Hudson appointed first female district superintendent in Europe

Tigmandru, Romania - Tamara Hudson became the first female district superintendent in Europe on November 19 when she was appointed superintendent of Romania at the Romania District Assembly in Tigmandru.

Europe is part of the Eurasia Region, which also includes India and a portion of central Asia. There are now three female district superintendents on the region as a whole.

Jay Sunberg, strategy coordinator for the newly consolidated Central Europe Field, officiated at the assembly.

The Central Europe Field includes Hungary, Poland, and Scandinavia, along with the current districts in Southeastern Europe, Albania, Kosovo, Croatia, and Romania.

Sunberg served as Romania D.S. for the past three years.

Prior to this new role, Hudson was offering her experience and gifts to theological education, mentoring the district’s youth council, and assisting with literature development.

She previously co-pastored the Nazarene church in Brampton, Ontario, Canada (2007 - 2009), with her husband, Michael; before that, they served as missionaries in Albania for nine years (1996 - 2005) and Romania for two years (2005 - 2007).They returned to Romania in 2009.

Tamara Hudson was called to preach at age 16. She was ordained on the Canada Central District in 2006 and graduated from Brock University. She and Michael have three children, Julia, Elena, and Emily.

"This year I feel like we need to really focus on the basics of what it means to be a healthy church – our mission is to make Christlike disciples," Hudson told Eurasia Region Communications of her vision for the Romania District. "Our role here in Romania is to tell others about Jesus and to help them grow in their relationship with Him. And so that carries over into everything that we do in our local churches, any of the district things that we do – it’s all with this focus of telling others about the Lord and then helping people to grow as disciples in Him."

Note: The full Eurasia Region Communications interview with Hudson will appear in an upcoming NCN News series focusing on women in leadership.

From NCN News, Thursday, December 15, 2011

Giving Tradition: Churches in Germany give to special projects

The Helping Hands Christmas project ministers to Nazarenes and
their communities in Romania. This year the Germany District
assembled 650 boxes of household items and 583 Christmas
boxes filled with food and treats for families. Photo courtesy Roberta Bustin.

By Gina Pottenger
Eurasia Region Communications
Where Worlds Meet, December 2011

Gelnhausen, Germany -- Several Nazarenes were chatting at prayer meeting on a Wednesday night in Romania. One man complimented the other’s sweater.

“Oh, this is from Gelnhausen.” “This is from Gelnhausen, too,” piped in another, proudly fingering a shirt.

“Well, I like this Gelnhausen fashion,” the first man joked.

The clothes they referred to came from the used clothes, linens and shoes collected each year by churches throughout the Germany District for the Helping Hands Christmas project to minister to Nazarenes and their communities in Romania.

The 650 banana boxes of household items collected this year is being shipped this week from the collection point in Gelnhausen to the Nazarene church in Bucharest, Romania, for unloading and distribution. The district also assembled 583 Christmas boxes, each filled with food and treats, including tea, coffee, pasta and rice, toiletries, chocolate and sweets. Several boxes of school
supplies were also included.

The delivery truck will arrive in Bucharest on 12 December.

The German churches increase the number of packages they give by involving their communities. For instance, the Gelnhausen church advertised the project in the local newspaper, and the Büsingen church invited attendees at its weekly English class to contribute.

“We actually got about 50 boxes that way this year,” said Dorli Gschwandtner, who is responsible for project management and public relations for Helping Hands. “Last year it was only six, so we’re quite excited about this development.”

The Bucharest church plans to divide up the care packages
among the Nazarene churches in Sighisoara, Tigmandru
and Viscri. Photo courtesy Boseff family, 2010.

The Bucharest church plans to divide up the packages among the Nazarene churches in Sighişoara, Ţigmandru and Viscri, said Rev. Tamara Hudson, district superintendent. The church members share them with people in their communities who inhabit difficult living conditions with little to no income, such as children in the child sponsorship program, elderly people in Saint Luke Hospital in Bucharest and the Elderly Club in Sighişoara. The packages are also distributed through the Veritas Family Centre, an NCM center in Sighişoara.

Those attending the Bucharest church’s Wednesday night prayer meeting have been praying for weeks over the shipment, and asking God to use them to touch others with the gifts.

“What a blessing this is to the people of Romania!” Hudson said. “Not only are people blessed materially, but the believers here have the opportunity to serve and share in ways that would not be possible without the help of the German brothers and sisters.”

This year some boxes will also go to the Nazarene church in Bulgaria for distribution in the Vidrare area, she added.

The people leading this project are Elke Tengler, office manager of Helping Hands, Germany, and Monica Boseff, local NCM coordinator in Bucharest.