Even though one of the three is probably a contributing factor (pssst the third one!), thinking over the history of our church and the different experiences the Mando and Canto kids have in MCCC, I believe I have uncovered the secret behind this violent cultural divide.
Listen my children and you shall see
The divide between the Mandos and Cantonese.
At the old church building while we prayed,
A foundation of hatred was being laid
Between the Mandos and Cantos in this church, Chinese.
The divide between the Mandos and Cantonese.
At the old church building while we prayed,
A foundation of hatred was being laid
Between the Mandos and Cantos in this church, Chinese.
For all of you that remember how things went at the old church, the English congregation met in the morning and the Chinese congregation met in the afternoon (if I remember correctly, it was 11 AM and 1:30 PM, respectively). The children of the Cantonese met at the same time as the English congregation, so the Cantonese and Mandarin kids really didn't know each other at all. We would meet in random times for big events like VBS and the Christmas service, but in general the Cantonese kids would meet with the Mandarin kids very little.
The Cantonese congregation had an especially strong identity and a closer bond to one another because of its small size, and this intimacy was also reflected in the kids. The Cantonese kids were extremely close to each other, as their parents were close friends and the Cantonese congregation had their own fellowships, their own services, and their own retreats.
The integration between the Cantonese and Mandarin kids started in youth group at around 6th and 7th grade. However, the closeness of the Cantonese kids was still very apparent, which caused everyone else to specifically refer to them as part of the Cantonese group. It was very clear who was Mandarin and who was Cantonese, not because of appearances or speech or anything else, but it was just the people they hung out with. As we grew older and became closer and closer with each other, this division shrank, making it somewhat more of a joke than a source of tension.
The Mando/Canto divide is dissolving, as now the Canto and Mando kids grow up together, as they go through Sunday School together, seeing each other every week.
The war is over.
I agree with many of what you have said Caleb. But you are missing one important key issue that can not be looked past. As you can recall, back in the days, the reason for the great divide between the Mando and Canto is not only because of the service times but also the lack of mingling during our intense soccer wall game bonding time. This time of wall to wall soccer was truly the deciding factor on group bonding and all I remember was the group of Cantos on the top of the hill watching over the fence as we sweated and competed intensely in the game of soccer.
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