Note: There is a PDF version of this newsletter located here.

Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters,

Happy Autumn! For many, it is the time of year when the leaves fall off the trees as nature goes into a dormant state, preparing for winter. However, in our area, we only see the fields turn brown, little by little, as we begin to have less rain and cold nights. Most trees stay green, except the fruit trees, such as apple, pear, and plum. The oaks keep their leaves until March, when they turn yellow and brown and fall to the ground. Our raking season is March, but by May, the new leaves are growing again.

This reminds me of the cycles of life. Every day new babies are born, and every day older adults pass into eternity. Our time to make a difference in the lives of these people is right between those two points, and what we do in this life will determine where we spend eternity. Thank God for Jesus!

Bill Brown

You may remember that in our last newsletter we had asked you to pray for Bill, our pastor and mentor in ministry for many years. On Sunday night, September 6, Bill went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He left behind a tremendous legacy of literally thousands of pastors and leaders whom he and Gerda discipled, trained, and commissioned for ministry. In Uganda alone, he was one of the leaders who helped to start a group of churches that multiplied to over 1,000 local congregations all across the nation. After their work in Africa, the Lord moved them to Mexico, where they worked as the directors of one of the most influential Bible colleges in Mexico during the 1970s and 1980s, training hundreds of young people who started churches all over Mexico, extending into other Latin American countries.

When they felt their time at the Bible School was coming to a close, they began visiting their former students and the wonderful churches that many of them were planting, traveling for months at a time from town to town, preaching and teaching every evening. They soon saw the need for advanced ministry training and encouragement for these young pastors, and began the Advanced School of Ministry as a yearly gathering to continue to pour into these men and women of God. What began for former students soon began to blossom into something even bigger, as many of these pastors began to invite their leadership teams and other pastors in their area. Their impact was truly profound. Their teaching on the worship ministry transformed the ministry of music all across Mexico, and the leadership principles they taught have helped hundreds of churches in Mexico build upon solid foundations.

Sara and I met Bill and Gerda in 1994, and almost instantly there was a spiritual connection between us. That same weekend they took us aside and told us that the Lord had placed us in their hearts, and that they wanted to sow into us. They began sending us books, cassette tapes, and training materials. A few months later, they called and asked us to accompany some young American pastors whom they were bringing into the mission field to preach at several local churches, and they wanted me to be their interpreter. Then, just a few months later, we were invited to go with them to the Advanced School of Ministry conference in Cuernavaca. This was the beginning of what would be over 30 years of serving them in their ministry.

Our online Bible School was founded as an extension of their ministry, and it was Bill and Gerda’s vision to reach pastors and leaders who couldn’t leave their home, church, and family to continue their ministry preparation. John Brown, their grandson, helped fuel this vision, and I also felt a burden to make this happen. In 2013, I began the work on what would become “Fundamentos Ministeriales”, an online Bible School for pastors, leaders, and young people who desire to prepare for ministry through an online school.

An Unexpected Trip to Canada

Soon after Bill’s passing, we learned that the family was preparing a memorial service for September 24 in Edmonton, Alberta. I quickly looked into making the trip, and we decided to go as a family to honor Bill and his wonderful family and to participate in the memorial service.

We were able to spend a day at Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, just before the memorial service. What a beautiful place! Although we live in the mountains here in Mexico, we had never experienced mountains like the Canadian Rockies. They are so impressive! Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

We also enjoyed spending an evening with John and Stacey Brown (Bill’s grandson and his wife). They lived in Mexico for several years, and they preached in our church several times about 15 years ago. John and his family treated us to an amazing dinner in their home, and we had so much fun getting to know their kids, who are now in college and high school.

Advanced School of Ministry in Tijuana

Soon after getting back from Canada, I found out that I was going to take another unexpected trip, this time to Tijuana, on the northern border, right next to San Diego, California. For many years, our Advanced School of Ministry team has done conferences there for the pastors and leaders of the area. I wasn’t scheduled to go this year for several reasons, but Pastor Marjorie, from Cuernavaca, had an accident and fell, breaking several bones, so she was unable to fly there to teach. I went in her place and taught the classes that she was scheduled to teach. It was a very good trip. We had a small group of about 29 pastors and leaders, but it was a very profitable week of teaching and getting to know some of the leaders who attended.

