Henry and Tammie González: Missionary ministry in El Salvador

Henry and Tammie González served as missionaries in Santa Ana, El Salvador, where their work included a growing congregation, personal evangelism, and a Bible institute preparing workers for further service. Tammie, the daughter of Tommy and Brenda Ashcraft, maintained close family and ministry connections with Monte Hebrón in Mexico. By January 2018, Henry and Tammie had served in El Salvador for more than twenty years. [1, 2, 5]

The ministry developed through the participation of local church members, staff, students, and visiting workers. Its history includes Héctor and Marta Sánchez, prospective interns Roberto Salguero, Jimmy Trujillo, and Julio Marroquín, and young people whose service began within the congregation. [1, 2]

A growing congregation in Santa Ana

At the beginning of 2008, Sunday-morning attendance had risen from about 250 to a steady average of 385 over the preceding five months. The church’s evangelistic programs reported an average of approximately 125 professions of faith each week. Four people were baptized on the Sunday preceding Henry’s January 4 report. [1]

By February, regular evangelism continued, with baptisms reported each week. Church members were becoming involved in reaching others, including relatives who then attended and were baptized. The growth involved members participating in the work themselves, alongside the missionaries leading it. [2]

That activity also brought practical needs. In February 2008, the ministry was seeking more space for services, funds toward a building down payment, a church van, and financial help for additional workers. Increasing attendance and the preparation of new staff were creating responsibilities beyond the immediate weekly services. [2]

Héctor and Marta Sánchez join the staff

Héctor Sánchez and his wife, Marta, joined the church staff in August 2007. Héctor served as an assistant pastor, while Marta brought musical training received under Brenda Ashcraft at the Bible institute in Monterrey. [1, 2]

Henry appointed Marta to coordinate the church’s music. Her responsibilities included playing for services, accompanying the choir, and organizing singing groups. The appointment strengthened an area of ministry that needed further development and connected Brenda’s teaching in Mexico with the musical life of a congregation in El Salvador. [1]

The Sánchez family’s work illustrates the exchange of people and training within the wider ministry network. Skills developed at Monte Hebrón were being used in the regular services and organization of another church. [1]

Training workers in the Bible institute

By January 2008, the Bible institute had completed its fifth year, and seven students were expected to graduate that December. The new school year included seven classes, with plans to add music classes by the end of April. [1, 2]

Training was linked with responsibilities in the local church. One graduate, identified as Roberto, was preparing to teach a course while also serving on staff, captaining a bus route, and overseeing Sunday School. He had been saved at age nine and had grown up in the congregation. His service brought together the church’s work with children, its training of adults, and its preparation of future teachers. [1]

Three young men—Roberto Salguero, Jimmy Trujillo, and Julio Marroquín—were preparing either to begin new works or to assist in existing churches. Henry wanted them to remain for at least a year as interns so that they could gain additional practical preparation before taking those next steps. [2]

Financing was the chief obstacle to that proposed internship. The ministry sought monthly sponsorship to cover the men’s personal expenses while they devoted themselves to church work. The plan aimed to give them a period of supervised experience between their studies and greater responsibility elsewhere. [2]

Conferences and visiting preachers

In early December 2007, the church hosted a Fires of Evangelism conference directed by Elmer Fernández. Speakers included Tommy Ashcraft, Luis Parada, and Kevin Wynne. [1]

The conference connected the congregation with pastors and workers participating in similar meetings across Latin America. Hosting it placed the Santa Ana church within a wider network of preaching, instruction, and encouragement for those serving in local ministries. [1]

The continuing relationship with Monte Hebrón also operated through trained workers and family visits. Henry and Tammie’s work was in El Salvador, while shared teaching, personal relationships, and the participation of coworkers maintained connections with the ministry in Mexico. [1, 3, 4]

A new deaf ministry

By July 2016, Henry’s church had begun a deaf ministry. Benjamín Chaires, a teenager from Monte Hebrón, was preparing to spend several weeks in El Salvador helping with the new work. His departure was scheduled for July 26. [3]

Benjamín was the son of Isabel and Luisa Chaires, institute graduates and active members of the Monte Hebrón congregation. His planned visit extended the cooperation between the two ministries to another generation of young people. The account records the intended visit and its purpose, rather than a later report of its results. [3]

Family life and another generation of service

Henry and Tammie’s children grew up alongside the ministry. In February 2008, thirteen-year-old Daniel was involved in a bus route and personal evangelism, including preaching on public buses. Tommy Joel and Brenda were also attending school, with the family’s education and church responsibilities developing together. [2]

By December 2016, Daniel was studying at Hyles-Anderson College. Joel had finished high school at the academy at Monte Hebrón and was preparing to enroll there as well. Family visits brought Henry, Tammie, and their children together with the Ashcraft family in Mexico. [4]

In January 2018, the family included Daniel, Tommy Joel, Brenda Carol, and Grace Ozell. Daniel had graduated from Hyles-Anderson the previous May and was engaged to Megan Juarez, whom he had met there. Tommy Joel and Brenda Carol were then students at the college. [5]

Daniel and Megan planned to marry on March 10, 2018, and spend a year working at her home church, Baily’s Grove Baptist Church in Asheboro, North Carolina, under Pastor Jon Shook. They then intended to begin deputation to join Henry’s work in El Salvador. Those plans represented a further generation preparing for missionary service alongside the ministry in which Daniel had grown up. [5]

Across the documented years, the work in Santa Ana joined evangelism with the preparation of people to carry responsibilities themselves. Church members reached relatives, graduates became teachers and workers, prospective interns prepared for new assignments, and young people participated in developing ministries. Henry and Tammie’s service provided the setting in which those individual stories came together. [1–5]