Category Archives: GOHOP

Punk Monk Newsletter – March 2023

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Hey Team Punk Monk,

It has been a busy winter. I’m really sorry for getting behind in posting these updates.  Here is a little of what I have been up to…

TrueCity Prayer Room Stations:

I’m happy to report that my year end fundraiser was a big success. I exceeded my goals for both one time donations and art sales. I raised $410 in new monthly giving plans! That is a really big deal, since Monthly Giving Plans are the most sustainable way for me to raise support for my ministry. I now receive 50% of my income through predictable monthly donations. Over the next year I will continue to focus on this area and try to get this number up to 75%.

If you would like to sign up for a Monthly Giving Plan, or find out more info click here.

If you would like to make an Online Donation through CanadaHelps: click here.

Please be praying…

  • Continue to pray that I would meet my monthly fundraising goals.
  • Pray that I would grow in my ability to fundraise. I find it hard to ask people one on one to consider giving. This is by far the best way to fundraise so I need to learn how to do this.
  • Pray for a healthy rhythm.  The main part of my job isn’t fundraising but I can’t work without consistently engaging with potential partners. Pray that I would find a good balance in this area. 

Recording my Old Reverend Randell songs:

I have 4 songs that I’m recording professionally at Sheepdog Studios with my friend Eric Fusilier. These songs really encompass my spiritual journey over the last few years and I think they give permission for people to be honest about the hard things in life while still leaning into a God that is expressed through the fruit of the Spirit. I look forward to sharing more about this as the project comes together. My guess is I will have something for people to listen to in the summer.

  • Everywhere I have shared these songs live, there has been a really positive and meaningful response. Pray that the recordings carry that same resonance and spirit. 
  • Pray that my body and voice will be strong. I have had some pain flare ups that have me worried about my guitar playing. I also find that anxiety & stress constricts my voice, so feeling relaxed and well is really important. 

TrueCity Prayer Room Stations:

I contributed a number of prayer stations to this year’s TrueCity Conference Prayer Room. I created a new labyrinth guide to tie in to the conference theme of Shuv (to repent or to turn). I also made a guided prayer resource (see attached) to help people take some baby steps into Jesus’ teaching of blessing those that curse you. I like to use the prayer room to create things that might be useful in other places. I made the prayer guide like a little folded church bulletin that people could use in a service or in a small group. You can download the resource here. let me know what you think, or if you use it. 

We try to feature a lot of art in the prayer room. This year my Looking For Kindness Cartoons were highlighted along with some new pieces reflecting on the Plank in your eye verse. 

Lastly, I really wanted to connect some of our year long ministries at GOHOP to the TrueCity prayer room. 

Every Friday GOHOP staff and volunteers get together and pray for pastors & leaders for a couple hours. I reused my prayer candle cartoons to invite people to join us in praying for leaders. Prayer room visiter would draw the flame on the   little candle card and then write the name of the pastor or leader on the inside that they were praying for. These little cards really caught fire because 123 prayer candles were “lit.” On Fridays the GOHOP team took turns praying through each name on every card, adding our prayers to the fire. If you would like to find out more about how GOHOP prays for pastors & leaders check out: https://www.gohop.ca/prayer-for-leaders-contact

  • Although the 2 week TrueCity Prayer Room is done, the prayer room isn’t closed. We keep this space open for drop in hours every week (I’m there Monday nights from 5-9pm). Pray that the momentum from TrueCity would carry on into people using the prayer room throughout the year. You can find out more here: https://www.gohop.ca/pray-with-us

Asah & the Art of Being Seen:

A couple of weeks ago we had a homeless lady drop by during our Asah: Creatiivty & Prayer Studio in the TrueCity prayer room. She was in a snowsuit and had all her belongings in a garbage bag. She thought it was the Tuesday meal night (that Lift church runs out of the space) and was a little disappointed to find out it was Monday. I told her about the prayer room and that we did have coffee. I also let her know that she was welcome to sit in the prayer room or in the lobby until as late as 10 o’clock. She was very surprised and said “Really? I can just sit down and have a coffee?” I answered, “Absolutely!” 

My new friend spotted the fancy mocha mixes and asked “Who are those for?” I said “You! Would you like me to make you one the professional way?” I started talking to her about how you need to mix the powder with the cream first and then add the water. She told me, “You should work at Tim Hortons.” I laughed and replied, “Actually, I used to manage a coffee shop called The Freeway and this is how we made our cafe mochas.”

The conversation then went a little deeper. She confided that she wished she was invisible and said, “I wouldn’t usually stay in a place like this, I don’t like people to see me.” I said, “Wow! Thank you for sharing that with me. Sometimes I feel like I’m invisible, and I just really want people to see me.” We chatted a little more and then I traded off with Megan from Asah to teach the second half of the art workshop. When I came back out the lady was gone but Megan said she had asked her to say thanks to me for the coffee and the visit. The ironic thing was that the art workshop I was leading was all about using drawing to help us see each other as children of God. It was amazing that what God was teaching in the lobby through hospitality was the same thing God was teaching the people in the prayer room through drawing.

