade and the fireworks in Grandville. It was the first time our daughter, Anna, had ever been to a 4th of July celebration. We also ate hamburgers together that day. Our son, David Jeremiah, was able to join us for the long 4th of July weekend, so that made it special, too.

We also enjoyed getting together with aunts, uncles and cousins for a family gathering. It was so neat to reconnect with some of them after so many years of being away. Anna met cousins she didn’t even know existed, and now communicates with some of them on social media.

Online Bible School

Our final exams actually took place while we were in Michigan, so we had to keep up with our students and course facilitators while there. Most of the 150+ students who were enrolled were able to successfully complete their courses.

After returning to Mexico at the beginning of July, we had a few weeks to work on other projects before opening up the course registration for our fall semester, which began on August 21.

Right now we have over 160 students enrolled who are taking Bible classes online with us. We are currently teaching courses on Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey, Systematic Theology, The Life of Christ and The Acts of the Apostles. We plan to soon offer several other courses, as well. So far we have been adding one new course per semester, with the goal of forming a complete online Bible School program.

You may be wondering who are students are and where they live and work. We have students from many areas, although presently most live in Mexico. We have a few students in the U.S., and have had others from Argentina. Many of them are lead pastors in some of the main cities of Mexico, others are assistant pastors, elders, worship leaders, Children’s Church and Sunday School leaders/teachers, and some others are young people who want to grow in their walk with the Lord and knowledge of God’s Word. Some live in the larger cities and towns, while others are from small villages far from the main cities. They are from all age groups and walks of life, from young junior high and high school students all the way up to retired adults 65+ years of age. Some are educated and hold a Master’s Degree, while others are older adults with little formal education. But the common thread that unites them all is their interest in studying God’s Word and principles for daily life, and their calling to serve the Lord.

Our prayer is that these courses will teach many thousands of believers who will then go forth with the Great Commission, making disciples, strengthening the believers, and raising up churches.

Local Church Ministry

Over the summer we have also constantly been active preaching, teaching, discipling, counseling, leading worship and sowing into the lives of others in the context of personal ministry and the local church. Our Wednesday night discipleship meetings are going very well and growing. Our Sunday worship services are very much alive with an expectancy for God, and our worship team is hungering for more of God’s life and presence among us. We recognize our need to be a people who long for God’s Word, His presence and His anointing. We long to be a church of personal meaningful relationships, both on a horizontal and a vertical level.

Sara is now working closer with the children’s ministry and we’re believing for new fruit there. Anna continues to minister to the adolescent girls each week and has become an excellent teacher of God’s Word.

God has opened the doors to have weekly meetings at a rehabilitation center for alcoholics. One of our leaders, Carlos, who many years ago was in one of these centers, has become the main leader of this group, sent by our church. They have services every Monday from 7:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. freely preaching the Gospel. Many of these men and women are learning about Christ and His power to set them free from addiction. This ministry has also become a great opportunity for several of the men and women in our church to make a difference, sharing the gospel there and providing the spiritual and emotional support needed to help these alcoholics win the battle over addiction.

Our greatest need at the moment is to build a strong leadership team in our church. We understand that we can’t do everything, and the we need the help, support and strength that a team brings. Please pray for us and the church in this area. We are praying for leaders with a united heart, mind and soul, a leadership team that will take our church to the next level.

Our Family

It has been a very interesting last couple of years in terms of family life. David and Daniel moved out in the spring of 2017 to attend college in the United States. During their summers, they have to stay in the U.S. to work for their tuition costs, so we have mostly seen them only during Christmas break.

However, Sara was able to take a trip in May to spend a few days with Daniel as soon as school was out for him. She sure did enjoy that trip! We also spent a few days with David while in Michigan in June. He showed us around the university campus, which is huge! It was the first time we had been to his school since he began college over two years ago.

Anna is now in 11th grade. She has been homeschooled since kindergarten and really enjoys her studies. She is an excellent writer, teacher, and speaker, with a true sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.

