Piggy Bankrupt

What is true poverty? Robert Granger thought he knew until he encountered true generousity.

I am typing this while travelling from Can Tho, in the heart of the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, to Ho Chi Minh City. Even with music playing from my laptop's CD player and cool air blowing from the minivan's air conditioner, I am still uncomfortable. ao dai Fortunate is blessed

While travelling on the same road toward Can Tho five days previously, I watched a few segments of a DVD written and produced by Alain de Botton entitled Status Anxiety . It's an incredibly challenging documentary revealing the lengths to which we go in order to be noticed and respected by our peers. De Botton concludes the series by saying, "Whatever our status, we are all fated to end up as that most democratic of substance— dust... . If there is something strangely calming in the idea that we are all going to die, it's perhaps that there is something in us that instinctively recognizes how many of our worries are bound up with things that are, in the wider scheme, pretty petty concerns.”

My views from inside the minivan are starting to blend with the wisdom of de Botton and the memories of my experiences in this amazing country. Moulded by a heritage of relative prosperity and influenced by a biblical and Adventist philosophy of stewardship, my conscience is in overdrive.

One year after that visit, their new church building is now completed. Following their worship service on this particular week, the members literally smashed some clay piggybanks onto an outstretched canvas. I asked for more details about this interesting ceremony.