Thanks so much for all your support and being part of my Punk Monk journey. If you would like to hear more about what I’m doing I would love to talk to you over a coffee, zoom, or an old fashioned phone call. Let me know.

Grace & Peace,

Randell (Randy) Neudorf
Artist /// Musician /// Punk Monk
C# 905-379-3717
randellneudorf@gmail.com
www.RandellNeudorf.com

To make an Online Donation in support of Randell’s ministry through CanadaHelps: click here.

Hat 6: Connecting with TrueCity

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Keep the Hats on Fundraiser!

“Randy is always so willing to come and join us at our TrueCity Pastors Gatherings to open our mornings in prayer. The pastors who come are introduced to various creative ways of praying, and I have been personally blessed by learning these new practices. There is something so incredibly special about knowing that the work you are doing is being bathed in prayer by others in this city, and I have been personally encouraged and blessed by the times of prayer that I’ve spent with Randy and the others from GOHOP.”

– Kristi Gringhuis, TrueCity

“Randy is a huge blessing to the TrueCity network in the way he consistently and creatively calls us to pray together for the good of our city. Whether it is in how he leads large groups into prayerful awareness of God’s presence at the start of gatherings; or getting smaller groups together to pray for each other and the neighbourhoods they serve in; or the way he weaves prayer and the arts together–Randy serves us well by calling us to go deeper in relationship with Jesus and each other.”

– Dave Witt, TrueCity Staff

I’m so thankful that one of the hats I get to wear in my ministry with GOHOP, is being connected to TrueCity (churches in Hamilton working together for the good of the city).

If you have been impacted by the work I do connecting TrueCity churches and pastors to prayer, please consider signing up for a monthly giving plan or making a donation.

Hat 5: Guest Speaking

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Keep the Hats on Fundraiser!

“We invited Randell ‘The Punk Monk’ to speak to our church community during a series on Spiritual Practices. He brought such a unique, humorous, and relatable message to our group on how we can use our everyday walking around lives as prayer which invites transformation. The infusion of art with captivating storytelling was something that really captivated our people; and they still remember the stories and images many months later! We loved how this could be an intergenerational morning with the kids listening and learning along with the adults. Randell has a gift for relating to all ages through his art, stories and speaking style. Thanks for teaching us about prayer walks Randell, we will invite you back soon!”

~Stephen Cox, Lead Pastor of The Gathering Church.

I never teach about prayer without also leading people in a practical prayer experience. I feel like it is a wasted opportunity to have all those people in one place and just talk about something that has been so life changing for me without giving everyone else a chance to try it on for themselves.

This is not a side hustle for me, this is part of my core ministry. I do sometimes get paid a small honorarium (which is nice) but this is not a fee for service. Raising my own support at GOHOP allows me to work with churches who don’t have the budget to bring in a guest teacher. As a former pastor of a tiny Mennonite church plant it is really important to me to be able to bless churches with some help (regardless of their budget)

Help support my teaching ministry by donating towards my
Keep the Hats on Fundraiser!

Hat 4: Prayer Room

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Keep the Hats on Fundraiser!

“I so enjoyed brainstorming, imagining, and praying alongside Randy in the weeks and months leading up to the 2022 TrueCity Prayer Room. As a ministry placement student, I always appreciated the hospitality GOHOP staff members would extend in inviting me into their areas of focus, and Randy did (and does!) this so well. I find his creativity in prayer to be contagious, and I saw this on full display during both the planning meetings and the eventual launch of the TrueCity Prayer Room. I specifically remember Randy encouraging me to run with an idea I had for one of the prayer stations, and this was the invitation I needed to realize I could contribute meaningfully to a ministry I didn’t think I was “creative enough” for. I appreciate that Randy recognized, affirmed, and encouraged the stewarding of what I could bring to this prayer room.”

Erin Steckley

“Randy has been very instrumental in the planning and execution of the last two TrueCity 24/7 Prayer rooms. His creativity and thoughtfulness have enabled us to mobilize prayer when we couldn’t meet together in person (employing online resources and creating a visual prayer-walking guide) in 2021. In 2022, these same gifts were employed to help us come back and pray in a physical prayer room at Wentworth Baptist Church. The prayer room bore his creative stamp (with a prayer labyrinth, 12 stations of the cross) and was the fruit of his collaborative organization. Among other things, the prayer room thoughtfully included a prayer exhibit that resembled a nursing station (created by GOHOP staff, Margie Stuart) and enabled pray-ers to pray for health care workers and for health concerns related to the pandemic.” 

Andy Groen, Director of GOHOP

Help support my prayer room work with GOHOP by donating towards my Keep the Hats on Fundraiser!