Christmas Celebration at the Preston Mennonite Church in Kitchener - Waterloo

Quilts Decorate the Basement of the Church

We have been going to Kitchener and Waterloo monthly for the past seven years serving some of the residents in that area. We have made numerous friends in that city and this year we were honoured to have been invited to celebrate Christmas with two different congregations. This was our first time attending a Mennonite Christmas dinner.

Since we knew that we were driving to Waterloo on that Saturday for dinner, I paid special attention to the weather forecast a few days ago learning about the weather and be prepared for the driving condition.

Good thing we did that as there was a warning of a big snow storm.  We drove ahead of the storm to Waterloo avoiding the big headache of being stuck in the traffic.

The Christmas dinner was held at the Preston Mennonite Church  in Cambridge which was nicely decorated with many beautiful quilts made by members of the congregation.

\Christmas tree decorated with knitted mittens by members

I love the fact that the church was warmly decorated with all the crafty items such as this Christmas tree hung with mittens knitted and donated to some needy families in the community.

A Centre Piece at the Christmas Dinner

Instead of pots of poinsettias, the centre pieces on the dinner tables were miniature Christmas trees which could easily be planted in the spring in the garden!

the dinner brought the two congregations together

The  Preston Mennonite church extended their hospitality and invited the congregation of a newly formed Chinese church that borrows a room in their church building for their weekly worship.

I thought that was a very kind and welcoming gesture indeed!

The seating arrangement was done in such a way that members of both congregations were mixed so that there were ample opportunities for dinner guests to get to know one another.

We sat opposite a Mennonite couple and others from other parts of the world.

A delicious homemade turkey dinner with all the trimmings

Waterloo, Ontario has a sizable German/ Dutch Mennonite settlement. In fact the annual Oktoberfest in Waterloo attracts many tourists to the city each year.

After dinner musical performance

Many Canadian Mennonites are engaged in the farming industry and operate very successful agricultural business. They even have their own banks.

Very often when we visit Waterloo, we see horse buddies running on the highway and learn that Mennonites lead a very conservative way of life but we rarely have the opportunity to get to know them.

Story Reading

This time, we were not just treated to a delicious homemade turkey dinner but were also given the opportunity to converse and get to know the Canadian Mennonites on a more personal level.

After dinner, there was musical entertainment, story reading as well as a Canadian rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas which got everyone involved in the singing and performing the appropriate actions.

A house all lit up to celebrate Christmas in Waterloo

My husband and I had the privilege of sharing the love and grace of Christ with other people and having fun together and getting to know and understand other cultures. What a great way to celebrate the birth of Jesus and experience the best gift from God!!!

R.T.
Kitchener- Waterloo
December, 2013