I snuck into ministry through the back door. My university degree is in Visual Arts, so I definitely didn’t have a conventional career path that led me to working for the Greater Ontario House Of Prayer (GOHOP). I try to live holistically, viewing my life as a Punk Monk, Musician, and Artist, as one job.
This year I’m part of a couple Christmas Markets in Hamilton that are raising funds for very good causes. The first one is this weekend!
Eucharist Church Christmas Market: Raising Funds for Sponsored Refugee Family. 130 Victoria St. N. Sat Nov 29th (11am-4pm) Sun Nov 30th (Noon-3pm)
541 Holiday Market: (buy your tickets here) A fundraiser for 541 Eatery & Exchange. 286 Sanford Ave N. (At the WestingHouse HQ near 541) Sat Dec 13th (11am-5pm)
Meeting Place Update:
Through a partnership between GOHOP and The Meeting Place (my church), I have been doing weekly times of prayer and outreach at 541 Eatery & Exchange for over a year now. Many of the people that I connect with from the church and the eatery are very transient. Sometimes people just disappear for long periods of time due to high levels of homelessness, poverty, addiction and mental health struggles. That is why it is so important to be consistent. Church is always on Sunday at 4pm. I’m always available for prayer or a conversation on Thursday mornings around the big table at 541. This week that consistency paid off. We had multiple people drop by to reconnect. Some had been away for months, others years, but they all knew where to find community.
My prayer & outreach hours at 541 are funded through a grant from Mennonite Church Easter Canada. We have applied for this funding to be renewed in 2026. Please pray that this funding request would be approved.
Pray for people to access housing and medical care. Thankfully one of our regulars will be moving into a very good apartment in December, but there are so many others that need housing. There are also so many addiction and medical issues that people are dealing with. Just last Sunday, we had to call an ambulance for a man who was lying on the floor during our service. He didn’t have the energy to get up but thankfully he agreed to go to the hospital. That same night we were supporting a man who was also in obvious distress from a fentanyl addiction but he wouldn’t agree to go to the hospital.
The Meeting Place (and 541) don’t exist without a healthy mix of people being involved. Pray that more stable folks would join the church, people with the time and energy to help. Yes there are hard things about being a church that makes room for people on the margins but there are also real blessings in this kind of church. It feels like the type of church Jesus would hang out at.
Thank You for Sending Me!
I recently was listening to a podcast about ministry fundraising that emphasised that it is our supporters who are the ones that are sending us. This made me think of you. If you are reading this, you are a part of “Team Punk Monk,” You are the community that is sending me out into the world to do ministry. Thank you for sending me! Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for empowering me to:
lead weekly prayer workshops
connect with people on the margins
host drop in prayer room hours
develop prayer resources
support pastors & leaders
use my creative gifts
If you would like to make a year end gift to support my work with GOHOP you can do that here:
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:
Draw your earliest image of God.
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).
Draw your current image of God.
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:
Prayer
Justice
Hospitality
Learning
Mission
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:
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.
Whether you have been following along with my GOHOP prayer ministry journey for a long time or you just signed up recently, I’m so thankful for your support, prayers and interest in what I’m up to.
What is a Punk Monk?
I know Punk Monk is a strange job title, but I have found it to be a great conversation starter. I actually have it right on my business card. In the summer I participated in a number of monthly Art Crawl street festivals in Hamilton. A huge chunk of James Street North is closed down for artists and entrepreneurs to set up and sell their work.
I love when people pick up my business card and laugh a little as they ask “What is a Punk Monk?” I tell them,
“I work for a prayer ministry that helps people find healthy spiritual rhythms. We draw on both traditional Christian monastic practices but also new creative ways to play with prayer. My job is to help make prayer accessible to everyone. That is where the punk element comes in. Punk Music is more about participation than perfection. Anyone who has something to express (even if they just picked up a guitar yesterday) is welcome to start a punk band and start writing songs. That is how I think about prayer.”
