Category: Ministry

Note: This update is also available as a printable PDF: Download

Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters,

As we move into spring, we are filled with gratitude for God’s faithfulness and for all of you who continue to support us through prayer and giving. We have much to share about what the Lord is doing here in Mexico!

Bible School Growth

We are excited to announce that our new semester began on February 12 with almost 250 students – our largest enrollment yet! This growth is both a blessing and a challenge, but God has provided a wonderful team of about 10 people who help facilitate the courses. We’re especially thankful for their dedication and service.

This semester brings two exciting new diploma options: a Diploma in Fundamental Theology and a Diploma in Basic Old Testament Studies. These programs are available to all our online students as well as those who attended the Advanced School of Ministry seminar, and is partially the reason for higher student enrollment. Students who complete these programs will receive their diplomas during a special graduation ceremony at the Advanced School of Ministry seminar in January 2026.

Our course offerings continue to expand each year, and we also continue to offer our “standard” classes in Old and New Testament studies, Homiletics, The Life of Christ, and many more. It’s amazing to see how the Lord is using this school to equip believers across Mexico and other countries for ministry in their local churches.

Advanced School of Ministry Conference

The annual Advanced School of Ministry seminar was held January 27-30 in Cuernavaca, with the theme “Foundations for the Future.” We were blessed to have Pastor Mark and DD Bryan, from Idaho, as our guest speakers. Their messages richly complemented our theme of “Foundations for the Future”, building strong Biblical foundations for the church, even as our world experiences rapid change. We were reminded that while methods may change, the foundation of God’s truth must remain constant.

Sara presented a powerful session called “Living Stones,” helping pastors and leaders identify and develop people in their local churches who can assist in various ministry areas. Anna did an excellent job interpreting for DD, who shared an impactful message focusing on Mary and Martha’s story. Anna also helped with online hosting, while I handled most of the seminar coordination and interpreted for Pastor Mark.

We’re thankful for the strong attendance, with over 600 people participating in person and another 130 joining online. The presence of the Lord was evident throughout the conference, and many pastors left encouraged and equipped for their ministries.

Local Church Update

The weekend before the seminar, we were blessed to have Mark and DD Bryan visit our church in Tulancingo. DD ministered at a special ladies’ breakfast on Saturday, and we had valuable time with both of them and our local leaders that evening. On Sunday morning, Pastor Mark shared a powerful message on the power of unity with our congregation.

Our church continues to progress, with several new families joining us. Both Sara and Anna are actively involved in various aspects of ministry, and we’re seeing the Lord work in many lives.

Visit to “La Hermosa” in Mexico City

Sara and I recently had the privilege of visiting “La Hermosa” church in Mexico City for their 86th anniversary celebration. This church is pastored by one of our Bible School students, and it was encouraging to see many young people actively participating in worship with tambourines, flags, and dance. I shared a message on renewal, focusing on Noah’s story, and afterward, we all enjoyed traditional “mole” together. It was a beautiful picture of the vitality of the Mexican church, even as several generations of believers joined together in unity!

Prayer Requests

Please join us in prayer for:

1. Increased finances for our Bible School as we continue to grow
2. Leaders and leadership development for our local church
3. Health and safety as we minister

Thanks again!

Once again, we want to express our heartfelt gratitude to all who support us through prayer and giving. Your partnership makes it possible for us to continue training leaders and building up the Body of Christ here in Mexico.

With love,

David and Sara Lont
with Anna

Note: A printable PDF version of this newsletter is available here.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Happy New Year to all of you! May the Lord bless and prosper you as we begin 2025. Here’s a little update from us.

Church Christmas Celebration

In December, we had a simple Christmas celebration with our local church in Tulancingo, remembering the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior. We worshiped and sang together, and then our team shared about Christ as the One who divides history. The birth of Jesus has divided the calendar used by most of the world today into B.C. and A.D. Jesus divided the Bible, as he came to bring the Old Testament to fulfillment and usher in the era of the New Testament. But perhaps the most important fact of all is that on the individual level, Jesus comes to divide our lives into two sections: “before Christ” and “after salvation”. Many in our congregation weren’t born into Christian families, but rather came to know Christ later in life. Just as the early Christians, we can see a marked difference in the life experiences before becoming disciples of Jesus and after.

After the service, we had a meal together and spent some time doing Christmas crafts and playing games. Fellowship was a big part of the lives of the first Christians in the book of Acts, and we believe it continues to play a crucial role in the local church today.

Family Time

The last couple of weeks of December were mostly for family time. Our son, David Jeremiah, came to visit us, as he has done each Christmas since he moved away to school. It’s been almost eight years already!

Also, Sara and I are now officially grandparents! Ella Lynn was born to Daniel and Elisa (in Vancouver, Washington) on November 20, 2024. We are so thankful for a healthy baby girl!

Bible School

We finished our fall semester in our Bible School at the beginning of the month of December. What a joy to see so many students receive the life-giving Word of God with a deeper understanding! Several commented on how they had begun to understand certain aspects of the Bible for the first time in their lives. Claudia, a sister who attends our church and recently started taking classes in the school, commented on how the Lord had used the course to help her understand many thing in the Old Testament for the first time, even after many years of being a Christian.

We have several students who are participating in the degree program with the Advanced School of Ministry and are making good progress toward their graduation, which is scheduled for January 2026. We plan on offering several different tracks or programs within our academic program and continue to work on several of the options.

Two new courses were available this past semester: Personal Prayer and Bible Study, and Evangelism. Both of these courses were very well received. We had especially great feedback on the course about prayer and Bible study. Anna taught this course and made it both very practical and personal. She really challenged the students to dive deeper into their relationship with God. There were many positive comments, confirming the spiritual growth this brought to our students.