Writing a Book

Bill and Gerda often encouraged me to write, and I have written many Bible teachings and other material and manuals. However, I had never done a complete book. In our September team meeting, several of the team members talked about creating a book containing the teachings that Bill and Gerda did over the years at the Advanced School of Ministry conference. I decided to take on that responsibility and have been working on it since late September. Bill and Gerda left us with almost 100 teaching sessions that they did over the years at the conferences. I have over 35 years of their teaching notes and many audio recordings of them as well, and I began digging through them, putting everything together in book form. The content is not mine; it is Bill and Gerda’s teachings and stories, but I am writing the book as a ghostwriter and editor, bringing back the teachings and stories they told in the late 1980s right through Bill’s last participation at the event last January.

The book is coming along well. I have finished about 22 chapters, 100,000 words, and 320 pages so far. We hope to have it published in January for the conference. It brings back so many memories and such solid Bible teaching. In many ways, it will serve as a legacy of their ministry. Future generations will be able to read it and glean from the over 50 years that they sowed their lives into the churches and leaders of Mexico.

Bible School and Church

Our fall semester is going well, with about a month and a half left in the semester. Most of the students are progressing well, learning a lot, and actively participating in their courses. It has also been exciting to see our first full-time and part-time students progress toward their goals.

Anna and I continue to develop new courses and course materials. We work toward our goals every week. Anna developed a complete course on worship and will be recording it in a few weeks, and we ask for your prayers as she teaches. She has written some great material!

Our church family has been focusing on forming community over the last couple of months. We have been doing things a bit differently. Each Sunday during the month has had a specific purpose. On the first Sunday, we work specifically on community, such as praying for one another, encouraging one another, etc., and eating together in groups around tables, along with a short time of worship and Bible teaching. The second Sunday is focused on teaching. In September, I taught on the Apostles’ Creed, and in October, the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism. We’re calling this our “Sunday School” meeting. On the third Sunday, we’ve been focusing on worship and prayer. And on the fourth Sunday, we have been doing practical workshops: teaching about a subject and then practicing it in small groups. October’s emphasis was on prayer, and we practiced praying for those at our tables. This has brought a new dynamic to Sunday mornings and has gone over well. Our plan is for 3 months of these different types of meetings, September through November. It’s neat to see the entire congregation participating in ministry one with another, and not just the pastor and leaders doing everything. We are the body of Christ and members one of another.

Family

On September 14, at one minute before midnight, our second grandchild was born. Little baby Joel was born healthy and well to Daniel and Elisa Lont, who live in Vancouver, Washington. What an exciting time for their family! Little Ella, who is almost two years old, welcomed her little brother with such excitement and joy! Of course, she soon learned that a baby brother needs a lot of the attention and love that used to be only for her, so she is having to adjust.

We are thankful for a healthy grandson! We are also thankful for Daniel and Elisa. They are excellent parents, training their children in the ways of the Lord.

David is currently in the process of moving to New Mexico, where he will be starting his first full-time job, now that he has finished his doctoral degree at Texas A&M. We are excited for him and thankful for all he has accomplished.

Prayer Requests and Thanksgiving

Before we request prayer, we’d like to thank the Lord and let you know about His care in our lives.

• We are thankful for your faithful support throughout this year. The Lord has shown His faithfulness to us again! Thank you so very much for sowing into our lives.
• We are thankful for His protection and care as we have traveled.
• We are thankful for Bill and Gerda, and all they planted in our lives over the past 30+ years. Gerda, who went home to heaven in 2018, was such an inspiration in the teaching ministry. And Bill, who is now with Jesus, was a true spiritual father to us.
• We are thankful for our teams: the Advanced School of Ministry team, our Bible School facilitators and leaders, and our local church. They are an encouragement and a blessing.