So many great conversations have started this way, and I love how two words that don’t seem like they fit together makes people really curious and open.
I’ll be at the next Art Crawl on Friday, October 10th from 6pm until 10pm (I usually set up near the BMO at the corner of James St. N & Colbourn St). Please pray that I’ll continue to have some good Punk Monk conversations.
Pray that I would be sensitive to people’s spiritual journeys (especially if there is trauma involved).
Pray that the Holy Spirit would use these conversations to help people engage deeper with seeking God through prayer & creativity.
A couple months ago I was set up beside an artist with no church background who was very interested in attending a few GOHOP workshops. They had already been intuitively leaning into ideas of prayer in their own art practice. They were going to contact me over Instagram about GOHOP but that never happened. Please pray for this young man. Pray that we might be able to continue our conversation at the next Art Crawl.
Prayer for Pastors & Leaders is off to a great start!
I’m the coordinator for GOHOP’s Prayer for Pastors & Leaders ministry. A big part of my role has been recruiting pastors and leaders to come and be prayed for. Often it is a slow start in September. It takes time to connect with people, build trust and get them booked in for a personal prayer session. That is not the case this year! We have had so many referrals and people reaching out to us that we hit the ground running.
Each time we pray for someone, we start with 5 minutes of silence to practice listening prayer. We ask God, “What is your heart for this leader?” The team then scribbles down some notes. At the end of the 5 minutes we each share what we got. Some people share a scripture, a feeling, or a story. I usually have a picture that comes to mind. Often I have no idea how this picture will land. It takes a leap of faith to share about the random image of a juggler, box of chocolates, or unicorn that popped into my head (all real examples). Each week as I’m sharing my listening prayer, I wonder if this is the week I’m going to look like a crazy person. Week after week pastors and leaders thank me for the image and say “That was just what I needed.” It is a real gift when they let me in on the secret of what God was saying to them through my seemingly random image. It is also amazing to see how the rest of the team’s scriptures, encouragements, and dare I say prophetic words, all fit together. That is one of the things I love most about being part of a listening prayer team. I get to see how God uses a very diverse group to say something that is far more profound than any one of us could have said alone.
I work really hard to make sure this is a safe practice and a life giving experience for all the pastors and leaders who take the risk of meeting with us. I would really love to pray for any pastors or leaders in your life (including you). We meet both in person and on zoom so it doesn’t matter where you live. We use the term “leader” pretty loosely. Some of the people we pray for have official titles like Pastor, Executive Director, or Elder. But we also pray for students who are emerging leaders and people who are most definitely leaders in the eyes of their friends but they don’t yet have an official title.
If you would like to know more about this opportunity,or you would like to refer someone to sign up to be prayed for you can use this link: https://www.gohop.ca/prayer-for-leaders
I’m seeing a real trend in people that we have prayed for inviting their friends and colleagues to contact me. Pray that this will continue.
There has been an increase in executive directors of social services reaching out for prayer. Pray that they would also empower their staff to seek out prayer support. I’m always encouraging leaders to invite their staff to be prayed for.
I would like to see this prayer team grow by 1 or 2 more people. Pray that God would bring the right people to us. It could be a new GOHOP staff person, or a volunteer.
What are you doing for Orange Shirt Day?
Tuesday, September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (or Orange Shirt Day). I’ll be attending the city of Hamilton’s Afternoon Gathering at 1pm. There will be stories told by a residential school survivor and a local elder. Lots of communities are hosting gatherings like this and I would highly recommend attending one if you can.
In the evening GOHOP is hosting a Prayer Time for Reconciliation. We will be hearing stories from some First Nations friends, praying together, and reflecting on a Lectio Divina passage using the First Nations Version of the New Testament. We will be meeting from 6pm until 8pm in the Prayer Room (1907 King Street East).
If you are in the Hamilton area, feel free to join me for either (or both) events.