We concluded with a special ministry time on Zoom with Mark Simpson. Thanks, Pastor Mark, for sharing with us about how to become useful in ministry. Your message was a true inspiration for all of us!

Advanced School of Ministry

In October, I began to rewrite the online registration system for the Advanced School of Ministry. I wrote the original software back in 2013 and then updated it in 2015. But another 9 years have gone by, so I decided it was time to do an entire rewrite. It now handles student registration by SMS and Email, automatic processing of payments by bank transfer, and provides a basic platform for transmitting the seminar live.

After this programming work, the teaching material started coming in, so I started on the seminar notebook in the month of November. This year’s student version is just under 150 pages, and I was finally able to send it for publishing on January 3, almost 2 full months after beginning this project. Although publishing a book each year is a lot of work and a big expense, it has long stood as one of the key goals of our annual conference. We want to put good teaching material into the hands of key pastors and leaders so that they can use it in their own local congregations.

Now, we are looking forward to the conference at the end of the month. There is still much work to do, but it will be a great joy to see the hundreds of pastors and leaders who gather each year in Cuernavaca for the seminar. We truly believe that the Advanced School of Ministry serves the purpose of building up pastors and leaders, who, in turn, build up local churches all over Mexico and beyond.

Thanks again for everything!

Once again, we are very thankful to those who pray for us and support us financially. Please continue to pray for the conference (January 27-30, 2025), for our church in Tulancingo, for our family, and for finances to expand the Bible School.

With love,

David and Sara Lont
with Anna

Note: A printable PDF version of this newsletter is available here.

Dear Friends and Family,

Thanksgiving month has arrived and there are so many things to be thankful for! We are thankful for each and every one of you who stands behind us, lifts us up in prayer and supports us. Thank you so much!

I would like to give you a brief update on us and our ministry activities over the past few months.

Bible School

We started our Bible School semester in August with around 150 students from all across Mexico. In September, the students did their first partial exams. Most of them are doing very well in their studies. Our course facilitators are doing a great job of keeping in touch with them, answering their questions, grading their assignments and keeping them on track to finish the semester well.

We have many pastors and local church leaders involved taking classes. This makes the whole experience so worthwhile, because many of them take the material they are receiving and then teach it to their own leaders and local churches. We encourage them to freely give of everything they receive. It is so wonderful to see many of our students flourish in life and ministry, and then use the tools they receive to train others.

We have also heard good reports from members of our local congregation who are taking courses in the Bible School. Just last Saturday, I heard a comment from a young woman who has been so encouraged by the classes. Then, on Sunday, another person commented on how much the course is helping her to understand the Bible.

We believe that God has ordained this Bible School to make a difference here in Mexico and in other countries of Latin America. Please continue to pray with us for the Lord’s provision to grow the school. Please especially pray for the finances to invest in new courses and the connections with others of a like-minded vision. Together we can train thousands of pastors and leaders and change the destiny of families, communities, and nations!

Local Church

We have been pleased to see our local church growing again in terms of Sunday attendance. As you may know, we meet outside in a tent on our church’s property. This has been a wonderful experience for the most part, but we have had some Sundays with rain, wind, and temperatures in the 40’s. It can be a bit chilly out there! However, even on those Sundays, there is always a good group of people who come. When the weather is sunny and warm, attendance tends to be better, of course, but on average, we are seeing numeric growth again. We recently purchased material to cover a couple of the sides of the tent, which should help reduce the effects of the wind and rain coming in.

Sara has been leading the women in monthly meetings over the last year, and this has been a blessing to many of them. During these last months, they have been focusing on some of the basics – Bible reading and memorization, prayer, fellowship, and growing in their personal relationship with the Lord.

My Trip to Michigan and Canada

During the first couple of weeks of October, I went to Michigan to see my parents. It had been two years since I had last been up there, and I also wanted to visit the local church I grew up in, Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, in Grandville. I had the privilege of attending the 50th anniversary celebration of the church, and then, the following Sunday, I was invited to preach to the congregation. I shared a message on Jehdeiah, an obscure Biblical character known as “The Keeper of the Donkeys”. I hope many will remember the message, focused on the importance of being a servant for the King, and the value of humble service.

I also had the opportunity to visit my pastor and spiritual mentor, Bill Brown, with his wife, Barbara, near Toronto, Ontario. I hadn’t personally seen Bill since before the pandemic, although we often meet on FaceTime and Zoom. It was so nice to be able to spend several hours with Bill and Barbara! I took my parents to meet them, and we had a great dinner together on a Wednesday night. The following morning, I went to the apartment complex where Bill and Barbara live to meet with Bill again, and some of their neighbors at a coffee time they have each morning. Thanks so much, Bill and Barbara, for your fine hospitality!

Looking Forward

During the next couple of months, my focus will be on the Advanced School of Ministry conference. I will soon be dedicating much time to the creation of the conference workbook, implementing online registration for the event, and preparing all the other details for the conference, which will be held at the end of January. This conference usually attracts 700-1000 pastors and leaders from all over Mexico and God has used it to inspire, train and edify thousands of them in their ministries.

Prayer requests

• Please pray for the Advanced School of Ministry conference.
• We will be finishing our fall Bible School semester in December. Please pray that our students will finish strong!
• About a week ago I (David) slipped in the mud on the ground outside the house, fell, and dislocated my shoulder. I am doing well, but please pray for a full recovery.
• Please pray for the Lord’s provision and protection, both for us, and for the ministries we are involved in.

