Category Archives: GOHOP

Punk Monk Newsletter – Summer 2026

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Hey Team Punk Monk,

There are a couple things I wanted to tell you about before I set my computer aside for a summer break.

541 Prayer Gathering:

I know September 14th, feels like a long way off still, but if you are in the Hamilton area PLEASE SAVE THE DATE! I’m going to be leading a prayer gathering that evening at 541 Eatery & Exchange. Here is the official invite:

Do you remember when the GOHOP prayer room was located in the basement of 541 Eatery & Exchange? Staff at 541 often shared that they could sense when people had been praying. There was a tangible difference in the atmosphere. You could feel it. A deeper sense of peace, of hope, and welcome.

Join us on Monday, September 14 at 7:00 p.m. at 541 Eatery & Exchange for an evening of prayer, worship, and discernment.

While GOHOP no longer has a physical prayer room in the building, our partnership and prayers for 541 continue.

Together we will:

  • Dream about what prayer and spiritual support at 541 could look like in the future.
  • Experience some of the prayer and worship expressions that take place weekly through The Meeting Place Church.
  • Pray for the staff, volunteers, guests, and mission of 541.

We believe prayer matters. As we gather in person, we ask God to fill this space with His peace, wisdom, and love, trusting that prayer can shape the atmosphere of a place and the lives of those who enter it.

In Partnership With:
541 Eatery & Exchange, GOHOP, and The Meeting Place Church.

Here are some ways you can be praying: 

  • Pray that God would draw people to the 541 Prayer Gathering. People with a heart to pray for the ministry of 541 and the surrounding neighbourhood. People who are already invested deeply, and people who are curious. 
  • Pray that the regulars from The Meeting Place Church would attend. My 541 friends sometimes have a hard time showing up for things outside their regular routine. 
  • Pray for the staff of 541. In September they will be rolling out a new menu, expanding their hours, and working on some new evening events. Change is always stressful, but these new initiatives are all specifically targeting increasing visits from paying customers. As soon as a plan is tied to finances, the stress is even higher.

Prayer Truck Story: 

Prayer Truck this year went really well. As we transformed the back of a U-Haul truck into a back alley prayer room, I had lots of opportunities to meet people walking by and pray with many of them. Afterwards, there is usually one person that really sticks with you. This year it was a woman I’ll call Rose.

Rose walked up to me and my truck buddy and asked, “What is this?” We gave her the Prayer Truck spiel, and offered to pray for her. She told us, 

“I grew up Catholic but don’t really practice right now. I love what you are doing. I actually drove by the truck a little while ago and kept wondering about you. I was driving to Burlington and almost made it to the skyway bridge, when I decided to turn around and find one what this truck is all about. I love that you are praying for people, can I give you some money for a donation?”

I thanked her for being so curious and her desire to be generous, but told her, “We aren’t really out here to raise money, we are here to pray for people. Could we pray for you?” She said “I don’t really need you to pray for me.” Then after a long pause she added, “But could you pray for my brother? He is an alcoholic but isn’t seeking any help.” We told her that we could absolutely pray about that. We spent about 5 minutes praying for her brother, and then snuck in some prayers for her and the weight she has been carrying for her brother. 

She thanked us so much for praying, and said, “I’m so glad I turned around! Are you sure I can’t just leave some cash for you?” I told her,“The prayers are free, but I would love for you to know more about what GOHOP is all about when we aren’t doing weird things like Prayer Truck.” I gave her our flyer and said, “Take a look at what we are all about, and if you like what you see, feel free to make a donation online and get a tax receipt. That way you know where your money is going.” 

Now it may seem strange that I was squashing Rose’s wonderful spontaneous generosity, but I really wanted her to have an opportunity to be connected deeper to what GOHOP is about. She had a genuine Holy Spirit moment where a still small voice was whispering, “just turn around and find out more about that truck.” My prayer is that I’ll see Rose again in September at a workshop or in the prayer room. That she will learn to listen for that holy whisper again and again. 

  • Please pray for Rose and all the people GOHOP connected with at the Prayer Truck. Pray that God would place more “chance” encounters in their path and that they would say “yes” to getting to know their Creator that loves them.

