While the global economic crisis has forced many to tighten their belts, one elderly worshipper in Sweden left over 9,000 euros in cash at her local church collection, an official said last week.
The unidentified woman, believed to be in her seventies, made the gift after pastors appealed for donations for international aid projects, Krister Klint, a verger at the Caroli Church in the southwestern Swedish town of Boraas, told AFP.
“When the service was over, she came forward and said in broken Swedish that she wanted to make a donation. She had a homemade brown envelope in her hand. So she handed it over to church wardens, and they took it into the back room with the rest of the collection,” Krister said.
PHOTO: AFP
“They opened the envelope and were shocked to find a note on which was written ‘100,000 kronor’ (9,200 euros, US$12,200). There was a wad of money with 1,000- and 500-kronor bills,” he added.
Klint told AFP the church usually collects around 70,000 to 80,000 kronor each year, but had no idea as to the identity or the whereabouts of the mystery donor.
“I’ve never seen her before. I’m not sure she will like all this attention, seeing as she made an anonymous donation. But surely it can’t be wrong to express your joy over such a generous act?” he said.
All of the collections made by the Caroli Church will go towards aid projects in developing countries.(AFP)
一名教會人員上週表示,這波全球金融危機迫使�?H勒緊褲帶生活,但瑞典一位去做禮拜的老婦人卻捐了九千歐元現金,響應當地教會的募捐活動。
瑞典西南部包瑞斯鎮上的卡洛里教會主事牧師克里斯特.科林特向法新社表示,在牧師們籲請大家捐款給國際救援計畫後,這位身份不詳、年約七十幾歲的婦人便捐出這筆善款。
克里斯特說:「禮拜結束後,她上前用不流利的瑞典話說她要捐款。她手上拿著一個自製的褐色信封。於是她將信封交給教會執事,他們連同其餘捐款一起拿到後堂。」
他補充說:「他們打開信封,看到一張寫著十萬克朗(約合九千兩百歐元,一萬兩千兩百美元)的紙條時大吃一驚。裡面有一大疊一千和五百克朗的鈔票。」
科林特對法新社說,該教會每年通常會收到約七、八萬克朗的捐款,但他們對這名神秘捐贈者的身份或行蹤一無所知。
他說:「我以前從未見過她。因為她是匿名捐款,所以我不確定她是否樂見這麼多關注。但收到這麼一大筆慷慨的捐款,高興想必是正常的吧?」
卡洛里教會所募得的所有款項將用於開發中國家的援助計畫。
(法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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