Thanks!

With love,

David and Sara Lont with Anna

Note: There is a PDF version of this update located HERE.

Dear Friends and Family,

It’s September, and fall is rapidly approaching. It has been raining very regularly for the past couple of months, and things are so beautiful and green here in our area. We have had more rain than usual, and this is a good thing for us! The mountains that were brown, dry and sometimes burning during the hot arid spring are now a lush green, full of life. On our mountain, the wild plants, vines and grass are taller and thicker than we’ve seen them in many years.

This reminds me of how the rain of the visitation of the Holy Spirit can take a dry and weary people, and renew them with God’s supernatural life! We pray for revival in our city and nation. May the Lord visit us with both the former and the latter rains, restoring souls and igniting a renewed passion for His Word, His church and His presence. As the psalmist said, “He restores my soul and makes me lie down in green pastures…”.

Bible School

One of our main focuses over the past several months has been our online Bible School. We finished our spring semester the middle of June and then worked hard on getting a few new courses developed and recorded. I also did some work on our LMS (learning management system) to integrate some new AI features and update software.

We have been developing three courses – Evangelism, Prayer and Bible Study, and The Local Church and Its Place Within God’s Plan. The first two have been completed, recorded, and students are now participating in them. The third has been mostly developed, but is not quite complete. We plan on offering the Local Church course in 2025.

We started our fall semester in August with just over 150 students enrolled. We also added a couple of new course facilitators – Gabriel and Paloma, from Morelia, Michoacán. I met Gabriel and his wife, Paloma, by phone just over a year ago. They wanted to have information about the online school. Since starting, they both have been studying full time and are on track to getting their bachelor’s degree in theology in 2026. They have both been excellent students, and now we get to have their help facilitating a couple of groups, even as they continue to study.

Sara and I have actually known Paloma Plata and her family since the early 1990’s, when she was a little girl. I had met her parents, both of whom were medical doctors and pastors, at the Advanced School of Ministry, the first year we attended. It just so happened that I got very sick during that first conference, and Paloma’s mom (the doctor), gave me an injection in the church parking lot. I will never forget the pain of the injection, but also the questions she suddenly began to ask me. “Had I ever done drugs?” “Was Sara the only person I had ever been married to?” Then, several others. Well, poor Doctor Plata somehow accidentally stuck herself with the needle right after injecting me!! She was quite worried that I may have had some dreadful disease that I could pass along to her. Thankfully, I wasn’t carrying any strange diseases in my blood, so she was going to be just fine.

Anyway, as you can see, our relationship with her family goes way back, and we even shared a bit of the family blood!

In July, we hosted another one of our course facilitators who is also a gifted Bible teacher. Mireya and her husband, Homero, traveled by bus from Veracruz to spend a week with us so that she could teach and record the Evangelism course. Anna and I had set everything up for a beautiful studio atmosphere for the recording, and when Homero and Mireya arrived, we were able to record 24 lessons in just three days. Mireya is very capable and taught each of the sessions with a natural flow.

We all enjoyed spending the week together with Mireya and Homero. They were very pleasant company.

It has been beautiful to see how some of our students are not only preparing to serve in their own local churches, but a few even become leaders within our school for a season. We are very thankful for this!

Travel and More Recording

At the beginning of August, Sara went to visit our son, David Jeremiah, in Texas. David was moving from one apartment to another one a few blocks away and invited Sara to come and help him get the new apartment cleaned and ready. Of course, Sara jumped at the opportunity to see him!

While Sara was gone, Anna and I took advantage of the time to record another course titled “Prayer and Bible Study“. I had previously asked Anna to prepare to teach this course. She studied the material and additional books related to the theme in July, so when the time came, she was more than ready.

For those of you who don’t know her, teaching comes second-nature to Anna. She has been teaching since she was about 7 or 8 years old. When she was 14, she took over a session of our church’s ladies meeting one day when Sara was suddenly scheduled for surgery. When she was 15, she taught in churches in Africa. She regularly teaches classes in our local congregation and often participates on Sundays.

Anna did a wonderful job not only teaching the course, but also developing activities which help the students put the concepts into practice in very practical ways.

Her new course is also online now and is the most popular course this semester, with over 45 students participating in it. We are very thankful to have Anna as part of our ministry team, both for church and for the school.

Radio Program

I recently had an interesting opportunity to participate in a radio talk program on a Mexico City FM station. Pastor Raymundo Gómez and his wife, Karla, have an hour-long program Monday-Friday. They often discuss Christian values, family matters, and more during their time slot. On this particular show, they wanted to interview me about the topic “Christians and Artificial Intelligence”. AI has been one of many things I have been fascinated with over the last couple of years. Anna and I had done a podcast episode on the topic last year. Pastor Ray heard our podcast and thought we should talk about this with the general public in Mexico City on his radio show.

It was a challenge, but at the same time, quite a privilege to speak to a live audience of probably several hundreds of thousands of people on the air. I’m thankful for the experience and pray the things that I said may have resonated with those who heard it. I also pray that Christians, in particular, may learn to use this technology for good and not fall into all the traps that it potentially will create.

Our Church Family

Sara and I continue to pastor the church we started some years ago in Tulancingo. We are in a new season and we believe the Lord has good things in store for our church family. Over the past several weeks, I’ve been teaching on the authority, value and importance of the Word of God. It’s our measuring stick to determine what truth is. It’s our final authority to judge all spiritual matters. It is the verbal embodiment of Jesus Christ Himself, for “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.“

These last several months have been a time of peace and rest for our congregation, and we have enjoyed the unity of Spirit. We’ve had wonderful times of worship, refreshing teaching in the Word and unity as we’ve enjoyed fellowship meals together. However, we also know that there is much work to do going forward. We have been called to be light, salt, and living water for our city. There are many lost who need to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and we are called to reach them.

