Category Archives: Newsletter

Year End Punk Monk Newsletter – 2025

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Hey Team Punk Monk,

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:

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/

My hope and prayer for you over the Advent season is that you would have the courage to be kind to yourself and those God puts in your path. 

Grace & Peace,

Randell (Randy) Neudorf

Punk Monk Newsletter – Oct 2025

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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

Punk Monk Newsletter – Sept 2025

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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 would like to make a monthly or annual donation to my ministry with GOHOP you can do that here:

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

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

You can also donate by Cheque:
https://randellneudorf.com/gohop/donate/

Monthly Prayer Workshops:

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
  • Refer your Hamilton friends and family: buddyboydogtraining.ca
  • 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! 

Grace & Peace,
Randell (Randy) Neudorf

Punk Monk Newsletter – April 2025

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I’m very excited that it is finally feeling like spring outside. I have been able to bike to work the last couple weeks and that has felt great. I wanted to let you know about a couple things I have been up to in my ministry life.

Easter Sunrise Service:

In my last newsletter I mentioned that I’m doing some prayer & outreach work at 541 Eatery & Exchange (the pay it forward cafe) on Thursday mornings. This is through a partnership between my church (The Meeting Place) and GOHOP. I have been meeting lots of people while visiting around the big harvest table in the cafe. I’ve had the chance to pray for a number of people over the last 5 months, which has been very meaningful. It has also been a great weekday check in for people who are attending my church on Sundays. 

We have an Easter tradition at the Meeting Place where we have a joint sunrise service in Beasley Park with our friends from Trinity Lutheran Church. Afterwards the Lutherans host everyone for a big breakfast. This year one of our regulars who is experiencing homelessness joined us for the 7am service. It was a big deal that he made the effort to be there right on time. He shared that he made it a priority because he really appreciates Trinity Lutheran. He told me a story about when he was having a really hard time and he found himself at a cafe drop at Trinity. He fondly remembers that they served toast with REAL BUTTER!!!! He hadn’t had such a treat since living rough. For some of us, real butter might not seem like a life changing experience, but for this man, it made all the difference, he felt appreciated and valued. 

It was a privilege to celebrate Easter with my Meeting Place friend. 

  • Pray for people in Hamilton experiencing homelessness. Pray that they would be able to find stable and supportive housing. 
  • Pray that I would be able to make meaningful connections with people at 541. 
  • Pray that there would be a few core people that would lock in with this weekly prayer time. It is a transient population, so I don’t always have consistency with who shows up. Having even one more person who really commits to being there every week goes a long way to welcoming new people.

Looking for Kindness Shows:

In March I was able to do a living room Looking for Kindness show in Guelph. The host family invited 20 of their friends to come hear me sing and tell stories about my prayer and mental health journey. They even dragged a couple extra sofas into their living room to create 3 rows of theatre style seating! I could tell people were really engaged with my story because after my last song called 4-track Gospel the room was completely silent (no one was clapping) but it was the profound type of quiet. It felt like a holy moment. 

I have a couple more shows coming up in the next week:

If you know anyone in Owen Sound or Dundas please let them know about the show.If you haven’t seen me perform yet, there is a little teaser trailer posted up on YouTube:: 

  • Pray for me as I talk to people before and after the shows. There are a lot of great conversations happening and sometimes people are sharing some very hard stories with me. Pray that I would be a good and supportive listener. 
  • Pray that I would have more opportunities to perform in both church and secular contexts. 

Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop:

Every month I help lead the Asah: Creativity & Prayer Studio in the GOHOP Prayer Room. There was a great turn out for our traditional Ukrainian Easter Egg Workshop. You might not know this but traditional easter eggs are absolutely rooted in prayer. As you are creating your design, you are supposed to be holding someone in prayer. The whole thing is done by candle light through a very slow and meditative process. I was very happy to be able to add some calm and beauty to people’s lives as part of their journey towards Good Friday and Easter. This was a great follow up to our workshop where people created a cross filled with collaged images of things they wanted to add or subtract from their daily rhythms over Lent.

  • I lead Asah with my coworker Megan. Pray for us as we try to foster opportunities for people to engage with their creator through creativity.
  • This prayer workshop is always an experiment (there is no manual for this kind of prayer). Pray that we would continue to be open to trying new ideas. 

Prayer Songs:

Prayer & Music has been a real theme for me over the last month. 

I had the opportunity to perform at the Hamilton Public Library as part of an event organized by Public Health. I chose a mix of my original gospel songs along with tunes I would consider secular hymns (Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, Man In Black, etc…).  A few days before this event a friend gave me a listening prayer image of me being inside a guitar filled with water. I was peering out of the sound hole, looking through the strings that were vibrating. He said there was a feeling of energy and power through the music. When I heard this, I immediately connected the image to the songs I had been preparing for the library gig. I was kind of nervous about singing so many “Jesus-y” songs in a very secular setting, and this listening prayer felt like a gift that put me at ease and made me feel confident that I had picked the right songs. The event went great and I really felt like I was praying these songs over the many newcomers and street involved people that attended the event. 

I also lead a monthly Hymn Sing night in the GOHOP Prayer Room. The idea is that we sing old hymns and then use the words that stand out from the song as our prayers. I had just been telling my coworkers that I was a little discouraged that I often had been singing and praying on my own, but the very next Hymn Sing someone joined me! I explained the idea of using the hymns as prayers and the person told me they really wanted to sing the songs but they weren’t so sure about the prayer part because they are agnostic. After every song something jumped out at this person that they named as their prayer. They also had lots of memories that came up for them and shared a personal story after almost every hymn. For someone who wasn’t sure about the prayer part, they sure did a lot of praying. Afterwards it occurred to me that if other people had shown up that night (like I had been wishing), my agnostic friend might not have felt so free to pray and be open to the memories the Holy Spirit brought up through the music. I was so thankful for this very special Hymn Sing night.

  • I get really excited about engaging with people on the edges. Whether that is the edges of the church, or society in general. I’m often told that I feel very safe for people. Pray that I wouldn’t take that safety for granted and that I would use these opportunities to connect with people on the edges well. Pray that these safe moments would allow people to be open to the Holy Spirit. 

Fundraising Update:

I have been trying to put more effort into setting up one on one appointments to invite people to join my monthly support team. I would really appreciate your prayers around this.

 It takes a lot of courage for me to put myself out there and ask people to consider giving toward my personal support raising. Some days I don’t feel very courageous at all (please pray that I would be bold and diligent in my fundraising)

If you would like to meet with me to talk more about my ministry with GOHOP (and to just catch up), or if you know someone I should connect with, please reach out to me. Fundraising happens best one conversation at a time. 

If you would like to make a monthly or annual donation to my ministry with GOHOP you can do that here:

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

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

You can also donate by Cheque:
https://randellneudorf.com/gohop/donate/

Some Exciting Family News:

Lastly, I wanted to share some exciting news. My daughter Zoe is engaged to her boyfriend Luis (obviously now her fiancé). Susan and I have loved getting to know Luis and are so excited to have him joining our family. I think I’m going to like being a Father-in-law. Any advice out there from other Father-in-laws?

Grace & Peace,

Randell (Randy) Neudorf