Desert Streams Ministries

Hello, friends and family!

I know that most of you are probably confined to your homes right now; we also are! However, it has been a very busy time for us, even while working from home. I wanted to get this update out to you sooner, but several things had prevented me from doing so, including illnesses in February and the beginning of March, and more recently, a rapid migration to online church services.

Advanced School of Ministry

The last week of January was our Advanced School of Ministry conference in Cuernavaca. The meetings were very good with a good attendance (around 1,000 pastors and leaders), great teaching, worship and prayer times, and a wonderful atmosphere of the presence of the Lord. We were blessed to be a part of many aspects of the conference once again, including handling the registrations, compiling, writing and editing the teaching material, producing the student notebook, translating and publishing a book on the Holy Spirit, and teaching at the conference.

Our daughter, Anna, was in charge of translating the book The Holy Spirit Today, by Dick Iverson. She did a great job and worked on it during almost half of the year. I did the final editing and layout, and our son, David, did the cover design. Sara was my proofreader and helped us get all the little errors and typos out before going to print. It is wonderful to have a family that works on projects like this together!

Recording for our Online Bible School

Shortly after the conference, our friend Mark Simpson, who is a great Bible teacher and missionary, came to record our newest course for the Online Bible School. The Person and the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, as we have called it, takes student on a study of who the Holy Spirit is, what He does, and how we can relate to Him.

Mark did a great job teaching 24 classes in four days. What a marathon!

During the afternoon of our third day of recording, I started running a fever. That night, I went to the doctor, and after doing a blood test, we discovered I had Typhoid Fever. That put me “out of the game”, so to speak, for the rest of the recording. Thankfully, we could count on Anna and Zabdi, another young girl in our church, to finish the recording sessions without me. I felt really sorry to suddenly disappear and leave Mark to do things without me, but I really didn’t have a choice. (Sorry, Mark.)

In spite of all this, we got the entire course recorded and all the sessions edited, uploaded and processed in time for the start of the semester, which was on March 4.

Taking Time out to Recover

I had to use the last couple of weeks of February and the first part of March to get some much needed rest and recover from Typhoid Fever. During this time, Sara and Anna did a great job filling in for me at church.

I ended up missing church for two Sundays in a row. That was pretty incredible! However, even during those weeks I continued to work with our online Bible School, getting things ready for the start of the semester.

We also missed the planning meeting for the Advanced School of Ministry which was held during the first week of March. We were very much looking forward to this time, especially being with Bill Brown and his wife, in warm, sunny Acapulco, right on the ocean.

A couple of weeks ago, Sara and Anna also were tested for Typhoid Fever, and both of them also had it! We’ve all been through treatment and are recovering, little by little. I am finally feeling quite a bit better, although still a little weaker than normal.

Life in Quarantine

Covid-19 has affected almost the entire world! Here in Mexico, few people even knew much about it in January and throughout February, but during the last couple of weeks that has all changed. We are several weeks behind what everyone in the U.S. is experiencing, but the reality of the impact of this pandemic is finally starting to sink in here in Mexico.

A couple of weeks ago, some of the major schools began to close and only offer courses online. Then an official statement came from the government, asking everyone to self-quarantine by remaining home. All group meetings are canceled, restaurants are closing, and all schools are canceled.

We have been working hard to move our church services and meetings online during the last couple of weeks. We’ve done two Sunday services this way so far, and both have had a good online attendance. But I must admit, it is much harder to try to pastor a church without seeing the people personally! We continue to work to make personal contact with our people via messages, phone calls and Skype calls.

Our Online Bible School continues forward without any interruptions. We have over 150 students taking courses right now, and since everything is already online and all the students and facilitators work from their homes, there has been no problem continuing forward with this ministry. In fact, many of the students now have more time to study online with us, since so many other activities are canceled.

Thanks so much!

We definitely understand what so many of you are going through right now. There are so many people without jobs in a failing economy, but we also believe that God will provide for you and for us during this season!

We pray that the life-giving power of Jesus Christ would fill and sustain each of you in both health and economy as we go forward proclaiming the Gospel and teaching the Word of the Lord.

In His love,

David and Sara Lont

Note: You can download this update as a printable PDF file here.

Happy New Year!

Hello, family, friends and supporters. Happy New Year! We hope each of you has had a great start to the year and enjoyed the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

I’d like to take a moment to share a few things that have been going on with us.

Wrapping Up The Semester

Our Online Bible School semester ended the second week of December. We had just over 150 students who completed their semester with us and most of them did very well in their studies. The end of a semester is a busy time, both for students and faculty. The students did reviews and studied for final exams, while the faculty was responsible for answering questions, grading exams and getting the final grades posted.

It was a very profitable semester for all of us. I’m sure many of the students are already using the material we’ve given them in their own ministries in local churches around the nation.

It is also great to have a little break from the everyday work with the students. Now it’s time to get new course material ready, as we’ll soon be opening registration for the spring semester which will start in February.

Advanced School of Ministry

November and December are always busy months for us, as this is the time when I work on material for our next big conference, which will be held the last week of January. My jobs include editing each speaker’s material, writing my own material, forming the conference notebook, handling online registration, conference promotion/advertising, on-screen conference presentations, and a host of other activities.

Our daughter Anna did another book translation, and I did the layout and editing of that book as well. Everything has been sent off to the printers now, so this part of the work is finished. This book will be a homework assignment for those studying the degree program.

Church Activities

We wrapped up our church year with several Christmas celebrations, including a service with the participation of the children’s ministry, a Christmas lunch, a Christmas dinner for our small groups, and a special service which included testimonies of God’s goodness throughout the year.

Now we are beginning a new series of Wednesday night meetings in small groups. These discipleship groups will be studying the parables of Jesus together, and learning the practical and spiritual lessons Jesus taught in each parable.

Christmas and New Years

What a blessing it was to have our son David Jeremiah with us for Christmas. We missed Daniel, as he had to stay in Oregon this Christmas, but we enjoyed being with David and Anna. We had a simple but nice Christmas with our family.

David returned to Michigan on January 31, and we spent New Year’s Eve with friends from church. We had a great time with them and enjoyed a meal of homemade pizza.

Thanks for partnering with us!

Sara and I would like to say “thanks” to each of you who prays for us, gives, or is somehow involved in our lives. We appreciate each of you.

We pray that the Lord would abundantly bless you with His wonderful grace, health and provision during this new year. May you have 20/20 vision to see His good plans and purposes!

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