Thanks!

We’d like to thank all who have been supporting us with your prayers and giving. We need you now more than ever before! May the Lord richly bless and use each of you for the extension of His Kingdom.

Help Wanted

If you know of someone who would be interested in supporting us as missionaries, please share this newsletter with them. We are currently in need of new supporters to be able to reach our monthly economic goals.

The work is great – a church in Tulancingo, a Bible School training pastors and leaders across the entire nation, and the Advanced School of Ministry, which trains over 800 pastors annually. We have much to do! In order to have the resources to continue, we depend on you. Thank you so much!

With love,

David and Sara Lont
with Anna

Note: You can download a PDF copy of this newsletter here.

Hello everyone! We hope you are having a great summer. What a beautiful world God has given us to enjoy, with the changing seasons. Despite global warming concerns, we remember the faithful promises God has given us in Genesis:

While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease.

Genesis 8:22, NASB

In our last newsletter, we shared about how many parts of Mexico, and our area in particular, had been suffering a drought. It was the hottest and driest spring we’ve ever experienced. We had been praying for rain for several months, and it finally came a couple of weeks ago. Boy, did it rain! In the last few weeks we had more rain than we had all last year – almost a foot and a half. We are so thankful for the wet season, as everything very suddenly turned green again.

This abundance of rain reminds me of how faithful God is. Even in the midst of our most desperate situations, when it seems like everything in our lives is drying up and dying, God is faithful to once again send the rain of His presence and blessings upon us. He will never leave us nor forsake us!

Guest Speakers

We were very privileged to have Pastor Gamaliel and his wife Patty with us in May. They pastor a large church in the port city of Veracruz and have been our friends for many years. However, they had never been to our church to minister before.

Sara organized an annual ladies breakfast we have done for many years and invited Patty to come and minister to the ladies. This breakfast is usually held in the month of May around the time of Mother’s Day. It was a beautiful event and several women attended our church for the first time.

Pastor Gama and Patty stayed with us over the weekend and ministered to our congregation on Sunday as well. It is a blessing to receive from a diverse array of pastoral gifts, including those from friends in other cities.

Bible School

In mid-June we finished our spring semester of Bible School and are now preparing for our fall semester, which begins in August. It has been a time of getting new courses ready, updating our computer servers and several other technical jobs I do.

Next week we will be recording our evangelism course with Mireya Parral, from Veracruz. She started out with us as a student several years ago and then, in 2018, became a course facilitator. We see the hand of God on her life in the area of Bible teaching, and she will be the teacher of this new course.

I’d like to share a few testimonials of our online students:

I greatly appreciate the effort you put into updating courses and helping those of us who are far from a physical Bible school. As soon as the next semester starts, I will enroll again. I really enjoy this online format.

Edgar Ivan G. from Hidalgo

All the courses I have taken have been very thorough. Every time I finish a course, I am already thinking about the next one I will take. I appreciate the commitment, time, and research that each person puts in to make this platform possible, allowing us to continue learning and discovering the beautiful teachings that God’s Word has for us.

Miryam P. from Veracruz

I would like to express my gratitude for all your hard work, dedication, and commitment. Thank you to each one of you for making my dream of studying at a Bible school a reality. Without a doubt, we will continue to learn and grow together.

Anonymous

Many of our students serve as pastors across various regions of the country. Our school has become a fountain of the Living Water of the Spirit and the Word of God, providing teaching, training, and refreshment for their vital work in cities and villages.

We finished our semester with a live Zoom session, during which Bill Brown ministered to the students from Aurora, Canada. It was very good to see many of our students from all across Mexico and a few from the U.S. as we thanked God together for the learning and growing He gave to all of us during the semester.

A Note From Anna

The past few months have been filled with different opportunities to bless and encourage people. It’s incredible how God can use us through the small, seemingly inconsequential things to impact someone’s life.

Once a month we’ve been having women’s meetings at our church, and I’ve gotten to share alongside some friends. We have seen God awaken a hunger for Him in many of the women, and it has been a joy getting to teach about some fundamentals, such as Bible study and learning how to hear God’s voice. Last week, I created an activity where the women got to pray a Bible verse over each other. We paired everyone in teams and gave them a piece of paper with a verse written on it. Once they were all done praying for each other, I asked if they wanted to share what the Lord spoke to them. One woman came up and shared how she’d been seeking the Lord for direction in her life and career. The verse that was prayed over her was exactly what she needed at that moment! A small activity turned into a time of encouragement and reassurance for many of them. We are excited as a team for what God is beginning to do, and we know we have just scratched the surface of all He has for us.

While it has been exciting to see God move in our church, I’ve also had the privilege to see Him work in the lives of many people through our online Bible school. From February to June, I had the opportunity to facilitate over twenty students, grading homework assignments, essays, and answering questions. Even though a facilitator’s job is to help a student learn, and in a way “teach” them, I ended up learning more from facilitating than being a student. Reading the same assignment over twenty times will do that for you!

I had the honor of having a group that consisted of people in their sixties and seventies. Their lives and testimonies truly inspired me! Some had known the Lord for a long time and been involved in ministry, and others were new both to the Gospel and an online Bible school. One student, in particular, encountered the Lord in his late fifties and had a radical transformation in his life. He and his wife were my students, and it was inspiring to see their eagerness to learn and the changes that God has brought about in their personal lives and marriage. Another student of mine, also in her sixties, was so eager to learn that she took two courses at a time while pastoring her local church. These students quickly turned into my heroes. It’s truly never too late to learn and go after all that God has for you.

