Pastor Ezekiel Abendan is the youth pastor for River of Life Family Church (ROLFC). He was born and raised in the Philippines and came to the U.S. at the age of thirteen. He received Jesus Christ in his freshmen year of college and although he wasn’t raised on Christian principles growing up it seemed that the Lord already had His plan working in Ezekiel’s life. He attended Vacation Bible Schools as a child and once he came to the U.S. his dad began taking Ezekiel and his brother to church on Sundays. Nothing seemed to be sticking until Ezekiel was invited to join a Christian youth group where he would soon meet and be mentored by his future senior pastor. Within that youth group his life was changed and he developed a heart for the youth of this generation.

In 2002, a year after he was saved, Pastor Randy was called out of the youth ministry by God to plant ROLFC. Ezekiel stayed behind to help grow and develop the existing youth ministry. And that was the root of his desire to teach and mentor the youth of tomorrow. But after those three years God also placed a call on his life towards another church, ironically placing him back with Pastor Randy at ROLFC. From there he started working with the college ministry, which eventually led him in becoming our passionate and anointed youth pastor. He has been participating heavily in ministry for about seven years now.

Throughout the years, God has taken Ezekiel from glory to glory in his life and in his relationship with Him. Through that God has used his training from college ultimately for His glory. Ezekiel went to school for business and learned about project management, how to conduct presentations, leadership, etc. He received his bachelor’s in science for Accounting and Information Systems from San Jose State University in 2006. All the while God has been molding that knowledge and those skills to fit his ministry. And he received his pastoral title in September of 2008 when he began implementing his mission and vision for the NextGen Youth Ministry.

His outlook as youth pastor is to empower youth to discover and live out the life that God has intended for them. His goal is to usher and grow the youth into a deep connection with our Lord and Savior. Also, he wants to see our youth living out their God-given talents and to find strength in the victory they have in Christ. God has placed a vision in him to commission the youth of this next generation to live lives of victory and excellence in every area of their lives for the glory of God…to be the salt and light they are called to be.

And as for 2009, God has already placed a new vision into his heart, that of small group discipleship. The intent is to develop small groups for teenagers where they can grow more deeply in their relationship with Jesus and with their brothers and sisters in Christ.

In his spare time, Ezekiel enjoys taking a break to pick up a good book, those mainly on ministry, leadership and psychology. Some of his favorite authors are John Maxwell, Charles Stanley, and Max Lucado. Outside of ministry, he really values spending time with his family and growing those relationships. He also, enjoys playing basketball, weight-lifting and cooking.