Hey Team Punk Monk, I have lots of updates for you, so I’ll get right into it…

25th Wedding Anniversary!

My wife Susan and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this month. We were able to spend 5 days up on the Bruce Peninsula at a friend’s cottage. We did lots of hiking, bird watching and WE EVEN SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS!

GOHOP Transitions and our Family Gathering!

There are a couple of big changes happening at GOHOP: 

1. Andy Groen, our director (and fearless leader) will be transitioning out of that role in the fall.GOHOP’s board will be looking for a new Director. I am very thankful that Andy brought me onto GOHOP and has empowered me to use my creative gifts in teaching, creating prayer spaces and supporting pastors and leaders. 
2. GOHOP’s Prayer Room & Office will be moving. We always knew our prayer room and office space at Wentworth Baptist Church was temporary. The building is being redeveloped into affordable housing (alongside a referbished church) by Indwell. Hamilton is in desperate need of this kind of project, so this is a good news story and a real answer to our prayers. We always joke that we are professional prayer squatters at GOHOP (we have always found free or nearly free space to build prayer rooms in) and we are trusting that God will continue to provide us with a prayer room and office space in the future. These two things haven’t always been in the same location but that has been a blessing during the last few years.

We want to celebrate all the good and beautiful things God has done in our current space, so you are invited to join us for our Family Meeting celebration on Wednesday, May 29th from 7:30pm until 9:30pm in the prayer room.

Pray for GOHOP over this transitional season:

• Pray that we will find the right person to lead GOHOP, someone with a combined skill set in leadership, prayer and administration. 
• Pray that we will find a new prayer room and office space. Pray for us to discern whether we should be seeking temporary space or waiting for something more long term. 
• Pray for us as we are packing up the prayer room and office. We are closing the prayer room at the end of May so that we can have it all packed up by the end of June. We will then pack up the office and need to be out of that space by the end of July. Pray that we will be wise in deciding what to get rid of and what to keep. Pray that we will find room to store our AV equipment, supplies and the furniture we decide to keep.  

Mama Bear, a new Old Reverend Randell Song!

n April I was part of a concert and art show organized by Hamilton Artists for Peace. It was a fundraiser for humanitarian aid in Palestine. One of my dreams for my Old Reverend Randell music is to be a peaceful Jesus presence in the wider secular music scene. I’ve written a new song called Mama Bear, which is a prayer for the children of Palestine. I was able to sing/pray this song at this very diverse gathering of people. I had lots of great conversations afterwards and it seemed like my prayer and music really resonated with people. I also sold a number of Looking for Kindness Cartoons that I donated to the fundraiser. Over $7500 was raised by the community! I’ll be releasing 3 versions of this new song in the summer, so watch out for that. You can find my current songs in all the regular places. If you haven’t listened to my 4-track Gospel album yet you can find it here: https://randellneudorf.com/music/

• I’m looking for more opportunities to share my music live. Pray that I will have more doors open at churches and music venues. 
• Pray for the timely release of Mama Bear. The recording is all done and I’m currently in the studio mixing. I’m so thankful for so many friends who have helped play and sing on this song (all donating their time). I wouldn’t normally head back into the studio so shortly after releasing an album but it seemed very important to get this song done and out into the world. More importantly, pray for a permanent ceasefire in Palestine & Israel, and that God would bring peace where there is no peace.  

The Return of the Prayer Truck!

Once a year, in the days before covid, GOHOP would create an outdoor prayer room in the back of a U-haul truck and park it behind Living Rock Ministries  (a local at-risk youth centre). This Prayer Truck ministry has a special focus on connecting with people who are homeless and/or street involved. Even before we knew that our GOHOP Prayer Room would be homeless, we had decided it was time to bring back this ministry. It seems even more fitting now. I used to work for Living Rock and I love being in contexts that enables me to connect with people on the margins, so I’m very excited to be a prayer truck host. We will be looking for lots of volunteers to help host the prayer truck between July 13th and July 19th. Let me know if you would like to apply to be a volunteer (we will provide you training). Perhaps we could even host the truck together!