For those of you in other cities, I would love to hear how you participate in Orange Shirt Day.
Pray for GOHOP’s Reconciliation Prayer Time. Pray that we would hold our guest’s stories well. Pray that people would come with an openness to listen and learn.
Pray that we would be able to lean into God’s call to reconciliation and that we would not shy away from looking at the terrible legacy that our country and churches have been a part of.
Fundraising Update:
Sometimes fundraising feels a little bit like a song and dance routine. Like you are singing for your supper. I’ve been working with a therapist who does life coaching. We are specifically working on some of my organizational skills and tools to combat some of the negative self-talk that happens when you are doing hard things that are hard.
Pray that I would be able to have more in person meetings with people about joining my monthly support team. I send out a number of messages each week. I’m always thankful when someone responds (even if they say, they can’t help).
I’m trying to spend one day a week on Fundraising. Pray that I could sustain this rhythm and use my time and energy well.
Pray that I would learn to tell the story of my ministry well. I’m working on developing some tools to help me with this. Pray that I will get better at being concise. I’m prone to being a little wordy when I just wing it.
Pray for my mental health. I find money to be something that causes a lot of internal stress and negative thoughts.
Pray that I would be able to raise an additional $912 in monthly support. If you want to pray really specifically, all my budget info is poster here: randellneudorf.com/gohop/fundraising-plan/
If you live near Hamilton, I would love to have you join me on a Tuesday evening in the Prayer Room. I would also really appreciate your prayers:
Barnabas Listening Prayer: Learning Lab – Tue Oct 7th, 7pm – 9pm. As we enter this new season, I’ll be taking on more leadership responsibilities. I sometimes still feel like a novice when it comes to listening prayer. Pray that I will be able to deepen my own practice as I help others learn as well.
Hymn Sing – Tue Oct 14th, 7pm – 8pm. We are a small group of people singing some old songs together and being open to praying about the words on the page. Sometimes the prayers are “God I love this line!” Other times the prayer is “God I don’t like this line, it doesn’t sit right with me anymore.” Pray that we would be open to what the Holy Spirit wants to do with this Hymn Sing night.
Asah: Creativity & Prayer Studio – Tue Oct 21st, 7pm – 9pm. Pray for my co-leader Megan. She has been off work for quite a while with a concussion. Pray that she would gain back her strength and endurance. It is good to be part of a team where we can fill in for each other but we want Megan to be whole and well.
In other news…
My son Ethan has started his own business called Buddy Boy Dog Training. I’m really proud of all the work Ethan has put into studying to be a dog trainer and researching the small business side of things. It would be a huge help if you could:
Follow Buddy Boy Dog Training on Instagram and Facebook. You will get to see lots of great photos of the cute dogs he works with!
Consider Ethan the next time you need a dog trainer or dog walker. All his services are listed here: buddyboydogtraining.ca/services
Pray for this young man as he builds up his business. He named it after our dog Buddy, who is a gift from God. We adopted Buddy back in 2020 just one month before lock down. God gave us our Covid dog before we even knew we needed one. We hired a dog trainer to work with Ethan and Buddy on issues they were having on walks. That very positive experience is what inspired Ehtan to want to become a dog trainer.
Thanks for making it all the way to the bottom of this newsletter! You get a gold star!
Hey Team Punk Monk! I hope your summer is going well. I wanted to let you know what I’ve been up to over the last few months in my prayer ministry with GOHOP.
Prayer Truck 2025:
Last week I spent most of my evenings in a U-haul truck, parked in an alley behind Living Rock (a ministry for at-risk youth). The truck was converted into a street level prayer room that was open for a week. We offered people water, friendly conversations, and prayer.
The prayer truck opened up on an evening where there was a fatal shooting downtown, so many people were understandably wanting us to pray about that. Praying for peace felt really important. A couple days later one of our hosts prayed for a family member of the woman who was shot.
