# data[].attributes.body
GOHOP has been influencing my life since 2007.  I first met Jill through a mutual friend in a crowded coffee shop and have always considered that God Himself brought me to GOHOP....the timing was just too perfect for there to be any other possibility.

It was during my first meeting with Jill that she suggested I meet her friend Denni and consider taking a class that Denni was going to be starting about the prophetic.  I took that class with Denni and another, as well as a class on intercession facilitated by Jill.  This was a time of great spiritual growth in my life and I am so thankful that God gave me teachers like Jill and Denni.  They laid a foundation for prophecy and prayer that still serves me today, keeping me grounded in truth and helping me to follow the Holy Spirit.  I cannot express the depth of my gratitude for their kind encouragement and the way that they teach...with words of course but also with the way they live their everyday lives, living witnesses to the reality that Jesus Christ is very much alive and active in this world.

GOHOP has been in my life in one way or another ever since and the people of GOHOP continue to be people that preach with and without words the reality of the goodness of God and the vibrant life that God offers each of us.  It is wonderful.  Thank You for your witness GOHOP, it gives us courage and faith to follow the Way of Christ and to taste and see that oh yes, the Lord IS good!

A very happy birthday to you!  May God continue to bless you with the greatest reward of all, Himself.

Kathy G

# data[].attributes.body
I think back to May 2016, when my housemate invited me to come out to Spaghetti Tuesday dinners—I was 19, very shy, and quite frankly not excited about walking into a house of strangers. Despite feeling like I wouldn’t belong, somehow (thanks to the Holy Spirit, no doubt) I made my way over to this dinner and was welcomed warmly by people who were unashamedly honest and authentic, not to mention deeply kind and generous. And so I kept coming back. I look back on that summer with fond memories of sitting at full tables, eating popsicles in the kitchen whilst cleaning dishes, enjoying birthday cake in the backyard, laughing heartily, and for the first time in my life, getting a glimpse of what the kingdom of God really looks like. It was a very big breath of fresh air.

Another favourite memory of mine involves being prayed for by the Barnabas group as an undergraduate student in October 2016 (I just went to my journal to verify this! 😊). I was very hesitant to ask for prayer in response to the words and images I was seeing that evening, but, once again, I see now how the Holy Spirit was prompting me to do something that otherwise would have been very unnatural for me. The area of struggle in my life that was prayed for saw a significant degree of healing and change after that day, and I see it as a major touchpoint in my relationship with God. I never got a chance to formally thank the Barnabas team for that, so, thank you! It is a joy to now be praying with you once again, five years later, and feels very full-circle. Happy 20th, GOHOP!

Erin S.

# data[].attributes.body
Happy 20th Birthday GoHOP!!!
I remember when we first started our journey of building the Toronto House of Prayer. It was GoHOP that said “yes, we’ll be your covering and help you build night and day prayer!” Thank you for being there to mentor us, to encourage us, to help us with our finances and   For always supporting us!
I pray that you would continue to inspire the next generation to reach for their dreams!
Blessings to you GoHOP!!!
Aisha

# data[].attributes.headline
Thank you for helping us play with prayer!

# data[].attributes.subject
Thank you for helping us play with prayer!

# data[].attributes.body
Being the pastor of a little church plant called The Commons was a hard job, but having GOHOP as a co-conspirator helped so much.

It all started back in 2014. GOHOP staff came to our Supper Club small group once a month and introduced us to the idea of spiritual practices.

GOHOP did such a great job of gently leading a bunch of skeptics and troublemakers into real experiences with the Holy Spirit.

This had a huge impact on our community. We discovered traditions that felt rooted and new at the same time. It gave us permission to play with prayer.

After we learned about Lectio Divina we quickly incorporated the practice into our Advent gatherings. We were trying to make Advent a Sabbath Season for our community. Practicing Lectio allowed us to give our whole teaching team a month off and experience God among us together. Thank you GOHOP for building into our little community and helping us to think outside the box.

# data[].attributes.body
Friends at GOHOP, you have never failed to inspire me. You have been digging deep into the wells of prayer and love for so many years, and you do it so well. You love one another, you love your city, you love the Church, you love your nation, you love the place of contemplation and the place of service to your neighbour. Thank you for being so resolutely about your Father's business.
Aaron White

# data[].attributes.body
I am SO thankful for GOHOP's influence in my life. My experience of GOHOP has come through prayer, encouragement and availability of it's members - who provided me personally AND as a leader with such deep soul-encouragement in different seasons. This included:

- "manning" the prayer room at the VINE while the staff meeting
- meeting with various members for prayer or personal encouragement
- participating with Barnabas prayer
- exploring and growing in prayer, discernment, leadership and other gifts
-  seeing how to support leaders and pastors (a huge impact on my leadership)

My prayer is that this ministry will continue to grow in the love of God, spurring people on to deeper relationship and knowledge of God, and in the confidence of His love and care for them.

Amanda V

# data[].attributes.body
It was almost 10 years ago when I first started hanging around GOHOP.  Some of my first memories or impressions include...

* Joining a small group with Jill and Kirk and a handful of (now) close friends in the neighbour hood and studying "Practicing the Way of Jesus" by Mark Scandrette.  'Study' is the wrong word; it was more like 'study Jesus then, creatively and collectively,  find something to do as an act of obedience '  This fundamentally changed my paradigm of learning and discipleship.
* Revivalist prayer meetings in Abraham's apartment on Barton St. (which changed my life and the lives of many other young people)
* Praying for leaders @ 500 James St. and seeing people deeply impacted as they experienced God though 'listening prayer'
* Being profoundly impacted by the humble, kingdom/mustard seed quality of GOHOP.

Andy G.