Thank You For Your Support!

If you would like to sign up for a monthly giving plan or make a donation, there are 3 ways you can do that:

  1. Donate Online with CanadaHelps: canadahelps.org/en/dn/53164
  2. Donate by E-transfer:
    Send your e-transfer to donate@gohop.ca
    You must write “Donation for Randell Neudorf” in the message section. 
    Please also include your mailing address to get a tax receipt next year.
  3. Donate by Cheque: randellneudorf.com/gohop/donate

Anonymous Donation?

On June 8th, I received an anonymous donation.If I knew who the person was, I would have definitely wanted to contact them to say,

“Thank you for partnering with me. 
I thank God for your generosity.”

If you were this mysterious, anonymous donor, I hope you see this!

Grace & Peace!

Randell (Randy) Neudorf

Punk Monk Newsletter – June 2026

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Hey Team Punk Monk,

As promised in my last newsletter, here is a photo of my family, looking very spiffy at my daughter and son in law’s wedding in April.

As you can see we all clean up very nice. You might be interested to know that Zoe is wearing her Mom’s wedding dress that was transformed by a local dressmaker. Here is what Susan’s dress looked like in 1999.

Yes, that is me at 23 with hair!  I’m told (often) by my family that I’m too nostalgic, so I better move on to updates about what is happening in the here and now.

Changes at The Meeting Place Church:

At the end of June, my pastor Sue Carr will be retiring from The Meeting Place. Sue has been pastoring this little community for the last 20 years as a volunteer. The church started as a chapel service at the Mission Services men’s shelter. It later moved to the 541 Eatery & Exchange coffee house when Sue was the Executive Director of 541. 

I’ve been part of The Meeting Place in a number of ways for the past 5 years. I’ve done discipleship training, led music, taught spiritual practices, and most recently I have been doing prayer & outreach hours at the coffee house on Thursday mornings. Thanks to a grant from Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, this was the first time someone was being paid by this scrappy little street church. 

When Sue first told me about her plan to retire, I knew I was going to have to take some time to discern what my role should be in the next season of this church. I took a couple months to pray, meet with a spiritual director, and discern with a few friends. 

During this discernment time, I knew pretty quickly that I wasn’t being called away from what I’m doing at GOHOP, but I also felt like there was something pulling me further into my church and ministry at 541. As my spiritual director pointed out, “It feels like it is alive when you talk about The Meeting Place and 541.” I also found it really helpful talking to Ian, my boss at GOHOP about how the church work I was doing fit so well within GOHOP’s values and mission. 

So to get to the point, I’m saying yes to being the next pastor of The Meeting Place, while still continuing my existing prayer ministry within GOHOP. I’m not able to volunteer my time in the same way Sue did, so I’ll be waiting to officially be installed as the pastor until after I’ve done some fundraising. 

I’m very thankful for the fundraising training the GOHOP staff team has been going through this year. It has been very helpful and timely. I kept thinking to myself, “I wish I had this practical step by step advice when I first started out at GOHOP.” With that in mind, I have decided that over the summer and fall, I’m going to implement all the fundraising lessons I’ve been learning towards this new opportunity within my church. My starting goal is to raise $1500 a month for The Meeting Place. That will allow me to do 10 hours a week for the church as the Pastor. That gets things started, and will help me start to build up a team and dream together about what is next for this little part of the kingdom. 

Sue Carr’s last service at The Meeting Place will be at 4pm on Sunday June 28th. You are welcome to join us in celebrating her 20 years of pastoring. As always we meet at 541 Barton St. E. Here is how you can be praying for myself and The Meeting Place Church:

  • Pray for Sue, as she enters retirement. She is looking forward to attending church with her husband Tony and to support him in some of the volunteering he has been doing with refugees. 
  • Leading as part of a team has become really important to me. Pray that I could find the right people to be part of this team.
  • Pray for my focus. Even with a good plan, fundraising is a slog. Pray that I would do the step by step work that needs to happen (creating promotional materials, building a website, letter writing, meeting with people and reaching out to churches). 
  • Pray for the people that attend The Meeting Place. There isn’t a lot of stability in the lives of people living on the margins. Pray that they would continue to feel connected even though change is always hard. 
  • Pray for affordable and safe housing. Homelessness and precarious housing is a sad reality in our community. Being homeless greatly increases all your risk factors and decreases your life expectancy. We just had a funeral for a young man who had been homeless for a number of years. Many of our new friends who have been dropping by for church are also homeless. 