I got to pray with a teen who I would assume is trans. They asked me to pray for their mental health. I started praying, and half way through, I realized I hadn’t asked what pronouns they were comfortable with so I just went with “they/them.” When I finished and said amen, I looked up at the person, they were beaming! I’m pretty sure I made the right choice. I don’t know why I didn’t think to pause my prayer and just ask what pronouns the youth was comfortable with, but I think God used my impromptu decision to show this young person that they were more than welcome at the Prayer Truck.
Another day I prayed for a young man who just graduated from an MBA program, had recently got married, and started a new job. I prayed for him in this season of new things. I prayed that when he looks back on this time 2 years, 10 years and 20 years from now, he would see the good roots put down in this time of change. Afterwards he thanked me and asked “How much do I owe you?” At first I thought he was joking but then I realized he was genuinely asking. I told him, “The prayer is free, this is just what we do!” I gave him a bunch of info on GOHOP and I’m hoping I’ll see him sometime in the future at one of our prayer times.
Pray for peace in Hamilton. There is a lot of violence happening in the city right now. It seems like every week there is another shooting. At my church we sing “Mama, put my guns in the ground” (from Bob Dylan’s Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door). That is what I pray, over and over again.
Prayer Workshops and a Festival of gifts:
At the beginning of July I was attending Mennonite Church Canada’s national gathering in Kitchener. I was a delegate for my church (The Meeting Place) but I also had some workshops and events that I was leading.
I got to lead two prayer workshops. I was introducing an Ignatian prayer practice called Gospel Contemplation, where you use your imagination to enter into a gospel story to have a conversation with Jesus. It was very well received and many people had very profound Jesus encounters. Afterwards I had a conversation with one woman who said,
“I really loved this! I used to always try to read the Bible through my imagination but my church told me it is wrong. They told me God has cast down imagination and we shouldn’t use it to read the scripture. Now I want to bring this back to my church and share it with everyone!”
This quote is very different from what I’m used to in Mennonite circles. I have found the Mennonite Church to be really open to the intersection of spiritual & creative practices, so I was more than a little surprised.
There were so many emotions that came up for me. I was overjoyed that this person encountered Jesus in her imagination and that she wanted others to also be able to have the experience of having a conversation with Jesus. I was also very sad that this person was taught that God had cast down imagination, when our imaginations and creativity are in fact a gift from God that reflects God’s own divine creativity. After we had talked a while, I was scared, because I was pretty sure her church wasn’t going to be open to receiving her rediscovery of imagination and prayer. I advised her to hold off on trying to change everyone’s mind at her church. Insteady I suggested she try to find 2 safe people who might be open to trying out Gospel Contemplation and imaginative prayer with her.
Please pray for this lady and the rediscovery of her creative prayer gifts. Pray that she would find some safe people to pray with.
Pray for all the people who took home prayer resources. Pray that the seeds of these ideas, handouts, tricks, and tips would take root.
On the Friday night of the conference I hosted a large intercultural and intergenerational gathering called “Festival of Gifts.” There were a lot of moving pieces happening with13 different groups contributing art, drama and music. We also had over 20 new congregations being welcomed into Mennonite Church Canada. This was a very packed schedule. I put a lot of work into planning things down to the minute to squeeze all of this into just 2 hours!.
I opened the night by telling everyone that there were a couple skill sets they were going to need to navigate this Festival of Gifts:
They needed to have an open heart and posture of receiving. Iasked everyone to put their hands on their lap or table with their palms facing up as a reminder of this open posture. I let them know that everyone who was bringing something to the stage was sharing an act of worship with their Creator. It might not be in a language we understand, or it could be something we aren’t used to, but we honour their gift by having an open posture. When we do this sometimes the Creator can whisper something back to us through what is being shared.
