Missionary Profile: Steve Riesenberg
In this post, I'd like to introduce myself and share a little about my passion for missions and Mexico.
About me
My name is Steve Riesenberg, and I'm a member of the Faith & Life and Pastoral teams at Stony Brook Church. I also am on the music team where I play violin twice a month for Sunday morning worship, and I volunteer time to help lead our youth group on Thursday evenings. When not serving in the church, I'm a software developer and I work for a large corporation doing community work with the open source software community where I develop code in the open and have a passion for conference speaking and sharing my knowledge with others.
Mexico Trip
Originally, I was interested in the idea of a mission trip to Mexico as a way to get our high school youth out on the mission field for a short time to experience how other cultures receive the Gospel and God's Word and be part of His work in other countries. As time went on, it became clear to me that God has a different purpose for this trip, given that very few youth will be attending. I now believe the primary and immediate purpose will be to build relationships with not only the Matthew Training Center but also the local churches of Guadalajara Mexico. As I contemplate what that process will look like for us, I'm also encouraged by the opportunity to build stronger relationships with members of the church who are on this team, and look forward to how God will use us in "unexpected" ways as we allow Him to chart a path for us that may not look like the one that I started with in my mind at the beginning of the planning stage for this Mexico trip.