You will always have the poor among you

I'm not sure I can fully understand what Jesus says here. It appears in context of the woman who annoints him with the expensive bottle of perfume, and the disciples were commenting on it being a waste of money. But what I am increasingly beginning to grasp is Jesus' call to his followers and also his example of caring for the poor. In fact, al the way back in Deuteronomy there was instructions on caring for the poor. The poor have always had a special place in God's heart.

It seems the world's rich boys'club have made a decision on debt relief (click here for the BBC report). I think that is a great start, but I think it is the responsibility of the richer nations to help the poorer nations of the world. OK. That sounds like an ideal situation. But it is simply an extrapolation of the responsibilities of the rich towards the poor.

In saying that, I hoping these nations wouldn't feel too smug about themselves and pat themselves on the back too much. Its about time they did something about debt relief. But a much bigger issue hangs in the balance. Trade. Giving money (or dropping debt for that matter) do help. But if rich countries don't work towards fair trade, then the poor nations are back in square one. They are not able to make a living for themselves. They are already on the backfoot - technology, systems in place etc. But if the US or EU don't cut subsidies to their own producers, then poorer countries like Africa will be dumped with cheap food surpluses. Food that the rich don't need, but sold at prices cheaper than the African farmers can produce. Let's see what the rich boys put on the table after this debt relief offer.