Interesting Okinawan Culture

I had the opportunity to experience some interesting Okinawan Culture the other day. Let me explain. When someone builds a house, first of all, they will invite an Okinawan Priest to come and bless the land. During this ceremony, the owners of the land are required to host a party for all of the workers and supervisors of the building process. It can be quite expensive with lots of Sashimi (raw fish), Sushi, and drinks. Well, once the building process begins, the wife of the owner is expected to bring tea on fridays at the end of the day for the workers. Half way through the building project the owners are expected to host another pary for friends, family, and workers. Again, there is Sashimi (raw fish), Sushi, plenty of beer (Orion) and Sake. Everyone eats, drinks, talks and laughs. I was invited, along with my family to this event. We arrived home in the evening, and our neighbors invited us to come. To turn them down could have been extremely rude, so we went. It was interesting, we sat outside on tarps, they came and gave us a large plate of Sashimi (we just came back from dinner so we were not hungry). It was funny because the men kept trying to give me beer and sake. I do not know how many times I had to graciously turn them down, and tell them that I do not drink. (The temptation for Cisco would have been to great). We did have a good time. We were sitting outside, the night was beautiful, the weather was hot, but comfortable. The Okinawan men were not drunk, but close to it, and they spent much time, talking to me and telling me stories. (one of their sisters knew a little english and she translated). I was thinking to myself "Jesus would have been here, sharing His love with them" He was known for doing things like this (Mark 2:16-17). We stayed for awhile and then, we had to get back home. It is also customary for the owners to host one more party like this, at the completion of the home. Wow! To build a home in Okinawa cost around 300,000 dollars, I don't know how much of that cost is just hosting the parties. All in all, it was a great experience for our family. God bless you, Pastor Tommy