Never having worked for a Sinim company, I was shocked by the pressure my friend (a CEO) put on his employees to drink at his company’s end-of-year party. Even though none of his employees were big drinkers, they could not refuse. When they didn’t continue downing shots (as he was doing while sitting next to several business contacts), my friend would say: “Oh boy, you guys stink at business, don’t you?”

For the Sinim, drinking alcohol is not perceived as leisure, but as a ritual of trust and belonging in business and social circles. Someone even told me that drinking alcohol heavily on a weeknight and still making it to work the next morning despite being hungover is a sign of . . . business savvy! Their logic escapes me.

Winter marks the end of the lunar calendar and the time for throwing parties, and I was invited to celebrations on three consecutive nights. Usually, a lot of cheap homemade liquor is consumed, especially by the menfolk. At our apartment floor’s party, my neighbors poured me a shot of liquor and gave a disapproving look when I refused. I have come to realize that, for the Sinim, refusing a drink is interpreted as refusing connection, sincerity and group identity rather than simply refusing the drink itself, especially if the person offering the drink is your boss, a business partner, or an elder to whom you owe a debt of gratitude. Drinking is also how you introduce yourself to a new friend, how you show you belong, and how you show you are a man.

It can be discouraging to see how deeply these deceptions and toxic habits run in Sinim culture. But what a blessing to better understand the weight of the cross the Sinim bear when they accept God and live for Him amongst their social groups.

A few weeks ago, my friend Sam, a neighbor of the Rivers family (missionaries to the Sinim from 2018 to 2024), proudly told me he had quit drinking tea and coffee. “But alcohol? That one’s tough,” he said. He knows I do not drink.

Sam owns a painting business, and I ask, “Is it because you need to drink with your business contacts?”

“No, it’s because I would probably have no way to hang out with any of my friends, especially my close childhood ones,” he replied.

Please pray with us for all our Sinim brethren whom God is calling out of darkness into light.

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