We spend our mornings in the cabin here in the mountains. Anna works on her school, and Sara and I work on the online Bible School, communicating with students and preparing teaching materials for church. Sara has been a great help with the online Bible School, and she spends many hours reading homework assignments, grading the students’ work and writing to them. We spend many of our afternoons and evenings in church activities. Mornings are mostly quiet but busy, and several evenings each week we gather with different church groups.

Thanks Again!

We are so thankful for our friends and supporters who help us through prayer and financial support. Thanks so much for remembering us and praying for us. We also continually give thanks to God our Father for you, and pray that you may be filled with the knowledge of His saving grace.

Have a great week!

David and Sara Lont

Download this update as a PDF file.

Dear Friends, Family and Supporters,

We hope you’ve been enjoying the spring, and summer is almost here. In our area, we’ve had one of the warmest and driest spring seasons in several years. The farmers who depend on the rains to grow their crops desperately need rain. Normally, by this time of the year you will start to see green fields with small corn plants beginning to grow. However, this year most of the fields in our area are empty, dry, brown and dusty. We have some flowers in pots outside the house, but to keep them healthy and well, I need to water them every couple of days.

The plight of the fields reminds me of the condition of so much of the population here in Mexico and the world. Dry hearts and lives without Christ will never produce good fruit. Man’s best attempts to reform society and change humanity are destined to fail without divine intervention. This world needs Jesus Christ, and part of our job is to take His streams of Living Water to these dry and weary lands.

Our Church Family

The church in Tulancingo is doing well. We have been making a few minor adjustments in terms of leadership in some areas, and I believe we will soon be seeing even more fruit. The worship team has been attracting more young people, and I believe this will have a positive influence on the entire congregation. Our children’s ministry is also in the process of adjustments and renovation, and our Wednesday evening services are now more focused on discipleship in small group settings, working in different tables within our auditorium. Several young people, including our daughter, Anna, are leading these groups. We are excited to see what God is doing in the church.

Online Bible School

Our Online Bible School continues to gain momentum. As I shared in our last update, we formed a new course on the Life of Christ with the help of Bible teacher Mark Simpson in February. In June Pastor Homero Ríos will be coming to help us record a course on the Acts of the Apostles, and Pastor Jonás Fernández is recording a course on the work of the Holy Spirit. We continue to advance toward our goal of creating a full curriculum Bible School program where students will be able to enroll full time or part time and word toward the goal of a Bachelor’s degree in Theology, in conjunction with the Advanced School of Ministry.

Marriage Ministry

We’ve also had the opportunity to minister in other churches, especially in the area of marriage ministry. Sara and I have enjoyed teaching at couple’s banquets in Mexico City and also in a small town called Zacaultipan. Next week Saturday we’ll be doing another one in Tlapanaloya, which is about an hour from here. Sara and I enjoy teaching Biblical concepts which can strengthen marriages. I believe that this is one of the areas in our society that needs to be “watered” by the Lord, as the entire concept of marriage is under attack here in Mexico. We desperately need to return to what the Bible says about the covenant of marriage. There are so many broken homes, broken families and broken lives. However, when a couple begins to practice Biblical principles, this brokenness can begin to mend.

Family Life

Our family is doing well. Our son David Jeremiah is working this summer as an assistant in the fluids lab with PhD students. He was very excited about this new summer job, as he can apply the concepts he’s been learning. Daniel has just finished his second year of Bible School at Portland Bible College and will be working throughout the summer there. Anna is almost finished with 10th grade and plans to work with me on our online Bible School during the summer, helping to create online reviews, tests and other course material. She will also start working on another book translation.

Sara just returned from a short trip to see Daniel and was able to spend several days with him last week. We also plan to see David and my dad and mom briefly this summer. Time goes by so quickly, and we want to take advantage of every opportunity. The work of the ministry is very important to us, but we also want to invest some time in our family, as this keeps our relationships strong.

