We will all miss Steve Schneider who went on to be with the Lord on January 27. He was truly a man who loved His Lord, loved to worship Him, and loved his wife and family.
We will miss his sweet piano music, his joyful smile, and his ever-present words of encouragement. He was truly a testimony to God’s faithfulness to His servants.
Steve lived his final two years in Netanya with his wife Kerstin. He had three adult children and four grandchildren. He attended and ministered at Beit Asaph Congregation. However, he also brought his music and testimony all over. Often, he was out on the streets of Netanya and in other cities, sharing God’s love in song and in word.
Steve was 64. He died approximately one year after a car struck him while walking from his home. He suffered much from the injuries and eventually died from a sustained lung infection and then a collapsed heart.
Steve and Kerstin enjoyed ministering together, and spent seven years travelling internationally, throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, the United States and Central America. They shared in worship and teaching everywhere. During one of those trips, they met a godly Korean man who was also a dentist. This man had a profound encounter with the Lord, where he heard Him say, audibly: “this man really loves Me and l love him.” The dentist agreed to bless Steve with extensive and expensive treatment free of charge.
Steve came to the Lord in 1973. He grew up in a Jewish home in California. Music was always his love. In fact, he learned to play the piano at age six. He wrote and recorded many songs. In addition to his ministry in believing assemblies in Israel and internationally, Steve also delighted in playing his beloved piano at many hotels, bringing joy and peace into the secular world.
Steve and Kerstin were deeply in love. They married in 1983. However, the early years of their marriage were quite stormy as Steve battled extreme bi-polar mental attacks. Kerstin wrote about it on their web site in an article entitled: “The Stolen Years.” However, in 1999, after much prayer and endurance, Steve received and submitted to proper medical treatment. He became stable emotionally!! The best years of their marriage were ahead of them.
However, even throughout the dark times, Steve never stopped praising God. One of the last songs that he wrote was based on Psalm 150:6:
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! (NASB).
I believe that down to his last breath, this giant of the worship world was doing that very thing, praising His God. I am even more certain that he is doing so now.
For more about Steve and Kerstin Schneider, please turn to their web site stevekerstin.com.