Rev. Tabita Gonzalez is the Kansas City District Missionary with responsibilities in the areas of multicultural ministry and church planting. Tabita was born and raised in Brazil. She graduated with honors from the Brazilian Theological Seminary with an associate degree in Applied Theology (2005) and holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences and a minor in Education from Campinas State University (2005). Tabita also earned a Master of Arts in Pastoral Counseling from MNU in 2011.
In 2007 Tabita moved to Kansas with her husband, Rev. David Gonzalez, in order to support ministry delivery at the Global Ministry Center while also serving as youth pastor for Ministerios Hispanos Emanuel at College Church. In 2011, Tabita and her husband began to serve as co-pastors of the cross-cultural ministry at Lenexa Central where the couple restarted the Hispanic congregation. In 2014 Tabita was ordained as an elder in the Church of the Nazarene by the Kansas City District and shortly after that was deployed as a missionary to South America, serving in Argentina and Ecuador.
In the field, Tabita served for five years as the Regional Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Coordinator, providing leadership. There she facilitated several ministry programs and emphases including the establishment of new Child Development Centers, responses to major disasters, support to different community development projects, and educational efforts. During their time in Argentina, the couple also provided ministry support to a “restart” church, Pilar Centro, in the Buenos Aires area.
Upon their return to the USA, Tabita has served in Nazarene Compassionate Ministries for the past year, facilitating the creation and distribution of resources for Child Development Programs around the world. She has also been involved in local ministry at Lenexa Central, serving as a family and couples co-pastor for the Spanish congregation. David serves as Global NYI Director at the GMC.
Tabita is the proud mama of two bright and full-of-energy boys: Lucas (7) and Jeremias (4), with whom she claims to have the most profound theology and Christian life discussions. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with family, trying different foods from different countries, crafting, and cultivating significant relationships. Her passions include teaching her children by example, fulfilling God’s call in her life to preach the Word, calling sinners to a relationship with Christ, preparing the saints for ministry, and caring for God’s flock.
Tabita is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, and English, and has basic proficiency in French. In August 2020 she will assume primary leadership of district multicultural ministries and church planting. Dr. Fernandez will continue to oversee district ministerial training for Spanish-speakers.