Thanks!

Once again we’d like to thank you for your love, prayers, and constant support. It is a huge blessing for us to count on you to love us, pray for us, and support us. Remember, every seed we sow into the Kingdom of Heaven will reap eternal rewards!

Have a blessed month of June!

In His Love,

David and Sara Lont

You can download a PDF version of this update here.

Dear friends, family and supporters,

What a great year we have had so far! It has been an incredibly busy but rewarding couple of months, both with our family and ministry. The purposes of God’s Kingdom have been advancing and we are believing God for even more in the months to come.

Advanced School of Ministry Seminar

The month of January of each year is the time in which we do the Advanced School of Ministry seminar in Cuernavaca. As I am writing this, I realized that we have been involved in this conference for about 25 years, first, helping out by interpreting some of the conferences, and later on with a leadership role. I now take on much of the responsibility of making many things happen on the practical side, so that everything flows smoothly. Among other things, I take care of preparing the student and master notebooks, the visual projections, most of the advertising for the event, get the attendees registered, and together with our team, help make the decisions regarding the future of this ministry.

This year marked a new milestone for us with the conference, as we moved it to a new location with much better and larger facilities. The newer Centro Cristiano auditorium is located just outside the city of Cuernavaca and has a much larger seating capacity and space for parking, restrooms, eating areas, etc. It was much more comfortable for everyone, as we all fit into the auditorium with much room to spare.

Around 1500 people showed up for the meetings, most of which are either pastors, leaders or somehow involved in ministry in local churches across the nation of Mexico. The attendance has grown over the years, as has the impact of these seminars. Each registered pastor/leader receives a book full of strong biblical and practical teaching materials he/she can use within the context of the local church.

Our guest speaker was Jonathan Wilkins, who did an outstanding job teaching many of the practical aspects of leading a church. All of us who are part of the team had our own sessions, and I interpreted for Pastor Jonathan. Our theme was called “Unshakeable”, and we all spoke about the different aspects of God’s word and character which are unmovable and unshakable.

Online Bible School Recordings

Soon after the conference, we were privileged to receive missionary Mark Simpson, who came to record classes for the online Bible School. We had a very busy week with him, as he did 24 classes on the life of Christ (in our little video recording studio), ministered to married couples, leadership, and our local church here in Tulancingo.

The recordings went great. God recently provided us with the funds for a better computer, software and lighting equipment. It is such a blessing that we now have much better equipment to do the recordings, and it made it so much faster and easier to edit and prepare the videos/audios for the Internet. Mark did an incredible job tirelessly teaching session after session on the Life of Christ. By the time the week was over, I had already finished editing all the hours of video and everything was ready online.

Our local church also received so much from Mark’s time of ministry here. He is a gifted teacher with many years of ministry experience in countries all around the world. He ministered very well to our married couples, leaders, volunteers, and the entire church. Thank you, brother Mark!

New Semester of Online Bible School Courses

As soon as we finished with the recordings, we started classes again with our online students. We currently have around 165 students participating in six courses, including “The Life of Christ” which we just recorded. The students are being attended by nine course facilitators, who correct homework, provide insight when students have questions, and are there to encourage their students. We have plans to record at least two or three more courses this year.

Other areas of ministry

Our local church (now called “Desert Streams Christian Church”) is doing well and growing in many aspects. After sending out the church plant to the community of Jaltepec a year and a half ago, we experienced a time of adjustment, but things are picking up again, and we believe the Holy Spirit is moving in new ways within the congregation.

During these last couple of months, we’ve also had the opportunity to speak at two events for married couples and also minister at a church out in the mountains here in the state of Hidalgo. Sara and I have enjoyed these times away from our “normal” activities in our church.

A couple of weeks ago, we flew to McAllen, Texas for our annual Advanced School of Ministry planning time. We enjoyed spending a few days with the team, and especially being with Bill Brown.

