Paul Dabdoub

WHAT DO YOU WANT?
(from a speaker)

You could go down your checklist, but we know what you really want.

Isn't it change?

You want a defining moment in the individual lives of the people you made this for. You want them to walk out different than they came in. Isn't that really the point?

Now change is the result of the work of God in a person. No one can guarantee that. Right?

Paul specializes in being a catalyst for change bringing people to a heart-to-heart encounter with God because, quite frankly, it all begins and ends with the heart.

As a speaker, Paul weaves thought-provoking questions, controversial statements, funny stories, authentic struggles, undeniable passion, and a fresh grasp of scripture as a catalyst for bringing people to a heart-to-heart encounter with God.

Life change doesn't happen externally. The only true lasting life change begins and ends with the heart.

Paul spent 8 years in the trenches as a youth pastor building large youth ministries in New Orleans, Orlando, and San Diego.
Paul's creative, edgy, culturally relevant style sustained by a message of grace, change, and vision for years brought Christian kids to the edge and resulted in bringing the unchurched of a post-Christian generation into the church in droves.

Paul gained the most noteriety shortly after launching the cutting edge student ministry - EPIC at University Carillon United Methodist Church in Oviedo/Orlando Florida.

"I was recruited to Orlando primarily because my student ministry in New Orleans had grown through reaching the unchurched. When we arrived, a new facility was in the works, and we cast a strong vision of reaching the unreached to 40 kids" Paul recalls.

A year after a program relaunch , the student ministry grew to 1000% - 80% of those being previously unchurched teens. Overall thousands of teens walked through the doors of with nearly 300 giving their lives to Christ.

"In 40 years the world has changed, but youth ministry has stayed the same. The Church overall hasn't responded, hasn't changed, hasn't awakened to the fact that only 4% of this generation are truly Christians. With EPIC, we stopped making excuses. We quit being arrogant. We got authentic, creative, and incarnate. We surrounded ourselves with people who dared to ask: 'Well, what would it take?' And we re-imagined youth ministry" Paul responded.

Both Christian and secular media took notice leading to several magazine and newspaper articles and 2 TV reports including the Orlando FOX affiliate.

Paul replies:"Just so we're clear: this is a God story. I used to go to conferences where out of touch superhero youth leaders who wrote books made this stuff look so easy. Youth ministry for me started when I was a Jr. High part-timer (which meant I worked 45 hours a week) and our first week we had 17 kids. And I guess I sucked so bad that only 12 came back the next week. My story? It's story of struggle and the heart of a pastor formed through the wringer of pain. I feel, know, bleed like a youth pastor, and I know I always will."

Paul now shares his passion by speaking to churches, youth groups, and youth workers on a full-time basis.

Topics:

If you're going to communicate to today's teens – really communicate – you have to have a fearless theology.

A MESSAGE TO INSPIRE & CHALLENGE YOUR CHURCH KIDS
"You walk into the average church on a Sunday morning. You sing the songs. You go through the motions. But let me ask you: 'Is this all there really is? Is this all Jesus had in mind? Is this what Jesus really gave His life for?'"

Normal seems to be the mundane, the routine – it seems to mean "Don't expect anything out of the ordinary, because normal means average and ordinary."

Well try telling that to Jesus. He is the epitome of a life lived to the fullest. He is the single most intriguing person who's ever walked the planet. Christians and non-Christians alike are compelled by the life that He lived. And 2000 years later Jesus still inspires and still strikes up conversations and controversy.

Would you have said that Jesus' life was normal. Some might say no, it's not normal. It really depends on who's saying normal.

What Jesus was really doing is He was modeling this extreme life that He meant for us.

Paul, a former passive church kid himself, helps ignite a discontent with the status quo and passion to risk all for the sake of the Kingdom of God.


A MESSAGE FOR THE HURTING
We live in a broken world, and the effects of a broken world are hurting people. Too often the Church doesn't have much more than cliches' in face of uncertainty, injustice, and pain.

God has given Paul a unique voice and a language for the hurting and broken. Sharing his life of multiple tragedies and God's grace, Paul uncovers the powerful truth of a God who is not distant and uncaring, One who will rescue and heal while empowering to live an overcoming life.


AND A MESSAGE FOR THE "NON" & "UN"
Paul's radical messages about the transforming power of God's love helped grow the EPIC student ministry of Orlando from 40 cradle Christians to hundreds of world changers - 80% of those being previously unchurched.


What people are saying:

"Paul Dabdoub connects with people! He is an inspirational and entertaining speaker who is a rising star on the national speaking platform. As a business owner and school board member for the largest high school district in the nation, I have seen Paul move both students and adults to transform their lives through his use of humor, motivation and heart.

I would highly recommend bringing him in to speak for your event. He won't disappoint."

Jim Cartmill// President & CEO Let's Talk Health Nutritional Supplements
School Board Member Sweetwater Union High School District

"Paul is passionate with an edgy style"

Jonathan McKee//The Source for Youth Ministry