February 5, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,

Today is an exciting day at MEDA. All MEDA Seminary Students return to begin another year of Seminary. It is exciting to see the students coming in greeting each other after not having seen each other for a while. We have 28 students that will begin studies today. Adrian Donato will teach the first year students a course on basic grammatical principles. Carlos Montoya will teach Basic Greek to the second year students. Evis Carballosa, visiting professor, will take the third year students through an Greek exegesis course of the book of Colossians.

Indeed, excitement is in the air and we covet your prayers as we dedicate the next two weeks in training men to handle accurately the Powerful Word of God.

For HIS Commission,

Carlos Montoya

December 30, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

We hope you have enjoyed celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ these last couple of weeks. We also hope that the New Year will be filled with occasions to draw you nearer to HIM!

Also, we want you to rejoice with us as God has again shown HIS grace in giving our family another child. “Baby” is due in August, 2007. Mommy is doing fine, but needs lots of rest. Please pray for Mommy and this new “little one”.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The Montoya Family

December 21, 2006

The Cuban Connection

(Names of key people and organizations have intentionally been left unmentioned to protect their confidentiality)

When Carlos Montoya visited Cuba in 1993, he never imagined that God would use the events of that trip in a phenomenal way 13 years later. At that time Carlos wasn’t sure where God would have him minister to proclaim the wonders of His gospel. On this unforgettable trip, he visited a small seminary in a prominent city where he met the dean, a man full of passion for his people and for training leaders for the growing number of house churches. As a young “want-to-be-missionary”, Carlos had a desire to serve the Lord in Cuba but the doors were closed to do so.

In 2001, by God’s providential leading, after completing his studies at The Master’s Seminary, Carlos and his family moved to the country of Honduras to serve the Lord at Ministerios Evangélicos de las Américas (MEDA). With a conference program, and now an established seminary, MEDA is fulfilling the biblical mandate to entrust God’s truth to faithful men in Honduras, as well as the rest of Central America. By God’s grace, MEDA is making a difference!

In April of this year, Carlos received an email from Len Crowley, with Counsel and Capital, offering an opportunity to extend MEDA’s ministry beyond the borders of Central America – to train key evangelical leaders from the country of Cuba. The plan was to bring 10 men from Cuba and host a two week conference, covering several theological and ministerial topics. This was easier said than done. It is no easy task to bring Cubans to another country. Nevertheless, with great excitement, MEDA accepted the challenge and the long arduous process began.

To briefly outline the general process, it involved selecting the right men from Cuba, securing the necessary funding, securing Honduran visas for each man, securing the permission of the Cuban government for their trip, and organizing the conference. Several organizations partnered with MEDA to bring about this event. MEDA was specifically responsible for organizing the conference, as well as securing the Honduran visas.

The decision was made to bring in several key speakers for the event and open it up to Central American pastors as well. In addition to Carlos Montoya and Adrian Donato (MEDA professors), speakers included: Dr. Evis Carballosa (well known author and conference speaker), Dr. George Zemek (former TMS professor and current dean of The Expositor’s Seminary), Pastor Luis Contreras (TMS graduate and fellow TMAI colleague in Mexico), and Pastor David Diez (TMS graduate and pastor of Miami Bible Church). The conference title was “Faithful Shepherds.” The topics included, “The Shepherd as an Evangelist”, “The Shepherd as a Counselor”, “The Shepherd and His Character”, “The Shepherd and His Doctrine”, “The Shepherd and the Church”, and “The Shepherd and His Preaching”.