Thank you!

We thank each one of you for your participation and support in all we do. Thanks for your prayers, thoughts, notes of encouragement and financial gifts. We really appreciate all you do!

Note: You can download a PDF version of this update here:

Hello, friends and supporters. Here’s our latest update!

We hope you have had a great Christmas season and are getting off to a great start now that it’s 2019. We had a good time this December with our family. Both of our boys were able to come for a couple of weeks to spend Christmas with us. We very much enjoyed being able to see them, since it had been one year since we had been with them. We see each other almost weekly on FaceTime, so we’ve had constant communication, but it’s just not quite the same as being all together in person. We often joke about seeing each other either in 2D (on the flat screen), or 3D (in person). It sure was great to see David and Daniel in 3D after a year of seeing them in only 2D!

Several things have happened here since we last wrote to you. First of all, we took a brief trip to Canada for Gerda Brown’s memorial service which was held the last Thursday in November. Gerda had been a spiritual mother to us for the last 25 years, and it was our desire to honor her and support Bill during this difficult time. I was blessed to play the piano in the memorial service in Edmonton, and we also enjoyed spending several days with Bill.

December was filled with activities. Both Anna and I were working hard on finishing the material for the Advanced School of Ministry conference. I was finishing the conference notebook, and Anna was working on translating the last chapter of Dr. Frank Damazio’s book called “Seven Declarations For An Unshakable Life”. She finished just before Christmas, and I continued to edit the material and get it ready for printing. While our son David was here, he designed the covers for both of these books. Sara worked hard as my proofreader.

Also in December, we finished our semester of online Bible School classes. A total of just under 150 students successfully finished their semester of courses. The end of the semester is always a busy time, as I supervise the work of all the facilitators who check final exams and assign the final grades for the courses.

We will be starting our next semester in March, since during February we will be preparing a new course and recording it with missionary Mark Simpson. Mark will be with us for a “marathon” recording session in our little studio, teaching 24 lessons in three or four days, and also ministering to our church on the weekend.

Our Advanced School of Ministry conference, which attracts around 1,000 pastors and leaders, is coming up in a couple of weeks, so we are now working on the last details, registering participants, etc. Please pray with us for a great conference, and also that the current gasoline crisis that several states in Mexico are experiencing will be resolved before the conference so everyone will be able to have fuel for transportation to get there and back.

Thanks for your love, prayers and support. We appreciate you!

In Christ,

David and Sara, and Anna Lont

You may view a printable PDF version here.

Dear friends, supporters, and family,

Happy Thanksgiving! There are so many things to be thankful for. It’s good for us to remember our many blessings, and I believe we must start with the most import of all – Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior! We give thanks because we are children of the Most High and can rejoice in our eternal inheritance. 

We are also very thankful for you! Each of our supporters, friends and family are very important to us. We want you to know that we thank God for you; for your love and communication with us; for your prayers on our behalf; for your support of our work and ministry. Thank you so much! We thank you for believing in us and in what we do.

I also must say that we are thankful for the local church we pastor here in Tulancingo, for the great pastors and leaders we regularly minister with, for the team of the Advanced School of Ministry, and for our group of course facilitators and other workers who dedicate time each week to our online Bible School. 

We are thankful for the fellowship we can have with great men and women of God who have been an inspiration for our lives. We are thankful for people like Bill and Gerda Brown, who have been such and encouragement to us, as well as many great leaders and teachers who have inspired us. We are thankful for the times we’ve had together with the people of our local church, at times, having a meal together, working, praying, practicing, or simply talking with each other.

We are thankful for our family, for our three children, and for the ways in which God is leading each one of the them to fulfill their God-given destiny. We’re thankful for their home school – Lighthouse Christian Academy, and the wonderful positive and Godly influence the curriculum and staff have had on their lives, as they have grown up. What a blessing it has been to give our children a Christian education, even within our own home. We’re grateful that David and Daniel, who are now on their own, studying in the U.S., continue to serve and honor the Lord, as they prepare for their future. We’re thankful for Anna, who remains at home in high school, and is very active in ministry. We’re excited about their future, for what God has in store for them! 