Prayer Truck:

For one week every year, GOHOP turns the back of a U-haul truck into a street level prayer room. We park this Prayer Truck behind an at risk youth centre called Living Rock Ministries (30 Wilson St. at the corner of Hughson St. N.).

The Prayer Truck is a beautiful chance to pray for the streets and people of downtown Hamilton. IIt is amazing what a couple of chairs, some cold water and a sign that reads “Need Prayer?” can accomplish. We build friendships and pray for:

  • Youth from the Rock.
  • Homeless people who frequent the core.
  • Professionals who work downtown.
  • Neighbours in apartment buildings.
  • Visitors having fun at local restaurants and attractions.

Really it could be anyone who lives, works, or plays downtown. For some people that is a choice, for others it is just how they survive. 

If you live in Hamilton, consider dropping by the Prayer Truck between June 12 and June 19th. All the details of how you can participate are posted here: https://www.gohop.ca/prayertruck

If you want to drop by while I’ll be hosting the truck, here are my shifts:

  • Sat. June 13th, 6pm-8pm
  • Mon. June 15th, 4pm-8pm
  • Tue. June 16th, 4pm-8pm (with a special Asah Art & Music night from 6-8)
  • Wed. June 17th, 10am-4pm
  • Fri. June 19th, Noon-2pm

Here is how you can be praying for the Prayer Truck:

  • Pray for God to meet people in good and surprising ways. Pray for the hosts to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and strangers passing by to be curious about prayer. 
  • Pray for the staff and volunteers of Living Rock Ministries. Pray that they would be encouraged by the prayer truck and that they would know that they don’t do their work alone.
  • Pray for at-risk youth. The Rock recently sent us a prayer request and went something like this, “Pray that the youth would have the courage to take the very next step in front of them.”

Thank You For Being A Ministry Partner!

The only reason I have the privilege of doing the prayer ministry I do, is because you have said yes to being a partner with me in this ministry. It is the prayers, donations, and encouraging messages of people like you that allows crazy kingdom ideas like Prayer Trucks & Steet Churches to happen. Thank you for your partnership!

If you would like to sign up for a monthly giving plan or make a donation,  there are 3 ways you can do that:

  1. Donate Online with CanadaHelps: canadahelps.org/en/dn/53164
  2. Donate by E-transfer:
    Send your e-transfer to donate@gohop.ca
    You must write “Donation for Randell Neudorf” in the message section. 
    Please also include your mailing address to get a tax receipt next year.
  3. Donate by Cheque: randellneudorf.com/gohop/donate

Asah: Creativity & Prayer

Lastly, I posted a short video reel on Instagram about our Asah: Creativing & Prayer workshop in May. We were illustrating a Taize worship song. You can watch that here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYj1T_EOz4t/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== 

I would love to hear what things you have been up to in your own creativity. Creativity isn’t just about the arts, it is about problem solving, trying new things, rearranging furniture, or just turning off the beaten path once in a while.

Grace & Peace,

Randell (Randy) Neudorf 

Punk Monk Newsletter – April 2026

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It has been a very special month in the Neudorf household. On April 18th my daughter Zoe got married to Luis. It was a beautiful wedding. I had the honour of officiating the ceremony. I don’t  have any photos yet (I was trying to stay in the moment and just let the professional photographer do the documenting). Hopefully I’ll have some photos for you in the next newsletter.

There are also a number of non wedding related things coming up that I wanted to let you know about.

GOHOP Pancake Supper Fundraiser:

Learn about GOHOP and celebrate with us at this fun event. It includes a free family-friendly meal, a lively auction (I’m the auctioneer), stories, prayer and worship. Thursday, May 7 at Bethany Chapel (155 Gage Ave N) from 5:30pmuntil 8:30. You can find out all the details and sign up on our Eventbrite Page. 

