Springboro, USA - Paul Steele knows what he’s talking about when he’s talking to young adults tempted by alcohol, drugs, sex — even suicide.
Steele, 29, was recovering from a suicidal drug overdose when he realized he wanted to run a ministry for 18- to 30-year-olds, he told the Springboro Optimists last week.
“That’s when you really face the trials in life,” said Steele, who runs the Garage 1919 and directs Unashamed, a weekly get-together for young adults at the former school bus garage on South Main Street in Springboro.
Steele, son of former Springboro High School Assistant Coach Randy Steele, spent part of his youth in Springboro.
He says he returned to the area recently after accepting Christ in his life following decades of “total excess” culminating in the overdose while running the “largest tequila bar on the East Coast” in Palm Springs, Fla.
Unashamed is based on a hipper approach to promoting a Christian lifestyle he encountered at a Christian rap club in Birmingham, Ala., called The Basement.
Weekly sessions of Unashamed include music, skits and modernized Bible lessons.
After hearing Steele’s story, Terry Carlisle, pastor of the Springboro United Church of Christ, said Unashamed and other programs might help keep 18- to 30-year-olds going on a religious path.
Unashamed starts at 7:30 p.m., Tuesdays, at the Garage 1919, 550 S. Main St., in Springboro.