A pie of faith

A few Sundays ago, I went to get some chinese food at our favorite chinese restaurant in our city, the restaurant belongs to a family that came from a town near Hong Kong; in several opportunities I shared the gospel with the owner, and although I have never invited them to church, their objection was "we don't have time to go to church". We are pretty faithful customers there and I have always been amazed at their spirituality. The first thing that one could notice when walking into "Do Tan" is the chinese god Guan-Yu, "the Saintly Emperor Guan the Great God Who Subdues Demons of the Three Worlds and Whose Awe Spreads Far and Moves Heaven". Well, just in case Mr Yu does not know much about finances and good luck in Brazil, Tan placed next to Guan Yu the a sculpture of the welcoming, money maker,fortune maker, lucky giver Japanese cat Maneki Neko (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maneki_Neko). Next to Maneki Neko, there is another small altar with the statute of the Patroness of Brazil, Our Lady of Aparecida (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Aparecida), maybe just in case Guan Yu and the lucky welcoming cat don't have enough tricks or powers to help Tan and his family, Tan has "devoted" a small part of his faith to the statue of the local goddess. Tan has two little girls, both are pretty faithful participants at a local Methodist church. When I wainent to the cashier to pay for my take out, I also noticed two more things, one 2010 calendar of the local Korean presbyterian church and another calendar with cute positive messages from a very popular Buddhist cult in Brazil named Seicho-no-Ie ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seicho-no-Ie).
So, what is going on with Tan? is he confused? he does not know what to believe? maybe he does not have enough faith... it seems like he divides his faith in several pieces and gives his share to whom ever he thinks deserves his trust. Well, even thou Tan is Chinese, he is a good example of what is going on ALWAYS among the people that we work with. Sets of values and believes systems are not be believed, but rather to be use when necessary.