They needed to master THE SWIVEL! I let people know that this was going to be a very busy night and that sometimes while one person was sharing on the left side of the stage another group would be setting up on the right side of the stage. I knew this might feel awkward so it was important to name that ahead of time. I got everyone to get ready for this by all “swiveling” their attention to the right side of the stage and then to the left, back and forth, and back and forth again, as a stretch to be ready for all the hard working churches, music teams, and youth that would be taking the stage.
No one was more surprised than I, that the plan worked. Everyone was so joyful in the room and we even finished right on time! Afterwards the head of the denomination came up to thank me and said,
“This was the one night of the conference that I was really worried about. We didn’t really know how to pull this event off. Once I heard that you were brought on to help plan and host the night I wasn’t worried anymore. I knew you had the right energy and ability to improvise to make this work.”
It was so nice to hear that. I had met him a few times in the past, but I wouldn’t have even expected him to know who I was.
I was also thankful for the Mennonite Spiritual Directors who had created a prayer room for the conference with a giant indoor labyrinth. I spent a couple hours praying in that room before all the kaoss of sound check started. It was a very wise choice. I felt way more ready to tackle all the behind the scenes curve balls that happened right down to the wire. It is amazing how a prayer room can focus our prayers in a very different kind of way. A prayer room functions a lot like the secluded places Jesus would go and pray in. Space and time set aside for prayer is such a life-giving practice.
Do you have a go-to location that you use for prayer? It could be a park, a trail, a specific room in your house, or a prayer room.
If you live in the Hamilton area, here are a couple prayer opportunities you might want to try:
Visit the GOHOP Prayer Room. Our summer hours are 8am – 8pm on Tuesdays until August 12th. We will then be closed for a summer break. The prayer room will open up again on September 9th from 8am-8pm on Tuesdays & Wednesdays.
The Form & Fire Prayer Internship will be starting on September 25th. This is a great way to take 3 months to lean into prayer practices from across the many streams of the church. Get all the details here: https://www.gohop.ca/internship
Pray for GOHOP:
Please pray for GOHOP’s fall activities. I’ll be helping to lead our Barnabas Listening Prayer Learning Lab and Asah Creative Prayer Studio. Both of these workshops have had some great momentum in the spring. Pray that we would be able to help move people from participating to leading prayer activities. We really want individuals to be able to pass on what they are learning.
September 1st – 7th, we will be hosting a week of Zoom prayer times for people across Canada. Pray that good connections would be made and that people would be inspired to start their own rhythms of prayer. If you would like to join us for this week of prayer, sign up for the GOHOP newsletter to find out more info: https://www.gohop.ca/newsletter
Looking for Kindness Church Shows:
I have a 45 minute version of my Looking for Kindness Amidst Anxiety show that is designed for sharing with churches on a Sunday morning. I just got to share it with the folks at Crosshill Mennonite Church and it was really well received. A number of people shared with me about their own mental health journeys and appreciated this being talked about so openly at church. One teen who is really into music, liked the sounds my telephone mic made. I could tell he was excited to hear music at church that sounded so different. I also had a bunch of little kids tease me for singing so weird. I thanked them and said “Isn’t it great that we can be weird sometime. It would be so boring if we all sang exactly the same.” I think that took them by surprise because they kept hanging around while I was packing up and told me about the instruments they were learning to play.
Pray that good conversations would happen at Westview. Pray that the people who need to hear a little more about kindness would attend.
Pray that other churches would be open to trying something different for their Sunday service.
Thank You For Your Support!
Thank you so much for all the prayers, donations, and encouraging messages. I couldn’t do this ministry without your support. I thank God for your generosity and trust.
In the fall I’ll be reaching out to more people to ask them to consider joining my monthly support team. Pray that I would be able to meet with 1 person a week in October & November.
Summer Fun:
I got to try out paddle boarding a few weeks ago, and it was so fun. Have you been able to try something new this summer? I would love to hear about it.
Grace and Peace to you on your own summer adventures,
Randell Neudorf 