We also give thanks for our extended family. I’m thankful for my parents, who gave me solid, biblical values, and set me off in the right direction as I grew up. I’m grateful for my brother and sister (who I don’t get to see very often), and for Sara’s family, for the nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles.

Finally, I wish to express how thankful I am for my wife, Sara. She is such a blessing to me, and such an asset in ministry. I am thankful for these past twenty-six and a half years of marriage, for the patience she’s shown toward me, for believing in and supporting our ministry projects, for her relentless love and dedication to the Lord and to her family. The Bible says, “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD”  (Proverbs 18:22). I am thankful for Sara; she is such a wonderful wife and a fantastic mother. 

How about you? What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving Day?

I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Psalms 69:30

Have a blessed day! We appreciate your love, prayers and support.

In His love,

David and Sara Lont
and Family

Download this as a printable PDF: update-september-2018

Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters,

Happy Autumn! Summer has gone by so fast for us, as we were preparing for our trip to Africa during July, we left in August, and we returned in September. Perhaps you also have the same feeling. Life goes by so quickly, and we must take advantage of every moment the Lord has given us to live life to its fullest and make good use of our time, especially for the purposes the Lord has given to us. It is good to have time off, to relax, to enjoy life; but it is also good to have a purpose in life and work every day toward that purpose, setting goals and accomplishing the tasks that bring us closer to the fulfillment of our God-given dreams, visions and purposes.

Bill Brown Visits Us In Our Church

A real highlight of our summer was to have Bill Brown with us here in Tulancingo for a Saturday evening and Sunday services in July. It was such a blessing to us personally, but also for the church. Bill and his wife, Gerda, have been our “mentors” for many years in the ministry, and their lives and unwavering faithfulness have been a living testimony to us of the goodness of God. Their lives and service have literally changed nations, and the abundant fruit that continues to this day is an incredible inspiration. It is just amazing what God can do when a young person says “Yes!” to God and His plans. Bill and Gerda answered the call of the Lord to ministry in their youth, and now, almost 70 years later, they are still going strong!

Several years had passed since the last time they were with us personally, although they have also taught and preached in our church via Skype and FaceTime. What a blessing it is to have technology that allows us to connect with others virtually. But it is even a great blessing to have Bill with us personally this past July.

Online Bible School

We continue to work on our online Bible School. In August, we began our Fall semester with just under 150 students. This is the most students we have had up to the moment. The students who have been studying with us during the past semesters have been telling others how much they are learning, growing, and enjoying the classes; as a result, we have seen the numbers increase.

We are currently teaching Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey and Systematic Theology. We will soon be recording courses on the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit, and the Life of Christ. We are excited about the future of this program, as many pastors, leaders and others involved in ministry are taking our courses and growing in their faith. We believe that this program will have a positive impact on many churches throughout the nation. When pastors and leaders take the courses, they in turn teach many of the concepts they learn to their churches.

Trip to Africa

The biggest ministry focus we have had during the last month was our trip to Africa. For us, this was our first trip and it was full of unknowns. We were sent by Bill Brown to minister to the group of churches he and Gerda originally helped to plant in Uganda back in the 1960’s. From very small beginnings in Kampala and then other towns and villages, the group has now grown to around 1,800 churches. Many of the pastors of these churches were in Kampala for the conference in which Sara and I taught.

We left Mexico on August 22, and didn’t get back home until September 16, so we were out for quite a long time. We felt a bit bad leaving our church for so many Sundays, but we were blessed to come back and see that things had gone well in our absence.

