Biblical Integration

As many of you know, I teach at a Christian school here in Cambodia.  We have a block of time set aside every day to teach Bible, and the kids love this time. But more than that, we try to weave Godly principles into everything we do throughout the day.  This may be helping them with the little troubles that come up between friends at snack time.  It could be talking about Creation while they learn about the solar system...

I thought I would share some humorous thoughts with you along this theme of Biblical integration.  

I came across this verse some time ago, and it really made me laugh out loud when I took it out of context and applied it to our daily lives here in Cambodia.

1 Corinthians 10:25 says, "Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake."

Why is this so funny you ask?  Well, if you live in Cambodia (or another country like it), the meat markets are very different here from what you might experience in your Western stores.  There is no refrigeration, no cellophane wrapped packages, no dates, no barriers of any kind against the natural elements, except the occasional wave of a hand to keep the flies away.  Slabs of animal flesh are laid out on wooden platforms.  The seller has a little butcher's block that usually looks like part of a tree stump.  Depending on the market, there could be puddles of diluted blood to step around. 

I would love to put that verse up in our kitchen here. It would be a great conversation piece when guests come over for dinner parties.

Here are a few other sellers in our local market, named Psaar de Huy (meaning dusty market).

There's a nice auntie selling steamed buns.

This is our veggie lady.  She's a great gal; friendly, speaks English and will direct you to another stall if she doesn't have what you need.  Once you form a relationship with a seller, you don't have to negotiate the price any more, she'll just give you the going price and you pay it.

You may be surprised, but our local market even has a lingerie department.  You can buy bras, panties and pajama sets.  I thought this might be a little risqué for the blog, so no pictures included here.

There are folks selling these sun-roasted cockles everywhere here.  I've never tried them.  I don't imagine they're easy on the digestive tract.

There are some things that I will miss as I leave Cambodia this year; the uncle who sells me sugarcane juice and the young lady at the veggie market.  I don't think I'll miss the meat stalls, but they sure add character to an already interesting place.