As I’ve served in many different areas, from working on my own developing courses to working with people in our church and online, I’ve been trying to remember what Paul said: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters…” (Col 3:23). Working for people, an organization, or even ourselves will never feel as rewarding or fulfilling. In the end, it might even feel exhausting. But working with all our heart for the Lord, in everything we do, will carry with it a joyful reward. He is our inheritance and He is our reward. Whether we eat, drink, sweep the floors, facilitate students, or pray for people, for Him it is all worth it!

Back To Work!

Thanks, Anna! (It’s me, David again. I’ve come back to wrap up this letter.)

There is so much more I could write, but for now I must get back to work on the Bible School. The summer is one of my main times to work “behind the scenes” with the online Bible School platform, since there are no students, and soon the Advanced School of Ministry will be requiring more of my attention.

We want to thank each of you who prays for us and supports us financially. We really appreciate what you do. May the Lord bless you richly.

Finally, if you’ve ever considered becoming a partner in our ministry, please pray about it. Although the students pay a small tuition fee, it only covers part of our operating expenses, and not the development of our programs. The school is being built and developed entirely on donations of people like you. Your giving allows us to purchase equipment, develop curriculum, bring in good Bible teachers and develop our programs. Please send me a note if you are not currently a supporter and would like to become one, or if you would be interested in helping with a one-time gift.

May the Lord bless each of you abundantly!

David and Sara Lont
with Anna

Dear Friends, Family and Supporters,

Note: This update is available as a PDF download with more pictures here.

Greetings from the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, where we are experiencing one of the hottest and driest years on record. We would like to share with you a little about what has been happening with us and our ministry.

A Time of Drought

The past several years have been very dry around our area. This has caused many problems, as the crops have been failing, the water reservoirs are drying up and even the wells are failing. Our home water supply, which had been completely dependable for almost 20 years, is no longer available. Our entire municipality has been without running water for about two months, and our local community has been without water for over four months. The price to have water brought in on trucks has increased by 400%. There is a severe water crisis. Thankfully, within the city of Tulancingo, there are still wells with water, but in the surrounding area, including the area of Mexico City, the water is almost gone. We desperately need rain!

The lack of physical rain and water is a reflection of the spiritual state of things in our country and many other places in the world. Crime and bloodshed are constantly increasing, unjust laws are being passed by the ungodly and the righteous are persecuted for doing good, while those with evil thoughts and intentions are praised.

It is time for the church of Jesus Christ to rise and shine. Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it!”

We believe that we have been called by God to provide “streams of living water to a dry and weary land.” Our land has never been so dry and weary as it is today. Thanks be to God who allows his living water to flow through us by the Holy Spirit. The living water -the Holy Spirit and the Word of God- will be poured out and flow with power throughout our land! We will be his vessels of honor, his instruments, to bring this living water to the people in need of his glorious truth.

Advanced School of Ministry

Much of our time during the last couple of months has been invested in the Advanced School of Ministry degree program. We are working to help a large group of pastors/leaders finish the degree program by January, 2026. Many of them have been involved in the Advanced School of Ministry in one way or another for several years, but never completed the program. Our goal is to give them practical steps, assignments and other tools to graduate.

During the months of March and April, we have been in constant contact with many of them, reaching out to guide them, answering their questions, and working with them as they do their assignments. Two of our facilitators, Anna and Milca, have been working with over 40 of these students weekly as they complete the course work assigned for last January’s conference.

Online Bible School

The Online Bible School continues to go well. With about 170 students enrolled this semester, there are always assignments to grade, messages to answer and course work to continue to develop. I have been working with the group studying biblical hermeneutics and enjoy supervising their progress. Anna is facilitating a large group of students studying the degree program, plus another group working on New Testament Survey. Sara is in charge of the group studying the course on the Life of Christ, and other facilitators are in charge of the other courses we are offering.

At the same time, we’ve been working on developing new courses which will be offered in August.

Local Church

As always, we continue to work with our local church in preaching, discipleship, worship and prayer. God is moving in Tulancingo. Many Sundays we have visitors, and some of them receive Christ as their Lord and Savior during our services and activities.

We continue to meet under the tent which we erected on the property a year ago. What a blessing it has been to meet on our own property and no longer have to pay rent! Most Sundays have been warm (sometimes too warm) and sunny, but under shade of the tent the spring breeze makes the air very comfortable. Once each month, we invite the entire congregation to bring food to share with others, and we stay after church for a meal together.

We have a nice group of faithful volunteers who help us to set up chairs on Sunday mornings, and many others participate, storing everything after the services.

Above all, our times of worship, prayer and the preaching of the Word of God have been powerful. Our children and youth are growing in their relationship with God and learning his word. Several of the young girls who have been discipled by Anna participate very effectively in personal ministry and prayer. We are expecting our church to continue to develop, grow, raise up new leaders, and cause a true impact in our community.

Thanks!

Once again, Sara, Anna and I would like to take a moment to thank each of you for your love, encouragement, prayers and offerings. Thanks for being a part of what we do here.

May the Lord richly bless each of you.

With love,

David and Sara Lont

Note: This update is available as a PDF download with more pictures here.

Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters,

Love and greetings from warm, sunny Mexico. We pray all is well with you and your family.

I recently heard the following phrase, and it really made me think:

“It is your direction, not your intentions, which will lead you to your destination.”