• Pray that we would be able to fill our hosting schedule for the prayer truck.
• Pray that the prayer truck would be a blessing to Living Rock staff, youth and the surrounding neighbourhood.
• Pray for safety, wisdom and humility. Homelessness and mental health issues are in crisis on the streets of Hamilton. Pray for us as guests of the neighbourhood and street community. Pray that we would represent Jesus well.

Financial Update:

A number of people have been asking me how my online Punk Monk Fundraiser went. To be honest, not good. A couple donations came in, and people have been listening to my music but I was a long way off from reaching any of my goals. In the past, my online fundraisers have done really well but this year it never gained any traction. It could be the time of year but in reality it is not the best way to fundraise. 

I’m refocusing my efforts towards in person, one on one conversations, meeting with people over coffee and telling them about my ministry and inviting them to financially partner. I have been really encouraged by these meetings and the grace people have given me to tell my story. I’m going to be putting the majority of my fundraising energy into this going forward. 

Here is where I’m currently at with my fundraising:

As of April 2024, I consistently raise $2090 a month. This translates into me working about 20 hours a week at the rate of $20 an hour. That is about 74% of my monthly goal, raised through 20 people being signed up for a monthly giving plan. 

To reach my goal, I need to raise an additional $716 per month. Building up a support team of monthly givers is the most sustainable way to make this happen. Here is what it could look like for me to reach the last leg of my goal:

• 1 more person giving $200 per month. 
• 1 more person giving $100 per month.
• 3 more people giving $75 per month.
• 3 more people giving $50 per month.
• and 2 more people giving $25 per month.

If you would like to start a monthly giving plan or make an annual donation you can find out more here: https://randellneudorf.com/gohop/fundraising-plan/

If you are ready to make an Online Donation 
you can do that right now through CanadaHelps:
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/53164

I recently revamped all the info on my website about the work I do and my fundraising plan. If you are interested, you can check that out here: https://randellneudorf.com/gohop/

• Pray that I would be consistent in my fundraising efforts and meetings.
• Pray that I would listen well to God and reach out to the people God brings to mind. 
• Pray that I would have opportunities to speak at churches and connect with people interested in supporting the ministry I’m a part of.

The Praying Youth Group!

I want to leave you with one last story. A few weeks ago I got lead Philpott Church’s youth group in an imaginative prayer practice called Gospel Contemplation. About 30 youth participated. These kids were really open to trying something new with the chance to have a real life encounter with the Holy Spirit. I love introducing people to Gospel Contemplation because it really helps people ease into the idea that God is with us and actually wants to interact with us.

Here is how it works. We read a narrative story about Jesus (one where Jesus is interacting with people). We read the story in 3 different ways. I like to use film references to explain what we are doing. 

1. In our first reading we are the director. We imagine what the scene might look like. We set the stage with all the sets, props and characters needed.
2. In our second reading we are an actor. We choose a character (named or unnamed) and experience the story from that person’s perspective. 
3. In our last reading we break the fourth wall and show up in the story as ourselves. After the story ends we imagine ourselves walking up to Jesus and ask him a question, being open to whatever happens next. 

So many youth had very profound experiences where they felt like they had a real life encounter with Jesus (I would argue, that is because they did!). From the questions the youth were asking I could really tell that they were fully engaged and excited about the possibilities that this prayer practice had opened for them.

• I gave some tips of how these youth could keep digging into this kind of prayer at home. Pray that God would meet them in their journeys.
• I have consistently seen real blessings come out of opportunities like this, pray that God would continue to open doors for me to lead times of prayer with people of all ages. 

Thanks so much for getting to the bottom of this update. I really appreciate your prayers and community!

Grace & Peace,
Randell (Randy) Neudorf