We request prayer for the following:

• Please pray for Barbara, Bill’s widow. After Gerda died in 2018, Bill married a wonderful Christian widow, just a few years younger than himself. They were happily married for just over 6 years, until his passing. Barbara needs your prayers!
• Please pray for Bill’s family, as they process the fact that Bill is now in heaven. They all greatly miss him. So do we!
• Please pray for wisdom as we take the next steps in our lives and ministry. There are ministry decisions that we are in the process of making right now, especially with the Advanced School of Ministry. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us.

Thanks!

We appreciate all you do for us. Thanks to all of you who pray for us and give to allow us to minister here. It is a huge privilege to serve the King! And it is an honor to consider you our partners in the preaching of the Gospel.

Blessings,

David and Sara Lont
with Anna

Note: A downloadable PDF version of this update is available here.

Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters,

We hope all of you have had a wonderful summer. We have had a very good summer and took advantage of this year’s rainy season to plant another 550 trees. July and August are the months where things tend to grow the most, at least in our area. The trees, grass, and even weeds just thrive with long summer days and abundant moisture. This reminds me of how we all must take advantage of the “times of refreshing” in the presence of the Lord, as Acts 3:19 calls them, to put down spiritual roots and grow in our faith.

Now, as the fall season rapidly approaches, the lush green fields begin turning a golden yellow as the wheat and barley harvest nears. The latter autumn rains prepare the fields for harvest, and we see this both naturally and spiritually. Jesus told us to lift up our eyes and look toward the spiritual fields which are ready to be reaped. For us, this is the heart of our daily work with the Bible School, the church, and the Advanced School of Ministry.

Bible School

We spent much of June and July working on the Bible School while we were between semesters. We were able to correct, edit, and update several courses. I also added many features to our online software, including a complete theological library consisting mostly of public-domain theological works. The library includes Greek and Hebrew dictionaries and lexicons, commentaries by Matthew Henry, John Calvin, and several others, along with many other resources, including the complete notes of over 35 years of the Advanced School of Ministry teaching.

For years, I have seen a problem. There are literally thousands of free public domain resources available for English-speaking Bible students. Anyone can freely download and study all the classical Bible commentaries, encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc. Copyright law is generally limited to 100 years, and all of these resources are much older than that. However, the moment a publisher decides to translate those works into another language (Spanish in our case), the translation now becomes copyrighted and is no longer freely available.

I decided to do something about that, at least for our students. I decided to use the freely available English public domain resources, build a small system which allows them to be fully searched by large language AI models, and then return the text the student is researching in Spanish. It took several days of work, but I was able to set this up in such a way as to keep the answers completely faithful to the original sources, with links back to the actual English passage in any of these books. In this way, a student who knows a bit of English and wants to dig into the original English sources can do so. However, those who know only Spanish now have direct access to books that had previously been beyond their reach.

The fall semester has now begun. We are offering a total of 15 courses and have welcomed a group of both our full-time and part-time program students, as well as many who are taking individual courses or returning to finish a diploma program. Organizing everything has been a rewarding challenge and it is all coming together well.

Church

Our local church is doing well, and several of our members are also studying online through the Bible School. We are happy to report that both Karla and her father, Javier, are doing well after the kidney transplant and complications that followed in June and July. Karla had to deal with several infections and was hospitalized in Mexico City a couple of times during June and July, but she is gaining strength and has returned to college. Thanks for praying for them.

Family

Sara, Anna, and I traveled to College Station, Texas, from August 7-10 to be with our son, David, for his doctoral graduation and hooding ceremony at Texas A&M. It was a tremendous blessing to see him reach this important milestone and to tour his university campus. After many years of study, he is now officially Doctor David Jeremiah Lont.

Our second son Daniel and his wife Elisa are expecting their second baby in mid-September. Little Ella will soon have a baby brother. We continue to pray for them as the date approaches, that all will go well. It is exciting to be grandparents!

Anna continues to work with us in our church leading worship, teaching, doing Bible studies with the youth, and faithfully serving in any area where we need help. She works daily in our Bible School, writing and recording courses, creating quizzes, slide presentations, and handling administrative tasks. She is also a course facilitator. Finally, she continues to serve with Bethel Church online, leading a small group on Zoom each week. In the afternoons she practices her writing and takes classes in the Young Writers Workshop.