Andy Stanley

Hopefully, we all have good intentions. But we must realize that the direction we are heading is what really leads us to our destination. For example, let’s suppose that you are intending to go to the beach. However, you make a wrong turn and end up going in the opposite direction. Even though you may have the intention of getting to the beach, if you don’t turn around and start heading in the right direction, you are never going to get there!

So it is in life. Many people have great intentions: intentions to follow the Lord, love their families, read their Bible, pray, grow in their walk with God. Others just have the intentions of being good people. However, if they never take the necessary actions and small steps in the right direction, their good intentions will never materialize.

James says it this way: “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20).

We need faith, but we also need to put action and direction into our faith.

One of our tasks as missionaries, pastors, and Bible teachers is to help people unite their intentions with their direction – unite their faith with their actions – to reach the goals the Lord has for them.

The Advanced School of Ministry

During the third week of January, we celebrated the 34th seminar of the Advanced School of Ministry in Cuernavaca, with around 800 pastors and leaders attending. We had a good-sized group there in the auditorium as well as another group of people online.

What a blessing it was for us to see so many pastors from many parts of Mexico, many of whom we have gotten to know through the years. We have ministered in some of their churches and have become good friends with others.

The seminar, called “Fathers of Generations”, was based on God’s promise to Abraham and applied to the pastors and leaders of local churches. We have been called to minister to our generation, but also to become spiritual fathers and mothers to the next generation of leaders.

Our team and guest speakers taught and ministered on subjects such as generational vision, church growth, spiritual orphans, generational leadership, the pastor and his family, and spiritual fathers/mothers.

We had a great seminar, and I know that many of those who attended returned to their local churches and communities blessed, equipped, and encouraged to continue their local ministries.

Online Bible School

On February 14, we began the spring semester in our Online Bible School. This is the second-largest group ever, with over 170 students participating. Many of them are continuing their studies; some are new, and others are working toward completing the Advanced School of Ministry degree program.

We are currently offering a total of 11 different courses simultaneously. Our course facilitators are busy grading assignments, answering students’ questions, and helping them progress through the courses.

We are offering a new course, Family Matters (by Bill Scheidler), with Stacey Brown as the teacher. Stacey is doing an incredible job in her video presentations, bringing the classes to life with many creative illustrations. She is recording at the same time we are presenting the material, so our team is working hard to have the presentations, assignments, and videos ready each week before the material is to be released to students. We have two full groups taking this particular course the current semester, and it will be offered again probably yearly.

Anna and Sara are both working with our online team once again. Anna has two full groups – the students of New Testament Survey and a second group of 22 students of the degree program working on the assignments from this past seminar. Sara has a large group studying The Life of Christ.

Local Church

Desert Streams Church in Tulancingo is doing well and advancing the Kingdom of God. We continue to meet under the tent in our church’s garden property. The Spirit of God is moving, restoring and saving people. We have had several testimonies of people who have been healed from cancer – with medical evidence to prove it. These testimonies may not necessarily be considered “miraculous” by everyone, but through prayer and medical treatment, they are now cancer-free! We give credit and glory to God for what He has done in their lives. Also, this past Sunday, six or seven people gave their lives to Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is advancing. Lives and families are being restored and changed by the power of the Gospel.

I have been teaching on Jesus in Genesis over the past couple of months. The series is designed to highlight how we can find illustrations, types, and shadows of the redemptive work of Christ throughout the Old Testament, especially in the book of Genesis. It is amazing how many stories and events perfectly foreshadow the redemptive work of Jesus on the cross.

Anna and Sara have been participating on Sundays, but also in our other church events. Anna is our youth leader and is doing a great job. Sara has been working with the women of the church, doing monthly meetings the first Friday of each month. It is such a blessing to work together as a family in ministry. It is also a privilege to have a team that helps us in ministry each week.

Family

It was great having David, Daniel with Elisa, and Anna (of course!) here this past Christmas. Now we still see David, Daniel, and Elisa quite often, but on FaceTime instead of in person. We miss them, but they are all doing well.

We are especially thankful that Anna is here with us. After studying in BSSM the last couple of years, she is now working full time with me, in the online Bible School, the Advanced School of Ministry degree program, and our local church. She is also studying and practicing her fiction writing skills, as part of the Young Writer’s Workshop.

Thanks To Everyone!

We would like to express our most sincere thanks to all of you who pray for us, support us, send cards (thanks for those Christmas cards!), or simply know and care for us. May the Lord richly bless you!

With Love,

David, Sara, and Anna Lont

Note: You can download a printable PDF copy of this update here.

Dear friends, family, and supporters,

Hello, greetings from Tulancingo, Mexico. We would like to give you a brief update of our activities over the last couple of months.

Happy New Year!

Sara, Anna and I send our love and New Year’s blessings to each of you. We pray the Lord would prosper you abundantly as we begin 2024. May He bless and keep you, make His face shine upon you, and give you peace!

Advanced School of Ministry

These last couple of months have been our busy time with the Advanced School of Ministry, as we prepare for the big conference in Cuernavaca. I have been working on preparing the teaching manuals (a book of about 150 pages this year), advertising, and supervising the online registrations for the conference, as well as coordinating several other details. This year we will be having Dr. Lucas Leys with us. Lucas is a well-known Bible teacher and conference speaker. The entire Advanced School of Ministry leadership team will also be participating, giving conferences and workshops.

During the conference both Sara and I will be sharing workshop sessions. I will be teaching on “The Pastor and His Family”, and Sara will be teaching on “Spiritual Mothers”.

The conference is already less than two weeks away. We will be in Cuernavaca the week of January 22. Please pray for us!

