The language school at Monte Hebrón

The language school at Monte Hebrón prepared incoming missionaries to communicate and work in Spanish-speaking settings. Its intended purpose combined language study with an introduction to local customs, addressing needs that extended beyond learning vocabulary and grammar. The school served missionaries preparing for Mexico and other countries. [1]

The program developed alongside the Bible institute, adding a distinct form of preparation to the ministry’s educational work. While the institute trained Christian workers through Bible and ministry studies, the language school helped arriving missionaries prepare for service in another linguistic and cultural setting. [1]

Purpose and organization

L. H. Ashcraft identified the need for a program that would teach new missionaries both the language and the customs of Spanish-speaking countries. His plans placed cultural preparation alongside the ability to communicate, reflecting the practical demands facing workers arriving from abroad. [1]

Tommy Ashcraft was already directing the Bible institute when the language school was being organized. He was involved in considering arrangements for prospective language students, linking the proposed school with the ministry already operating at Monte Hebrón. [1]

The first group consisted of three couples and four single people preparing to learn Spanish—ten adult students altogether. The memoir does not give an exact opening date. The school’s later handbook places the beginning of Spanish and missions classes in the late 1970s. [1, 2]

Jimmy and Maggie Nelson

Jimmy Nelson completed the language-school program by the spring of 1981. A June 4 newspaper report recorded his graduation and a plaque recognizing him as the first person from the United States to graduate from the school. That distinction is preserved as the newspaper’s description, rather than a verified roster of all earlier students. [3]

Jimmy’s wife, Maggie, and their children, Tena, Travis, and Teresa, were also part of the missionary family living at Mount Hebrón. Jimmy’s parents, Clifford Nelson and his wife, visited for his graduation. The report separately mentions awards received by the children at their own school; those awards were not language-school qualifications. [3, 4]

The family’s presence places language preparation within the experience of a missionary household. Jimmy’s graduation is specifically documented; the available reports do not establish a separate graduation for Maggie. [3, 4]

John and Wanda Casias

John and Wanda Casias attended the school during their first months on the field in the early 1980s. They also worked with the Ashcraft ministry during that period. Their experience provides a named example of missionaries who combined language preparation at Monte Hebrón with participation in the work around them. [6]

The relationship continued long after their time as students. By 2012, their church was about ten minutes from Monte Hebrón, and John remained in contact with Tommy concerning ministry personnel. Shortly before the February 2012 account, they had discussed an institute graduate whom John was considering for a position in his ministry. [6]

John and Wanda were found murdered at their home in Santiago on January 31, 2012, after nearly three decades of missionary service. They had founded a Baptist congregation in El Cercado, where members of the community gathered to honor their lives. Their years of service stand among the lasting contributions of missionaries who prepared at Monte Hebrón. [5, 6]

Dan and Edith Peyton

Dan and Edith Peyton also studied at the language school. By December 2025, more than thirty years had passed since their attendance. Tommy and Emily visited them in Chihuahua, where Dan continued in church ministry. Their connection with Monte Hebrón had therefore endured for decades beyond their period of language study. [7]

Service beyond the first group

The school subsequently trained missionaries whose fields included countries other than Mexico. Former students went on to establish ministries of their own. Its reach therefore extended through the workers who studied there and later served elsewhere. [1]

This added an outward-facing function to Monte Hebrón’s educational work. The language program received people preparing to enter a Spanish-speaking field, while the surrounding ministry provided an established missionary setting in which that preparation could take place. [1, 6]

Leadership and missionary preparation

L. H. and Eva supported the school’s beginnings through the wider ministry and fundraising, while Tommy participated in organizing it alongside his institute responsibilities. Eva’s account does not assign her a formal language-teaching position. [1]

The school’s published student handbook names Jonathan Ashcraft as director and incorporates Tommy’s teaching on missionary philosophy. Its program combines Spanish instruction with participation in church services, evangelism, and visitation, continuing the connection between language learning and practical ministry. [2]

Support and historical record

Maintaining the school required financial support. After its beginning, L. H. and Eva traveled to churches in the United States to raise funds for the continuing work. Language preparation formed part of the broader ministry sustained through those church relationships. [1]

The school’s history is documented through its founding purpose, its initial group of ten adults, and named students including Jimmy Nelson, John and Wanda Casias, and Dan and Edith Peyton. Contemporary newspaper coverage, missionary correspondence, and the school handbook extend that record across several generations. The exact opening year and a complete historical roster of teachers and students remain to be established.