Reflecting on the last year:

It is annual report time at GOHOP. Each staff member does a little write up about their role at GOHOP. Here is what I wrote:

Randell describes his job as being a “Punk Monk.” His gifts reside in the worlds of creativity, networking, teaching, and leadership support. In the prayer room he leads GOHOP’s Prayer for Pastors & Leaders, Barnabas Listening Prayer, Asah: Creativity & Prayer Studio, Hymn Sing, and maintains our new art wall with rotating installations. Each year he is a guest teacher at a number of churches, student groups, workshops and conferences, helping people feel free to play with prayer. As an active member of The Meeting Place Church community he leads weekly worship, prayer activities and outreach at the 541 Eatery & Exchange on Barton Street East. Randell stirs up meaningful conversations in the wider community through his one man show called “Looking for Kindness Amidst Anxiety,” as well as exhibiting his Kindness Cartoons at a number of art shows, markets and the James Street North Art Crawl. 

As I was writing this, I looked back through my agenda to remind myself of some of the extra activities I’d been up to. It is surprising what you forget. I was able to show my art and perform my music 14 times over the last year. That is more than once a month! I found that really encouraging. It also stood out to me that I was able to lead prayer workshops at 2 national church conferences (one for Mennonites, and the other for Presbyterians). Here are some things you can be praying for:

  • I am feeling like it is really important for me to build up teams in all the ongoing prayer ministries that I am a part of.Some things like Barnabas have really strong teams, other places it is mostly just me. Pray that I would recognize who God is sending to be part of leading these ministries. 
  • Pray for the Looking for Kindness Amidst Anxiety show. Pray that I would have opportunities to continue to perform. I’m doing a shortened version of this as a workshop for a Youth Conference. Pray that these stories open up good conversations for the youth. Also pray for me as I decide what things to include and what things need to be cut out for time.

Upcoming Art Shows:

I have a couple Hamilton art markets coming up in May. 

  • James Street North for Art Crawl on Friday, May 8th from 6pm until 9pm. I try to set up near the BMO near Barton & James.
  • I’ll be at Crownpoint Community Church’s Makers Market on Saturday, May 9th from 11am – 8pm. I’ll be located at 92 Ottawa St. N. This is happening at the same time as the Sew Hungry Food Truck Festival on Ottawa St, so it is a very yummy event.

Here are some ways you can be praying:

  • Pray for Crownpoint Community Church. Supporting the arts is one of the ways this church connects to their neighbourhood. 
  • Pray for the conversations I have at these events. Pray that God would use me to be a good ambassador. 
  • Pray that my art would whisper the Fruit of the Spirit to people through my Kindness Cartoons. 

Donations:

Thank you so much for being part of this partnership team, and empowering me to do this ministry work!

If you would like to make a donation or sign up for a monthly giving plan, there are 3 ways you can do that:

1.
Donate Online with CanadaHelps:
canadahelps.org/en/dn/53164

2.
Donate by E-transfer:
Send your e-transfer to donate@gohop.ca
You must write “Donation for Randell Neudorf” in the message section.  Please also include your mailing address to get a tax receipt next year.

3.
Donate by Cheque:
randellneudorf.com/gohop/donate

I’ll have lots more prayer updates for you next month.

Grace & Peace,

Randell (Randy) Neudorf

Punk Monk Newsletter – Jan 2026

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Hey Team Punk Monk,

I hope you had some meaningful times of rest and reflection over the Christmas Holidays. I had a couple weeks off. It was very nice and delightfully uneventful.

The new year is going to be very busy for me but in a good way. If you live near Hamilton I have a show I would like to invite you to.

One Man Show Returns to Hamilton:

It was a little over a year ago that I debuted my Looking for Kindness Amidst Anxiety show at the 541 Eatery & Exchange in Hamilton. I’m very excited to let you know that this unique show is coming back to Hamilton on Friday, January 30th. It is being hosted by Salt Cellar Arts, a ministry of Eucharist Church. 

You can find out all the details on the Eventbrite Page. Please consider passing this on to anyone you think might enjoy an evening of kind stories, songs and drawings. If you would like to see the show or bring a friend, there are some Early Bird Tickets on sale right now for only $10 each!