Church Activities

We finished our church year on a high note at the beginning of December, with a special meeting and meal together on a Sunday morning. We had a wonderful turnout – so many people that we almost ran out of food! I gave a brief message from the Word, we sang worship songs and Christmas carols, and we also had games and piñatas.

In December, we also finished a series of meetings with some of our leaders and other who are in training. It was great to see the enthusiasm and joy some of them are experiencing as they begin to take on more responsibility.

During November and December, Anna also conducted a ministry training class, first with a group of young people from our youth ministry, and then with another group of adults. She did a wonder job!

Online Bible School

As most of you know, our online Bible School continues to move ahead strong. We had a total of about 125 students last semester who completed their courses. In December, we closed the semester with a meeting on Zoom in which John Brown shared with the group. Also, I had several of the students share how this past semester challenged them and helped them to grow. It was very impressive to hear how the Lord had used the classes and assignments to help them grow, and even to guide them in some decisions they had made.

We believe that the online Bible School is definitely one of the most important parts of our ministry at this time, together with our work in the local congregation. We are pressing ahead to make it grow and prosper, with the blessing of the Lord.

Our family

In December we took some time off to spend with our family. David Jeremiah arrived first, flying in from Houston on December 17. Daniel and Elisa arrived on Thursday of that same week. They all stayed with us for just over two weeks. What a blessing it was for us to have them for Christmas and New Years! Anna enjoyed spending time with her brothers and sister-in-law, and we felt very blessed as parents.

Thanks for your prayers and support!

We would like to thank you for praying for us and supporting our ministry. There is so much to do in the Kingdom of God, and we are trying our best to do the part we feel the Lord has called us to participate in. Every week we are touching literally hundreds – some in our local city, and many others throughout the nation and beyond. We thank you for being partners with us in our labor of love.

In Christ,

David and Sara Lont
with Anna

Note: A printable PDF version of this update is available here: november-2023.pdf

Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters,

We are excited to share a little about what we have been doing, and also what God has been doing in the midst of us. As we continue on this faith journey, we are reminded of the words from Isaiah 6:8, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!'”

It has been over 31 years since we first said, “Send me!”, and all these years have been filled with adventure, fruitful labor, and many lives who have been saved and impacted by the power of the Gospel.

A Testimony of Faith

Last month, I had the privilege of interviewing Alexis and Mariana, a young couple who first attended our church last year. They expressed their desire for me to officiate their wedding ceremony, which ultimately led them to join our congregation. Normally, I decline to officiate weddings for couples not affiliated with any church. However, after speaking with the couple, I came to realize that this particular situation was unique. I sensed a genuine sincerity in them despite their absence from church, and I saw in them a true hunger for God and His teachings.

It’s been over a year since their wedding, and they both serve the Lord Jesus with truly dedicated hearts. During our podcast interview, they shared their personal journeys to a transformational faith in Jesus Christ. It was wonderful to hear Alexis share his journey of getting to know Jesus through our online Bible School course on the life of Christ, and his involvement in our church. During the course, he decided to be baptized just like Jesus.

Mariana was baptized a several years ago, but had stopped going to church while studying for her university degree. Both of them are now faithful servants of the Lord. They frequently arrive an hour before church to help with the setup for the service. They’re expanding their faith and comprehension of God’s teachings, enrolling in courses, and flourishing as a couple, learning to build their house on the rock.

Leadership Training

Over the last year, we have been meeting about once a month with a group of young people who we believe have the potential to become leaders in our church. We recently started weekly sessions with them to study the Bible’s teachings on church growth. We’re using a book called “Building Churches That Last” by Dick Iverson, which emphasizes the Biblical principles that give churches strength and impact in their communities.

As we begin a new season with our church, I have been impressed to seek the Lord to strengthen our spiritual foundation and leadership team. Reflecting on our church’s founding twenty years ago, we did something similar where we welcomed groups of people into our home for ministry and leadership training. It’s enjoyable to recall those experiences, but we’re now in a different season. We were once among the younger members and leaders in our church. Now, we are part of the older and, hopefully, more experienced generation.

It is thrilling to witness young leaders emerging and assuming their roles in the Body of Christ. We have faith that a new generation of young, talented leaders will emerge and bring significant advancement to the Kingdom of God.

Sara and Women’s Ministry

Sara has worked hard to organize a series of monthly women’s meetings. She has developed an excellent team of women who meet and plan the gatherings. She has also found some good Bible teachers who often share their Bible-based messages as a team in a conversational style. These meetings are very attractive to many women who enjoy fellowship, decorating, engaging with the Word of God, and receiving ministry. Having Sara as a remarkable partner in both ministry and life is truly a blessing.

Bible School and Advanced School of Ministry

Our online Bible School is thriving, with our courses constantly expanding. Anna is currently translating a new course on family relationships, which we plan to have Stacey Brown record. It will be offered to our students next February. Sara and Anna are both part of our team of nine course facilitators, who communicate almost daily with our students. Additionally, we have a graphics design team that collaborates on creating visually engaging presentations for each course.

We’ve made significant progress toward our goal of the online degree program, but we require additional funding and effort to complete it. With the Lord’s grace, I’m confident we’ll achieve our objective.

I am currently working on several projects for the Advanced School of Ministry. These include developing a new website, overseeing public relations operations, and managing online registration for our upcoming conference scheduled for January.

We are truly blessed to be involved in impacting not only the people in our local area, but also many others who receive Bible training through these ministries.

