Night Market

Rides, live music, games, giant stuffed animal prizes, and plenty of attractive things to buy have been added to the regular assortment of delicious snacks, fried chicken, fruit slushies, rice dishes, and ice cream on our side of town.  The special night market arrived this past week.  It could better be described as a small carnival or fair. 

Did I come to Thailand to go shopping or eat carnival food?  No.  But I did come as one who follows Christ.  As Christ lived life with his disciples, eating together, traveling together, so I live life with the students in the dorms.  The night market is part of that life.  We go there to get dinner, to meet a common need, but in the process we create memories. 

We are still laughing at the ferris wheel that went around forever and seemed like it was never going to let anyone off.    We are still laughing at K's "fried chicken" that turned out to be layers of sliced ham, breaded and fried.  These memories grow into deeper relationships, the kind of relationships where you can be honest with each other and ask the questions that really matter.

All these nights together showed their worth when K asked one of the other students about being a Christian.  God's hand in mapping out our evening was evident when an extra long dinner turned into being late for small group.  Being after dark, this required K to walk the girls to the meeting, then he joined us for the last half of our time together.  Coincidence?  Not at all.

Here are some fun pictures from the night market:

Fried bugs (grasshoppers, beetles, silk worms, etc.)

Brandon eating a fried grasshopper

 This is a slightly sweet, crisp flat bred made from rice flour.  It starts as a circle the size of my hand then as it is cooked over hot coals and tossed back and forth with three tonged flippers it grows to about 16 inches across.

  K buying "fried chicken"