It was quite a trip, full of adventure! I enjoyed trying all the different Ugandan foods and attempting to understand the Ugandan way of thinking. It was fun to worship with the churches and participate in the services. We had the opportunity to preach about 32 times total. I think the most difficult subject for us was teaching in marriage seminars, as the cultural differences are so great. In Uganda, a man can legally have many wives, and women are often treated as objects. From what I understand, a man will traditionally “sell” his daughters (the concept is really a dowry), although things are changing, especially in the church. In all, the conferences went very well, and we were able to share many Biblical concepts on the subject of marriage.

It was also a challenge to communicate. Although many people speak English, their accent is so different that we often had to listen very carefully to understand what they were saying. During the conferences, we had an interpreter who translated into Luganda, the main language spoken in the area, and in the pastor’s conference, their was another interpreter on the balcony who translated into a third language for the pastors who were seated up there.

Anna had the opportunity to share six times. She did a great job! She ministered together with Sara and me at the Makerere church, at the Nsambya church to young people and children, and by herself at a youth camp. We are “humbly grateful” (as my grandfather would say) for our daughter. She’s only fifteen years old and has already preached in Africa!

Sara finished our ministry time in Uganda with her participation in a women’s conference. She also did an excellent job, and I believe that she really connected with the women during her ministry time with them. We then had a day to rest before starting our 61 hour trip back home.

While in Uganda, we had a chance to see some of the animals at Murchison Falls National Park. I celebrated my birthday there with dinner next to the Nile River. It definitely was a trip we will never forget!

We believe that God used us to sow some good seeds of His Word into the hearts of the African people. We pray that the church in Uganda will continue to be strengthened and become a blessing for many generations.

Thanks for your prayers!

Thanks so much for praying for us. We were all healthy and well during our trip. God was good to us and protected us from all harm.

Now we ask for your prayers as we continue ministry here in Mexico. We are beginning another very busy season, getting ready for the Advanced School of Ministry conference, translating books, recording for the online Bible School, editing new material, pushing forward with our local church leadership and more. Thanks!

God bless you,

David and Sara Lont and Family

Dear friends, family and supporters,

Happy 4th of July! We hope you are having an excellent holiday today. We’d also like to give you a short update on our family and ministry activities.

Children’s Day celebrations

Since our last update, we have celebrated “Children’s Day” here in Mexico. This is a special day designated to celebrate all the children in the country, and many churches take advantage of this day to organize celebrations and evangelistic events to attract young children and their parents.

We participated in two events this year. The first was held in the city of Tula, Hidalgo, in a church we have ministered in several times. Our children’s praise and worship group participated, and Anna and David shared a short message with the group.

The second event was at our own church. Our children’s church leaders organized this celebration, and as you can see, the children had a really good time with all the games and activities.

Bible School and Local Church

During the months of May and June, we have spent much of our energy and focus on the online Bible School and the activities in our local church. During Sara’s time resting after surgery, I took over her Bible School group for a while. I also continued working on the online software, developing the modules that have to do with accounting, receiving payments, transferring funds, etc. As we look to expand the school, this is going to be a big help, as I had been doing everything manually up to this point.

In June, our group of about 120 students finished their first semester. They are now on a short break before starting classes again August 15.

We have also been focusing on our local church. We’ve been having meetings and study times with some of our leaders, worship practices each week and time to study and prepare for each service. For me it has been especially rewarding seeing Anna grow and mature in ministry. She even preached with me in May about reaching the next generation with the Gospel. My only regret is that Sara wasn’t able to be at that service because of the surgery.

Our Family

As you probably know, our two oldest children, David and Daniel, are both in the U.S. to study. David finished his first year at Western Michigan University and is spending his summer working at a local Starbucks Coffee shop and also helping prepare presentations for the online Bible School. Daniel finished his first year at Portland Bible College and is staying on campus during the summer to work a custodial job at the church and the school. We sure would love to have them here for the summer, but they need to work in the U.S. in order to pay for their upcoming fall tuition bills. Both of them are doing well, and we see them almost weekly via Facetime.