At the end of this newsletter, I am attaching a recent article Anna wrote, for those who are interested.

Prayer Requests

This time, I would also like to ask you to pray for me. A few weeks ago, I suddenly lost some hearing in my left ear. I saw a doctor immediately and am receiving treatment. It seems to be related to what doctors said was probably Meniere’s disease that began in my right ear about eleven years ago. We are praying that the treatment will be effective and that I will be able to recover at least some of the hearing in my left ear. In the meantime, I am trying to adapt.

Please pray for Bill Brown, who has been our spiritual father and mentor for most of our adult lives. He is 92 and recently had a stroke. It seems he is almost ready to go home with Jesus. Please pray for his family and especially his wife during this time.

Please also pray for our Bible School students, as they begin the year. We have a group of right around 150 again, and we pray that those who begin the semester will be strengthened, grow, and leave better prepared for the ministry they do in their local churches.

Thanks so much! We deeply appreciate your love and support. We especially thank those who give, and the many more who pray regularly for us.

With love,

David and Sara Lont
With Anna

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I Grew Up In Ministry and Here’s How I Turned Out

On hard lessons and big blessings that came from growing up as a pastor’s kid

Anna Lont

I’ve recently seen many young people entering Bible school with a burning desire to serve God and love the Church. And I’ve asked myself: what madness has possessed them? To which I can only answer: the same madness that has possessed me. It took a hold of me early in life, since I practically lived in church where my dad pastored. It grew when I discovered a love for teaching the Bible. It practically took over when God confirmed my calling at the age of fourteen during a leaders’ conference.

And so I did what I see many do: I went to Bible school! But I did it online while living in my hometown, serving my local church, and getting a front row seat to ministry life and the beauty and dysfunction behind the scenes. I still show up every Sunday, serve, and even spend hours pouring into online Bible school students during the week. I can confidently say that I have 23 years of ministry experience. (Yes, I’m counting my childhood taking naps in my dad’s office as ministry experience.)

In those 23 years, I’ve seen things; the good, the bad, the hope, and beauty. I wanted to share some of the things I’ve learned as a ministry kid and as a church volunteer. Because while there are many hard lessons, there is also proof of God’s faithfulness through it all. If you’re dreaming of going into ministry, or if you already are in ministry, then I pray this encourages you.

Three Hard Lessons

It’s true that the most difficult things in life are what make us better and equip us. With this in mind, I will begin with three hard (but valuable) lessons I’ve learned over the years. 

There Will Be Misplaced Expectations

One of the most common things I have seen in churches is misplaced expectations of leaders. As someone who lives in the pastor’s house (hey dad!), I get an insider’s perspective. I have heard people ask my dad for prayer, saying things like “since you’re closer to God.” I have seen people with marital problems call my parents at unearthly hours because they desperately need counseling.

I believe prayer and counseling are part of a pastor’s responsibility, but to a certain extent. Where I grow concerned is when people take leaders and expect them to be God in their lives. They expect their leader or pastor to replace the voice of the Holy Spirit and be the one that spoon-feeds them their spiritual nourishment.

I believe pastors should feed the sheep, care for them, counsel them, pray for them, and support them in their spiritual journey. This is biblical. But we can’t make disciples who are co-dependent on us as leaders. We need to teach people to pray, to ask God for guidance, and to read the Word on their own. Responsibility goes both ways. And pastors are just as human as any other church member. We can’t be Jesus to people, but we can point them to Him.

You’ll Have to Learn to Forgive Often

Another hard lesson I have learned is the importance of learning to forgive others and never hold on tightly to things. Unfortunately, I have seen many leaders compete against each other instead of partnering together, all out of insecurity, jealousy, or a need for approval. I have seen church members refuse to extend forgiveness, thus causing conflict, tension, and pain in churches. I’ve seen people leave one church after another because they won’t put in the work of remaining through a conflict.

