Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E72 | Everyday Eurasia | Tamy Bauza
Transcript
- 0:00Hello and welcome to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
- 0:04Inspiring Faith for Every Day. Each day we are on a journey
- 0:08with Jesus in our churches, our homes, our workplaces, and in so
- 0:13many different places around the world.
- 0:16Is it beautiful that no matter where we are, we can walk with
- 0:20him every single day? Jesus is the one who connects us
- 0:24all and stands at the very center of our lives day after
- 0:28day. Through this podcast, you'll
- 0:30hear voices from across the region sharing devotionals that
- 0:34reminds us of God's presence in our everyday moments.
- 0:43This week, we're joined by Tammy Bowsa.
- 0:45Originally from Argentina, Tammy grew up in Paraguay and
- 0:49Mozambique, where her parents served.
- 0:51Through the Church of the Nazarene, she studied
- 0:53intercultural studies, earned her MBA, and later served with
- 0:57Nazarene Compassionate Ministries in Jordan, working
- 1:00with local and refugee students. Since May 2025, she has served
- 1:06as the Regional NMI Coordinator for Eurasia.
- 1:09We are grateful to have Tammy with us this week as she shares
- 1:12about the five NMI priorities. Hi, this is Tammy.
- 1:18Thank you for walking this week with me and hearing about the
- 1:21five areas of impact of NMI. On the first day we talked about
- 1:26prayer, the second day we talked about engaging children and
- 1:30youth. The third day we talked about
- 1:33caring connection, and then yesterday we talked about WEF,
- 1:37the World Evangelism Fund. Today we will talk about
- 1:41Alabaster in our church. Normally in the month of
- 1:45February and September, we as a global church raise funds for
- 1:51Alabaster in every local church. Many have containers, small
- 1:57churches, jars where they gather their funds to help support
- 2:02Alabaster. And this is because of a story
- 2:06that comes from Matthew 26613. Let me read it to you.
- 2:12It says While Jesus was in Bethany, in the home of Simon
- 2:17the leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very
- 2:22expensive perfume, which she poured on his head, and he was
- 2:26reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this,
- 2:30they were indignant. Why this waste, They asked.
- 2:34This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the
- 2:38money given to the poor. Aware of this, Jesus said to
- 2:42them, why are you bothering this woman?
- 2:44She has done a beautiful thing for me.
- 2:47The poor you will always have with you, but you would will not
- 2:51always have me. When she poured this perfume on
- 2:55my body, she did it to prepare me for burial.
- 2:58Truly, I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout
- 3:03the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of
- 3:08her. This is a wonderful example of
- 3:11sacrificial giving. She gave what was most precious
- 3:15to her because of Jesus. And we can be part of what God
- 3:20is doing in the world as we give our Alabaster offering.
- 3:25So Alabaster provides funds for property and buildings around
- 3:29the world. While we understand the church
- 3:32consists of people of God and not a building, buildings
- 3:36erected for the purpose of ministry help provide a sense of
- 3:40permanence, functionally enhance ministry efforts, and convey an
- 3:45attitude that the Church of the Nazarene intends to put down
- 3:49roots. These Alabaster funds are used
- 3:52to purchase a property or church building, purchase or build a
- 3:57church personage, build a church building, conversion of a
- 4:03property into a church gathering space, meet initial cost for
- 4:08renting a church meeting space for a limited period.
- 4:11Alabaster funds are also used to purchase homes for missionaries
- 4:18or build a home, also to build or purchase regional or field
- 4:23facilities, and also to build or repurpose buildings on Bible
- 4:30College campuses. So we are helping create spaces
- 4:35where people can heal, learn and gather together to worship God.
- 4:42It's exciting how we can read the story in the Bible and
- 4:45remember what this woman did and also be part of giving our
- 4:51Alabaster offering. We know that everything that we
- 4:54have belongs to Him, and we can be a part of expanding the
- 4:59Kingdom of God and creating more spaces where people can gather
- 5:04together. In 2024, I was serving at the
- 5:09Nazarene School in Jordan, and I got to witness how alabaster
- 5:15funds were used to create a Chapel for the school.
- 5:20For many years, we were praying to have a space where we could
- 5:24give the chapels because we were gathering in the computer lab
- 5:28and we always had to make sure that there weren't classes in
- 5:31there as we were scheduling this time to have Chapel.
- 5:35But we had a space that what was not in use because of safety
- 5:41reasons and it had a small balcony and we Alabaster funds,
- 5:44we were able to close the balcony and create a space for
- 5:49chapels. Thank you again for giving
- 5:51towards Alabaster. Now students at the Nazarene
- 5:55School in Jordan can gather in a space to worship and learn about
- 6:01God. Thank you for your giving.
- 6:05So this is another wonderful way that we can be part of what the
- 6:09Nazarene Church is doing all around the world.
- 6:13So if your church doesn't have an alabaster box, I encourage
- 6:17you to create 1. You can make a project and
- 6:20Sunday school with the children and then they can help you
- 6:23create a fun alabaster box that you can have it at your church
- 6:28and all the members will know and can know that they can also
- 6:32be part of giving towards alabaster.
- 6:35Just like how this woman gave this perfume that was very
- 6:38valuable and expensive, we can give money towards building the
- 6:42Kingdom of God. Thank you for listening to me
- 6:46this week, and May God continue to bless your life and
- 6:50everything you do for His Kingdom.
- 6:53Let us pray together. God, we want to give you thanks
- 6:57for allowing us again to be part of what you're doing in this
- 7:01world. Thank you for all the churches
- 7:04that are being built, for all the people that are giving
- 7:07sacrificially to make your Kingdom known.
- 7:11We give you thanks for our leaders that are being wise in
- 7:16ways that they are creating more places where people can
- 7:20encounter you. Thank you God for allowing us to
- 7:25be part and continue to work in our lives that we can continue
- 7:30to reflect your love and hope to a world that needs you.
- 7:34In your name we pray. Amen.
- 7:37Thank you for listening to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
- 7:41Inspiring Fate for everyday. For more Everyday Stories,
- 7:45subscribe on this podcast channel, follow our socials,
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- 7:51For our newsletter and further information about the Eurasia
- 7:55region, visit our website, eurasiaregion.org.