Anna recently finished 9th grade and is spending her summer reading many books, studying some French, and translating one of Pastor Frank Damazio’s books on leadership from English into Spanish.

Sara and I recently celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary. We went out to the town of San Miguel de Allende to celebrate.

Getting ready for Africa

Sara and I will be going to Africa with Anna toward the end of August. We will be involved in a large women’s conference and a pastor’s conference. Anna will be doing some children’s ministry as well. We went to Mexico City a couple of weeks ago to get some of the “hard to find” vaccines that are needed in order to visit Uganda. I ended up getting a slight fever as a reaction to one of the vaccines, but am doing better now.

We are also working on getting together our teaching sessions for the conference.

Please pray for us especially as we prepare for this upcoming trip.

• For health and protection from illnesses and other dangers
• For an exact word from the Lord for the pastors and the ladies who will attend the two conferences
• For a good and blessed trip there and back

Thanks! We appreciate each one of you and pray that the Lord will abundantly bless you and your families. We’ll be in touch again soon. Have a blessed summer.

In Christ,

David and Sara Lont

Dear friends, supporters and family,

Greetings from Mexico. We pray all is well with you and that you’re enjoying this spring season. It is a joy for us to be in contact once again via our newsletter to let you know what we have been doing during the last couple of months.

Ministry in Veracruz

At the beginning of the month of March we took a trip to the city of Veracruz and also Huatusco where we ministered to a group of leaders of the Centro Cristiano Church there. We spent the first day with the pastors, Gama and Paty, at the hotel where the leadership conference would be held during the next couple of days. There we enjoyed spending some time with them during the afternoon and evening Thursday. On Friday morning, the leaders began arriving around breakfast time. I opened the meetings with the first conference, and both Sara and I shared several times during the Friday-Saturday meetings.

It was very interesting to get to know some of the leaders and see how Pastor Gama and Paty work with them. The weekend was filled with different activities such as meals together, teaching sessions, workshops and games designed to teach people how to work together. We also had prayer, worship, and ministry times.

The following Sunday I preached to the church in the morning. They have a large and solid congregation, and I enjoyed ministering to them once again. We had been there before, in 2016, and on that occasion I had ministered in a men’s conference, and then Sara, in a women’s conference. It was very nice for both of us to minister together this time to leaders. We believe God is building up a solid leadership team for this church.

Online Bible School

We started our online Bible School classes in the month of February, and this semester we have around 125 students from three countries. We are building a team of facilitators and course developers to continue to build the school. I have hired a couple of people (including our son, David) to help develop visual presentations that run alongside of the video and audio. We are also making decisions about new courses, developing the software, building/developing more courses, among other things.

Sara has surgery

Sara had a complete hysterectomy on April 10. This has put her pretty much “out of service” for the last several weeks, as she is recovering. Her recovery is going well but she has been advised by the doctor to slow down and recover completely before picking up the normal pace of life, so as to avoid future complications.

Radical – Anna Starts Our Church’s Preteen Group

Anna started a youth group of preteen girls who meet each week on Friday evenings. She is teaching these young girls who are in the transition phase between children and teenagers. We have found throughout the years that many of the children who grow out of our children’s ministry have had a hard time adjusting to the regular youth ministry, which has focused on older teens. God has gifted Anna to minister to this younger age group and we are seeing very good results. We hope to soon open a second group for the boys as well.

We are also excited to see Anna grow and develop in the area of teaching and ministry. She is a gifted teacher and a great speaker. She even took charge of our church’s women’s meeting while her mother was in the hospital!

Local Church

Our local church is going through several transitions in different areas at the moment. I (David) have found the need to become directly involved in the worship ministry again. After sowing part of our worship team last August in the new church plant, our music ministry began to feel the loss. I stepped in during the month of February, then more directly beginning in April.