Watch the Looking for Kindness Trailer Here: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjhIXl-G898

Get all the Show Details Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/looking-for-kindness-amidst-anxiety-with-old-reverend-randell-tickets-1977635314462?aff=oddtdtcreator

PLEASE PRAY:

  • Pray for my health. There are so many different bugs going around. 
  • Pray that God would gather the right group of people to come hear my story. 
  • As I have been planning this show with Salt Cellar Arts, we decided to encourage families to attend with discounted tickets for teens & kids. Pray that this would really be a meaningful intergenerational experience for people.
  • Pray that I would reflect the Creator well with my creativity.

Sowing Seeds of Kindness:

During Advent I had the opportunity to show my Kindness Cartoons at a couple Christmas Markets. Afterwards I ran into a mom whose daughter had bought one of my pieces. The mom told me I had made a big impression on her daughter and thanked me for spending so much time with her. It was just another reminder that being part of these arts spaces is an important part of my ministry. Thank you for empowering me to be in these less traditional ministry spaces. 

Just recently I was at a party and was asked the dreaded question, “What do you do for a living?” After I gave a pretty vague answer about working for a prayer ministry, they started asking lots of follow up questions about the specific things I am a part of each month. When I got to the part about listening prayer, this stranger got really pulled in. I shouldn’t be surprised, listening prayer is contagious. It is pretty amazing to find out that the God of the Universe loves to communicate with us!

I’m coordinating two leadership teams at GOHOP, and both are all about the weird & wonderful world of listening prayer. 

  1. Prayer for Pastors & Leaders meets on Friday mornings. Each week we pray with a different person working for a church or ministry. We start with some silence and a time of listening prayer. We ask the Lord to bring to mind a word of encouragement – prayers, scriptures, feelings, thoughts, or images. These promptings are then shared in an open posture of humility.  We leave it to the person being prayed for to discern if the words resonate as something from God. Week after week I see God using this time to really encourage leaders who are continually giving of themselves to others (but often not having the same done for them). Most years I have to do a lot of outreach to fill our weekly schedule. This year we have had so many people reaching out to be prayed for that we are often booking about 2 months ahead. God is really up to something. 
  2. Barnabas Listening Prayer is a monthly learning lab that helps people grow in the practice of listening prayer. Often people think that you need to have a special gift to “hear” God, but we have found that listening is more of a muscle that needs to be exercised. There are tips & tricks that help stretch our own unique ability to listen in prayer. Just last week we had 3 new people attend and it was very encouraging. 

HOW YOU CAN PRAY:

  • Please pray for both teams as we have had a number of new additions to their leadership. It is exciting to see these new people jump right in with great ideas and energy. Pray that we would continue to gel as a team.
  • Prayer for Pastors and Leaders has been running for almost 25 years now (It is GOHOP’s oldest prayer ministry). I am looking to add an additional 1 or 2 people to this team. Pray that we would find the right volunteers who are passionate about supporting leaders. 
  • Pray for Pastors & Leaders in your community. Our ministers, boards, executive directors and charity workers are doing really hard and important work. 

Fundraising Is Hard but Partnership is Sweet!

The GOHOP staff team has been going through a YWAM podcast about personal fundraising called “The Sweet Life of Missionary Partnership.” The tag line they say over and over again is “Fundraising in hard… but partnership is sweet!!!” I’m only a couple episodes in but this language has been really encouraging. I thank God for you as a partner in this ministry. Thank you for partnering with your donations. Thank you for partnering with your kind messages. Most of all, thank you for partnering with your prayers!

If you would like to find out more about starting a Monthly Giving Plan you can do that HERE (even better, let’s meet for coffee). I’m a big believer in being upfront about money, so if you would like to see my budget and fundraising goals it is all posted HERE. 

3 Ways to Donate:

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/

Lastly, thank you to the person who made the anonymous donation in December. It was a very nice surprise. I don’t know who you are, but I have a sneaky suspicion that you are someone who is part of this partnership team.

Grace & Peace,

Randell (Randy) Neudorf