Our Family

We are thrilled that David, Daniel, and Elisa will be spending Christmas with us in Mexico. David is pursuing his doctorate at Texas A&M, while Daniel and his wife, Elisa, reside in Washington state and minister at a local church and Bible school. Anna, who completed two years of practical ministry training at BSSM, continues to live at home with us and remains a valuable asset to our ministry here in Mexico. We are blessed to have a family that both loves and serves the Lord!

Thanks!

We are grateful to all of you who enable our work to thrive. By means of your prayers and offerings, we cooperate to spread the message of God’s Kingdom to Tulancingo and throughout Mexico. Your loving labor is greatly appreciated!

In Christ Jesus,

David, Sara and Anna Lont

Note: A printable PDF version of this update is available here: september-2023.pdf

Hello, Friends, Family, and Supporters.

Summer is almost over, and autumn is coming! This summer has been a good time for us as a family. We’ve made progress with our church, our Bible School, podcasts, and the Advanced School of Ministry.

Youth Ministry

Anna, who is in charge of our youth group, took a group of our young people to a youth conference in Puebla in July. Although we had done several camps and other events with the young people, this is the first youth conference they have attended since the pandemic. Although it was a challenge for her to organize this outing, it was good for our kids.

Our group has also had many other great meetings over the last several months. The event of the biggest impact has been our camp (which we did in May), and so many of the kids have been blessed by it.

Podcasts

We have continued to produce podcasts on an almost weekly basis. Anna and I have been doing these together most of the time, with Sara participating from time to time. We have also had several guests, including some of the young people of our church, other pastors, and our special guest Bill Brown. It was a delight to have him share about some of his many life experiences and testimonies of God’s provision and care on his many missionary journeys.

Most recently, Sara and I shared together on a couple of episodes where we talk about training up our children. We called it “Keepers of the Inheritance, Parents of Influence.” There are so many young families who desire to see their children grow up with the influence of Godly parents, but with all the social pressures from governments and public education, some of them just don’t know what to do with their kids. Now that our own children are all adults, we can see the many things we did right, and also a few that we did wrong. As we teach Biblical parenting principles, we draw from the Word of God and illustrate the concepts from our own experiences. Our hope and prayer are that these moms and dads will follow Biblical principles for educating and disciplining their children to follow the Lord and His righteous ways.

Women’s Meetings

Our monthly women’s meetings are going very well. Sara has done an excellent job creating a team of women to plan and execute some of the best women’s meetings I have ever seen. The decorations and details they have invested in for their meetings have been incredible! The worship and ministry times have been very good, definitely not boring. Titled “Conversations”, Sara and her group of ladies have been focusing on Biblical teaching for women in a conversational style, often with two, three, or more women sharing together about the theme. They have also done crafts and always have something delicious to eat after the meetings. These meetings have been very attractive to guests who may hear about Jesus for the first time.

Our Sunday Church Meetings

I know that I’ve been focusing on many of our church activities in this newsletter, but we’re excited about what God is doing in the midst of us. The pandemic hit most churches very hard, dispersing people, causing a change in priorities and Sunday morning habits, and causing people to reevaluate their faith and Christian practice. Economically, we needed to make a move during the pandemic, since we were paying thousands of dollars in rent to be in the center of our city and could no longer afford that. During 2021-2022, we began work on a piece of land we already owned to make it into a garden and a meeting place for our church. We’ve been meeting there weekly since December 2022, and little by little, God has prospered His people.

We have seen some good fruit over the last several months, including over a dozen baptisms, young people giving their lives to Jesus, great teaching and intimate worship times, as well as more and more people becoming more constant in attending Sunday meetings. The Spirit of God is in our midst. We are “Desert Streams Church” of Tulancingo, and we have the mission to take streams of living water to our city, to manifest the Kingdom of God in every aspect of society, and to produce disciples of Jesus Christ.

We are innovating a bit in terms of how our services are done. We are outside, under a tent, without a platform. Our worship team leads from the center of the tent, with the people gathered around on all four sides, and I usually preach from the center as well. The words for the songs are not projected on a screen but rather sent to each person’s cell phone, so they can see them if needed. Once each month we have a meal together after the service “potluck” style. The children often take a soccer ball to church so they can play there in our garden after the service. Our focus is on worship, the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, personal ministry, and fellowship. God is blessing us.

Bible School

While Sara and Anna were at the youth conference in Puebla at the end of July, I was able to get an entire course ready for production online. Called “Discover Your Destiny”, this course is especially helpful for young people who are looking to fulfill the purpose God has for their lives. I had Anna teach it, and we were able to complete the recording of the 12 sessions in three days. Anna is such an incredible teacher! She connects so well with the students, both in person and online.

We started our fall semester on August 16. We have around 130 students, several of whom are from our own local church. However, most of the students are pastors and leaders from churches across Mexico. Many of them are working toward their bachelor’s degree in theology. This semester, we are offering nine different courses, including Old and New Testament studies, Victorious Christianity, The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit, The Acts of the Apostles, and Social Roles and Relationships.

I am also currently working on transforming the Advanced School of Ministry’s degree program so that it will be available totally online in conjunction with the Bible School program.

Our Family

One exciting piece of news (at least for us) is that our entire family is planning on being together for Christmas this year. David has plans to come here from Texas A&M, where he is doing his doctorate degree, and Daniel and Elisa have tickets to come from Washington. So for the first time since Daniel and Elisa are married, we’ll have all of the family together!

Thanks

Sara and I would like to express our most sincere thanks to each of you who pray for us, write to us, and support us economically. We really appreciate your help. We definitely couldn’t do what we do without your help! It is such a blessing to be able to count on each of you. Thank you so very much. May the Lord bless you abundantly!

With love,

David and Sara Lont with Anna