During the last year I had worked with some of the “younger generation” that had previously been involved in our children’s worship team. I have invited them to be a part of the main worship group, and we are seeing progress! Our daughter, Anna, is now part of the team, and it’s really fun to work with everyone again. I felt impressed by the Lord to train up a new generation in leading worship, and the opportunity has come.

Please pray that the team will continue to consolidate and that soon we’ll be able to get them to a level where I’m not quite as “needed” as I currently am. I would love to continue to be involved, but we also need to get the team working by themselves for the times when I need to be out ministering in other churches on Sundays. This isn’t all that often, but we really need things to run smoothly even if we are away.

Prayer requests

You can always help us by praying for us! Here are a few areas of need:

• Please pray for our leadership team, that God would give us more strong leaders with a heart and vision for the Lord and His church.
• Please pray for our preteen and youth ministries, that the Lord would allow us to restructure these key areas. We believe that a strong ministry to children and youth is vital for the long-term success of the church.
• Please pray for the online Bible School, as we plan to expand this project during the next few years. Please pray for our students, that they would learn and grow in God’s Word.
• Please pray for us as we prepare for a trip to Africa to minister in a large pastor’s conference. Sara will be doing women’s ministry, and Anna has also been invited to do children’s ministry during the conference.

Dear family, friends and supporters,

After a great Christmas with our whole family, we took David Jeremiah to the airport, since he was only able to spend about 10 days with us. Daniel stayed a bit longer, until January 11. We had a very nice Christmas and New Years, and we hope you did, also.

Getting ready for the seminar

Throughout the Christmas season and into January, we worked on getting some details ready for the Advanced School of ministry conference. I finished this year’s student notebook just before Christmas, and Anna also finished translating Pastor Dick Iverson’s book Maintaining Balance When Winds of Doctrine Blow.  This is her second translation, and our team has already asked her to translate another book for next year’s seminar.

We also took care of online registration for the conference as well as signing people up for lodging accommodations in homes of the families of the local church in Cuernavaca.

Appreciation dinner

Our church had our annual Christmas dinner with many families attending. But this year, we also did an appreciation dinner in January to show our gratitude to all those who so faithfully serve in many areas of our church.

Advanced School of Ministry Seminar

The Advanced School of Ministry seminar was again a huge blessing to many pastors and leaders. Nearly 1,000 people from all over Mexico and even some from the U.S. gathered in Cuernavaca for four days of teaching, worship and times of prayer. Our theme this year was “The Wind Blows Again”, and throughout the 17 sessions, we studied Scriptures that relate to the four winds mentioned in the Bible. There are winds which bring refreshing, winds of change and challenge, winds that cleanse, winds that reverse the curse of sin, and winds of the sovereignty of God. The Bible mentions the north, south, east and west winds, and each direction points to certain theological truths that we, as Christians, experience throughout our lives.

The seminar ended with a graduation for some of the students who have completed the Bachelor’s Degree in Theology program offered through the Advanced School of Ministry and Christian International College.

Sara did a wonderful job sharing about the west wind, which comes to “reverse the curse” caused by sin. I taught on the north wind, which is often a cold wind of trials, but the Lord uses it to purify our lives and allows us to see His hand upon our lives more clearly. Also, this year I was asked to be the speaker on graduation night, which was truly an honor.

Online Bible School

The online Bible School program is continuing to progress and grow. For our first semester of 2018, we have around 125 students enrolled. We are currently offering Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey and Systematic Theology courses via our online certificate program. Each student who successfully concludes the program receives a certificate of completion.

Our plan is to move the school to the “next level” by integrating all the necessary courses to offer a complete two-year Bible School training program. For this to happen, we will need to accelerate the production of our courses and form a team to do the work involved. Please pray with us that the Lord would help us to gather together a talented like-minded team and organize all the details.

Thanks!

Thank you so much for praying for us and giving to our ministry. We really appreciate each of you who is praying daily for us. We also thank those who sacrificially give. You are investing in the Kingdom of God and will receive your reward!

In Christ,

David and Sara Lont
and family