Praising God in our neighbourhood

‘One big block party celebrating Jesus’

September 28, 2022 | News | Volume 26 Issue 20
Kevin Barkowsky | Special to Canadian Mennonite
Vancouver
Ericka Hoajaca and Ruth Ramirez examine their autograph from the Vancouver Canucks mascot, Fin, while enjoying worship music from the Punjabi Masihi Church. Hoajaca is Pastor Jorge’s wife and is a member of Sherbrooke and First United Spanish Mennonite Church. Ramirez attends Sherbrooke Mennonite. (Photo by Walter Toews)

Three Mennonite Church B.C. congregations joined together for the annual Neighbourhood Fall Festival on Sept. 11.

First United Spanish Mennonite, Vancouver Vietnamese Mennonite and Sherbrooke (English & Korean) churches invited the Punjabi and Tamil churches that rent Sherbrooke, and together they had one big block party celebrating Jesus.

All five churches provided 25 minutes of Jesus-worship in their own language, and all six cultures gave out free finger food to the people who attended.

Twenty-four-hundred flyers were mailed out around the neighbourhood, and around 250 to 300 people attended from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sherbrooke Thursday Morning Food Bank volunteers and recipients were also invited. The festival included visits from the local fire rescue unit and Fin, the Canucks mascot, plus bouncy castles and Kingcrest International Neighbours.

It was the Tamil church’s first year joining the festival, and it added a joyful spirit of worship and celebration of Jesus.

Said one of the church leaders: “It is up to us as leaders to inspire our churches to seek God’s direction in finding creative ways of reaching out. We must take Jesus’ message of indefatigable love seriously, and never relent in finding new songs to sing, new ways to reach out, and new forms to communicate the message of Christ in and around our neighbourhood.” 

Ericka Hoajaca and Ruth Ramirez examine their autograph from the Vancouver Canucks mascot, Fin, while enjoying worship music from the Punjabi Masihi Church. Hoajaca is Pastor Jorge’s wife and is a member of Sherbrooke and First United Spanish Mennonite Church. Ramirez attends Sherbrooke Mennonite. (Photo by Walter Toews)

Erwin Heinrichs and Sandra Teran worship the Lord with dancing while enjoying worship music from First United Spanish Mennonite Church. Heinrichs is a member at Sherbrooke, while Teran is a volunteer at Sherbrooke’s Thursday MCC Refugee Food Bank. (Photo by Walter Toews)

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