Markham Chinese Mennonite holds 20th anniversary service jointly with Hagerman Mennonite

Pastor Paul Mo, second from right, joins Markham Chinese Mennonite Church youths Clement Mo, left, Daniel Li and Fiona Mo as they share memories and pictures of growing up in the church during 20th anniversary celebrations on Sept. 12.
*Photo by Raymond Chan*

Jenny, a Grade 7 student who attended the 20th anniversary celebration of Markham Chinese Mennonite Church on Sept. 12, wrote a story about how the congregation profoundly touched her and her family through its love and encouragement when they came to Canada as immigrants. She came to believe that God is real when she saw how God was caring for them through the people in the church.

She recounted how they helped her mother find a job, gave her tutoring so she could keep up at school, and how pastor Paul Mo comforted her parents when her brother was very sick. Jenny said she is so “thankful to God to be able to grow up in this family: Markham Chinese Mennonite Church.”

Mo was called from within the congregation to serve as pastor five years ago when former pastor Winfred Soong retired. Mo said he has felt a special calling to serve the “grassroots people” coming from China or developing countries, as was the case with Jenny’s family. Most speak Mandarin or “non-proper” Cantonese. “Thank God,” Mo said, “he has empowered me to serve them with great love. I work with them to face the toughness in their daily lives.”

In 1990, Soong, then with Toronto Chinese Mennonite Church, asked for space at Hagerman Mennonite Church in Markham, to do outreach to the many new Chinese-speaking immigrants in that community. The Hagerman congregation had felt unsure about how to respond to all the changes in the area, as the language and cultural barriers made it difficult to reach out to its new neighbours. Hagerman Mennonite members voted unanimously to share space with the new ministry, and Markham Chinese Mennonite was formally recognized as an emerging congregation within Mennonite Church Eastern Canada in 1993.

The anniversary celebration was a joint one, with Markham Chinese and Hagerman worshipping together. The partnership between the two churches has been close. The Sunday school program for children and youths is done together. The two congregations hold worship services at the same time in different parts of the building, one in Chinese, the other in English. As children from Markham Chinese reach their teens, some have chosen to attend the English worship service offered by Hagerman.

Fiona Mo, a Grade 12 student, shared in the service about what the close partnership between the two churches has meant to her: “One of the things that is so unique about both Hagerman Mennonite Church and Markham Chinese Mennonite Church is that not only are these two churches worshipping under one roof, but we are a family… I strongly believe that this unified body is an example as well as a witness to other Mennonite churches and the rest of the world that, yes, two very different groups and cultures of people can actually come together as one and worship and praise God! This truly is the miracle of God, and these two churches embody what Jesus talks about: Peace among all people, no matter how different they are.” Λ