It is alway nice to be able to try new things. This week my family visited a corn maze. A couple of the kids had been before but we hadn’t ever gone all together. I’m very thankful that even though 2 of my kids are adults, they all still have fun playing together on our family adventures.

 As someone who is directionally challenged and uses Google Maps to get anywhere, I’m very proud that I actually made it out of the maze. You should also know that my wife’s favourite part was jumping out of the corn and scaring her children (good times!). 

Asah and a Damascus Road Encounter:

I was feeling very uninspired as I was preparing for October’s Asah: Creativity & Prayer Studio. I had used up all my new ideas in September, so I figured it was ok to use some past ideas this month. I picked two activities that wouldn’t usually go together but decided it was fine and didn’t really want to put too much more thought into it. 

Our first activity was called Four Images of God. A spiritual director introduced it to me at a retreat a number of years ago. You are asked to draw four images of how you perceived God in different times in your life. Here are the prompts I used:

1. Draw your earliest image of God.
2. Draw your image of God at your conversion, baptism, or confirmation (the time in your life where you felt like you made your faith your own).
3. Draw your current image of God.
4. Draw the image of God that God is inviting you into next.

The above photo is what I drew. The idea behind drawing instead of writing out your thoughts, is that drawing uses a different part of our brain (even if it is just stick figures). Through drawing we can sometimes access different memories or ideas that we have forgotten.

There was a new woman who joined us but she jumped right into the exercise. Afterwards the group was talking about the experience. Sharing is never mandatory but this new person was extra quiet during the discussion. After everyone else had shared about their drawings there was a long pause. I was about to move us on to our next activity when the new person said, “This has really helped me make sense of my story. I wasn’t planning on talking about this but I am a very new Christian. I actually had a Damascus road experience”

Without getting into the details of this person’s private story, she told us about some very dark things that were part of her life. Just as she was about to hit a dangerous point of no return, she had a very miraculous encounter. Just like Paul on the road to Damascus, God literally spoke into this woman’s life and pointed her towards Jesus. 

The whole time she was telling us her testimony, it struck me how all 4 of her drawings were from a very small, recent slice of time. I didn’t want to say anything but I kept having this thought that there must be an earlier image of God in her life, Something she doesn’t remember or didn’t have the awareness at the time to recognise as a God moment. 

This nagging thought wouldn’t let go, so just before she left I said,

“Thank you so much for sharing your story. It was a real privilege that you trusted us with that. It really struck me that all your drawings, even your first image of God, were so recent. I think as you mature, that God will continue to show you earlier and earlier times in your life when God was speaking to you and helping you in your life.”

Her posture relaxed and she exclaimed, “Thank you so much for saying that! I have been so angry with God! Why did He wait so long to speak to me? Why did He let me get so far into danger? Hearing you say that really helps.”

It struck me how amazing Jesus is. He can use a day where I was feeling guilty and apologetic for not having any flashy new ideas to bring some healing into a person’s soul. 

• Pray for my new friend. Pray that she would mature in her faith and continue to discover Jesus in her life (both in the past and present). Pray that she would learn that God is ok with all her feelings (her thankfulness and her anger). 
• Pray for me as I lead these creative prayer evenings. Pray that I would be open to the Holy Spirit’s leading. 
• Pray that I would hold people’s stories well. Pray that I would be a good listening ear.
• Continue to pray for my Asah co-leader Megan’s recovery from a concussion. She is slowly adding work back into her life. Pray for wisdom for her to know what she can handle and what to hold off on. 

Common Prayer for Ordinary Radicals:
In Person & on Zoom – Tuesdays at Noon.

I’m always excited to let you know about an opportunity that you can take advantage of no matter where you live. Every Tuesday at Noon I’m part of GOHOP’s hybrid Common Prayer hour that is in person and on zoom. I’m the one managing the Zoom side of things, so if you show up online, you will definitely see me. There is a real justice emphasis to these meetings as we are pray into issues of homelessness, poverty, at risk youth, newcomers and refugees. Find out all the details here: gohop.ca/commonprayer

• We have been inviting people from charities and social services to join us in these justice focused prayer times.We have had a good response. Pray for these front line workers who see a lot of hard things every day. Pray that our ministry at GOHOP would be a good part of their self care. 

First Things Class 

If you were wanting to dig in a little deeper to all things GOHOP, we have a new class called First Things starting on Monday, November 10th. For six weeks people will get to learn about the six core values of 24-7 Prayer & GOHOP:

1. Prayer
2. Justice
3. Hospitality
4. Learning
5. Mission
6. Creativity

Each theme will have a guest practitioner to share about their experience with the theme (I’m on for the creativity week). Participants will also get a tool kit to help them try on some spiritual practices that build on these core values. If you live in the Hamilton area, this is a very practical way to deepen your prayer life. You can find out more info here: https://www.gohop.ca/firstthings  (I have been told that we have room to add someone last minute so ignore the deadline date).

Fundraising Update:

I am thankful that a couple extra surprise donations came in last month. I’m continuing to work at inviting more people to become monthly supporters. I find this to be the part of my job that feels most daunting. Pray that I would be diligent about fundraising and meeting with people to invite them to join my support team.
If you would like to make a donation or sign up for a monthly giving plan, you can do that by any of the following ways:

Donate Online with CanadaHelps:
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/53164

Donate by E-transfer:
Send your e-transfer to donate@gohop.ca
You must write “Donation for Randell Neudorf” 
in the message section. 

Donate by Cheque:
https://randellneudorf.com/gohop/donate/

Looking for Kindness Show Trailer:

Consider bringing my Looking for Kindness Amidst Anxiety Show to a venue, living room, or church near you. Here is a trailer to give you a little bit of an idea of what this performance is like: https://youtu.be/cjhIXl-G898?si=_OR_lZltUzXYM08E

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. I am so thankful to have you in my corner.

Grace & Peace,

Randell (Randy) Neudorf