As mentioned before, the actual process of bringing the Cubans to Honduras was no small task. Unfortunately, there were many roadblocks which delayed the Honduran visa process. When MEDA received the necessary documents to begin the process, there were only two weeks left until the start of the conference. Carlos Nuñez, MEDA’s executive administrator began to investigate the possibilities of expediting the visa process that would normally take at least two months, only to run into more roadblocks. Discouraged, we began to lose hope of seeing the Cubans attend this conference, until…

It just so happened (God’s providential leading) that during this time a newspaper article appeared in the Sunday paper in Honduras relating the history of a Cuban family that had migrated to Honduras in the 1950’s. It just so happened that one of the members of this family was now the Chief of Staff to the President of Honduras. It just so happened that the director of one of the organizations in the United States helping us bring in the Cubans was the cousin of the Chief of Staff to the President of Honduras. Because of this unbelievable connection, Carlos Nuñez was able to contact the Chief of Staff on his cell phone to explain the current roadblock. The Chief of Staff was more than willing to help expedite the process. Things began to move fast, when suddenly another roadblock appeared that would have held up the process for 2 more weeks. Carlos Nuñez immediately called the Chief of Staff again to explain the latest. It just so happened that he was in a meeting with the President of Honduras when he received the call from Mr. Nuñez. He relayed the impasse to the President, who assured him that the visas would be granted immediately. And so it was…in less than 2 days, the visas were granted. Several days later, Carlos Nuñez secured a special meeting with the Chief of Staff to give him a special gift from MEDA as a token of our appreciation. The gift was a MacArthur Study Bible. He also left one for the President of Honduras. So, the Chief of Staff and the President of Honduras are now owners of MacArthur Study Bibles J.

Though the original plan was for 10 Cuban men to attend the conference, Cuba only allowed three to come. But we praise the Lord for these three men. It just so happened that Carlos Montoya recognized the name of one of them as it matched the name of the dean of that small seminary in Cuba, as he recalled his trip more than 13 years ago. As he shook the hand of this man , Carlos asked him if he knew the dean of that seminary. The man answered, “That was my father.” What an amazing connection! He went on to explain that his father had since gone to be with the Lord and now he is currently the dean of the seminary.

Carlos and others had a special meeting with this man, where he explained the current state of the Cuban church. He relayed that the church in Cuba is experiencing an unprecedented growth in the form of “cell” churches all throughout Cuba. Because of this, there are not enough leaders to lead these churches. He emphasized, “The greatest need in Cuba now is biblically trained leadership.” His desire is to send key men to MEDA to receive training to be able to return and entrust God’s truth to faithful men in Cuba. By God’s grace, MEDA can make a difference!

Before the men left, they expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to attend this conference. Through gifts of various friends to the ministry, MEDA was able to give these men books and software that would enhance their ministry. Each one received a MacArthur Study Bible, as well.

What does the future hold? MEDA looks forward to pursuing this Cuban connection. God providentially has placed MEDA in a strategic ministry to assist the church in Honduras, in Central America and now in Cuba. Pray that we be found faithful!

By HIS Grace,

The Montoyas

November 12, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

We give thanks to the LORD for a blessed year of Conferences and Seminary. Yesterday we finished the last scheduled conference for the year with a conference exposing the false teachings of Roman Catholicism given by Mike Gendron. We also finished the last teaching module in MEDA's Seminary for Expository Preaching. We can look back and truly see the hand of God in this ministry as men are going back to their ministries proclaiming God's Word with precision.

It is exciting to hear the testimonies of men who make great sacrifices to attend conferences and seminary. Recently, one of the pastors that attends the conferences invited Carlos to speak at a small church in the mountains of Santa Barbara, a city in the western part of Honduras. The whole family went and we all realized what great efforts these men make to get to the conferences as we climbed the mountains wondering at times if the van was going to make it up some of the steep narrow stretches of road. Men are eager to learn the truth and how to preach it. We praise the LORD that God has placed MEDA here to fulfill the desires of these men to preach with clarity, with power, with passion, and with accuracy.

What's ahead as this year ends? Well, about 5 months ago, a request came in for us to host a two week conference for some special guests that are also eager to learn more about God's Word and HIS ministry. These special guests are pastors and church leaders from the country of CUBA. The conference will be held from November 20th to December 4th. We are making it available to all pastors in Central America as well. A big prayer request is that these Cuban pastors have the necessary immigration documents to be able to attend this conference. Please pray with us! So far, a major step towards that has been accomplished. The conference will host 6 speakers, of which Carlos will be one. The various topics will be: The Pastor as an Evangelist, The Pastor and His Character, The Pastor as a Counselor, The Pastor and His Doctrine, The Pastor and His Preaching, and The Pastor and the Church.

