Practicing my religion in Okinawa.

I was running some errands today and found myself looking at an ad for a local church thinking that it might be something to blog/VLOG about. Now I will say in advance that this post (and future video) is not for everyone and it is going to be more informative than entertaining so I am sorry for those readers who are looking for an entertaining read. My goal, however, is to inform those of you wanting to know about practicing your religion in Okinawa what some of your options may be. That being said I have not personally visited these establishments nor have I researched their practices or what they stand for. All information is purely informative. Please use your discretion and as always feel free to leave comments or suggestions to fellow readers regarding these establishments if you have any personal experience with any of them. 

Oh, there's one more thing. You will not see me comment on any of the local religions here in Okinawa. There are two reasons for this 1) this post is mostly for those coming here from the US and 2) I didn't take too much time to research these areas of worship. If I get enough requests I would be happy to fulfill them but until them this information is what I have to offer. Thanks for your understanding.

If you are looking for Christian churches off base then you have quite a few to choose from. Below I have included the names of the ones that I was able to easily find and attached the links as well. Unfortunately if I have not added the link I was unable to get it to load and I apologize for that.

United Christian Center 

Koza Baptist Church 

Zion Christian Fellowship and Academy

All Souls Anglican Episcopal Church

Kingdom Outreach Ministries International 

Calvary Chapel Ginowan

Calvary Chapel Okinawa 

Okinawa Covenant Church

Neighborhood Church

Marantha Baptist Church

If you are a LDS Church Member/Mormon then there are also off base establishments where you can practice your religion. Unfortunately I honestly do not know where they are or the names, however, I have been approached by people of the Mormon faith many times and been passed publications so I know that these churches are out there I honestly just do not know by what name. Please note: If I find myself finding the information about these establishments I will make another post and be sure to include that information. 

For those of you who practice Wicca or other Pagan religions it is difficult to explain and even understand. Let me explain. There doesn't seem to be any well advertised places of worship, however, when researching Wicca for example there were others out there also looking for people with similar interests to practice with. So do I know that there are people out there wanting to be part of a group, haven't been able to find any. I apologize for that.

If you are coming to Okinawa and want to worship on base you have a lot of options. On Kadena Air Base  there are various religions that you can practice on base. For example they offer Buddhist Services, Eastern Ortodox Services, Islamic Sercices, Jewish Services, LDS Services, and Wiccan/Pagan. There are times and locations listed on the website and in various base wide publications. You can also choose to worship on one of the many Marine Corps Base Chapels. Here you can find Catholic, Protestant, Gospel, Eastern Orthodox, Christian Science, Seventh Day Advent, Jewish, LDS, Muslim, Lutheran, Non-Denominational, Protestant, Gospel, Pentecostal Gospel, and Protestant Contemporary Services. These services are spread out throughout the island and you may have to go to a particular location if you are looking for a particular service. For example Non-Denominational service is only held on Camp Lester where Pentecostal Gospel services are only held on Camp Kinser.

The last thing that I can talk about is worship shops. I know back in my home town there were various shops that accommodated various religions. I distinctly know some shops where you would go for tokens of Christian saints and such where there were others that you could buy more mystical items like healing stones and runes. Unfortunately I have not seen any shops where one could purchase Christian tokens of any kind. I have however seen some shops which have things such as healing stones. Keep in mind that chakra stones are a thing here so although you won't find what I would call the equivalent to a pagan shop the stones are as far as I have ever seen. Finally there are shops that have things like buddhist and shinto tokens and statues of course as that is the religion that many practice here.

So that's basically all the information that I have regarding practicing religion here on Okinawa. I realize that this might not be the MOST informative post that you have ever seen but I hope that you can at least take what I have provided here and run with it. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I can not guarantee that I have have an answer but maybe another reader might be able to assist you or with your permission I can open the question up on other forms of media and see what answers I can get for you. Thanks for reading!