But here’s the thing: church was meant to be a family. And healthy families stick together through thick and thin. Healthy families learn to deal with conflict and resolve it. Healthy families celebrate each other’s strengths and find a way to cover each other’s weaknesses. As long as we are imperfect humans, we will never be able to have perfect churches. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, I believe that healthy churches are possible. As ministers, we have to learn to let go of jealousy and learn to forgive quickly. Every church struggles. But let’s make each other stronger through our struggles and not weaker.

You’ll Have to Realize Effort Doesn’t Equal Worth

The third thing I have seen in many churches is the tendency to mistake effort for ministry. And I am guilty of doing this myself. There is a belief in the world that if we do more, then we are more successful. If we have more programs, events, conferences, Bible studies, worship nights, prayer meetings, evangelistic campaigns… then we’ll be truly successful in ministry.

But performance was never the way forward. Yes, all these things can be good. But when we focus on performance, we miss that God’s heart is found through surrender. We are saved by grace, not by works.

We need to create places where people encounter God and are encouraged by other believers. But if our focus becomes how much we can perform, then we will miss that God is seeking after genuine hearts and not just external effort.

The Beauty

I’ve never left the church. I was pretty much born in it. I have seen the dark side of ministry firsthand, and yet, I’m still here. Because underneath all the flaws, there is so much beauty to be found. I’m not getting divorced from the church because I have fallen deeply in love with Jesus, the lover of the church. I have been incredibly blessed by it and by my life as a pastor’s kid.

I want to share three things I’m incredibly grateful for.

Deep Knowledge of Scripture

I grew up listening to my dad preach every Sunday, and sometimes during the week. I grew up visiting other churches where I heard more sermons. I went to kids church, I read my Bible at home, and I had to memorize Bible verses for school. Eventually I began teaching Bible stories to my friends while we waited for our parents to finish their Bible school classes.

This is one of the biggest gifts I have been given. I love the Bible. And through it, I have come to love the Lord more deeply. Now, when people ask me questions, I am confident in what to say because of the continuous exposure to the Word. I don’t think I would have learned so much if it hadn’t been for my life in ministry.

Grace For Imperfect People

Time and time again, I wonder why I still want to serve in church. After all, I’ve been hurt, I’ve had people gossip about me and my family, and I’ve been offended. But then I remember that Jesus died for imperfect people. That is the foundation of the Gospel we preach. And if He did that, how could I offer less?

I’ve learned to forgive even when it’s hard. I have learned to let offense fade away and to love people even when I’d rather not. This is something that carries value into every area of my life, and I am so grateful for my church and my imperfectly beautiful community. It hasn’t always been easy to keep showing up, but I have learned what Jesus’s unconditional love looks like.

A Taste of Genuine, Healthy Community

While in ministry school, I got a glimpse of what the church can look like. I connected deeply with people through Zoom. I experienced wild and radical worship, I saw a new side of intercession, and I found that community like we see in the Bible is actually possible.

This made me wonder: what if this is possible in my local church? What if I could replicate it? What if the community I experienced in school could become the norm in every church? That is what we are called to do. Jesus gave us a mandate to go and make disciples, and it is possible.

This glimpse of genuine community is what fuels my hope for the church. It’s also what makes ministry so hard when things don’t quite measure up. But God has called us to pour into the church just as He constantly does. How could we do any less?

A Final Thought

And so, dear reader. If you are already in ministry, or if you are about to enter into ministry, go! Go with passion, with enthusiasm, and with your eyes wide open. You will be challenged, but you will also be blessed by loving what God loves.

To those entering ministry, you will encounter brokenness in every church. You will encounter conflict and challenge. But the world needs more people who will love the church just as He loves it: unconditionally and without reserve. Learn to build healthy community. Learn to set boundaries. Don’t measure your success by how much you can perform in order to win God’s approval or the approval of others.

And to all my fellow people who grew up in the church, you’re allowed to see it clearly and still love it. Let us determine in our hearts not to become critics of the church, but advocates who invest in it and call it higher out of a place of love. May we learn to love as He loved us.

Thanks for reading!
Anna

P.S. If you are interested in reading other articles by Anna, you can have a look at her blog: https://www.grapevineblog.org/