On the home front, the family continues to extend hospitality to various pastors, families, youth, and children. What a precious time it is to get to know these people and what God is doing in their lives. The Montoya children had the wonderful experience of having both sets of grandparents here last month. We praise the Lord for Godly grandparents whose Christian parenting is now influencing a third generation. Please continue to pray for our family as we seek to be faithful in training our precious children to love God and to walk in the truth.

We want to thank you all for your constant prayers for us! Also, we thank many of you who regularly give financially so that we may continue to minister here in Honduras. We truly believe that your partnership in this manner is a ministry to the LORD.

We look forward to hearing from you. Please keep in touch.

By HIS Grace,

The Montoya Family

April 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Because of this awesome truth, we joyfully labor for Christ's sake here in Honduras. As 1 Corinthians 15:17 states, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Without this truth, we are of all men most to be pitied. (v. 19). But because he lives we can serve with all confidence a Risen Lord who changes lives. He is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed!

One of the greatest blessings of our ministry is hearing from various pastors of how MEDA has had an impact in their lives. Yesterday, Carlos had the opportunity to speak with a pastor from Choloma (near San Pedro Sula), who is a graduate of our Preacher's School. This pastor was expressing how his heart was filled with awe as he prepared his sunrise service message. As he delved into the depths of the meanings of the various words in the text, he was awestruck at the greatness of Christ's resurrection. He expressed to Carlos that before he came to MEDA, his study of the Word had never had that kind of an impact. The truths of God's Word handled by the diligent student of God's Word will inevitably produce a passion for God's Word. For this, we give God the glory!

As I have mentioned in previous updates, this year is a landmark year for MEDA. The MEDA seminary for Expository Preaching was launched with 22 students who have all proven to be men who are serious about ¡§getting it right when it comes to handling Scripture! Carlos has had the opportunity to disciple these men in both Greek and Hermeneutics. It is always exciting to see these young biblical investigators wrestling with the text, until they discover with joy the intended meaning. Carlos will finish off the semester by teaching two more modules, one on sermon preparation and the other will be an evaluation of the sermons that these preachers will preach. A new semester will begin in July.

Another added blessing this year has been the visits of various friends of the ministry. We have had the privilege of hosting various groups from the States who have expressed their desire to commit themselves to the ministry or to local churches here in one way or another. This has truly turned out to be a family activity as Lori extends hospitality to these short term missionaries and several of the children practice their bilingual skills serving as translators. We praise the Lord for these wonderful opportunities to minister and be ministered to.

Talking about the family, it is wonderful to see how uniquely the Lord is shaping each of our precious children. Kimberly (14) is a young lady and is enjoying being a domestic apprentice to her mother as she is learning to cook, sew, host, and listening to good wise counsel. Jonathan (12) is our music man. He does amazing things on the keyboard and guitar. Jeremy (soon to be 10) is our horseman. He has really learned how to work with horses and they seem to mind him well. Marcy (soon to be 8) loves to play with dolls and tell stories of her young life to Daddy. Leslie (soon to be 6) loves for Mommy to read to her. She is now learning to read herself. Sara (who will be 2 this year) is taking off with her vocabulary. She knows how to melt all of us with her brilliant smile and sweet ways.

We want to thank each one of you who are committed to our ministry by prayer or financial support. We would ask that you lift up the following prayer requests as you think of us:

• Our personal spiritual growth in becoming more like Christ.
• Strength to balance out the heavy seminary schedule this year.
• Hosting more groups that will minister here this year.
• Expansion project to accommodate an adequate academic library.
• Carlos in his shepherding responsibilities at our local church.
• Lori in home-schooling our precious flock.

May the reality of the RISEN LORD motivate us to a greater life of love and obedience!

HE IS RISEN!

Hallelujah!

The Montoya Family