Rev. Steven Panasiuk

Rev. Steven (Esteban) Panasiuk, the last surviving of 11 siblings, was born in Misiones, Argentina in 1940 to Ukrainian immigrant parents.

In Argentina, he accepted Christ at 18 years old. After graduating from Temperley Bible School in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1964, Steve moved to the United States in 1965 to study theology at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

He met and married Dina Panasiuk in 1969, and together they built a life centered on faith and family. They were blessed with three children: Becky and her husband Jonathan Jose, and their children Jeremiah, Zach, Anastasia, and Sophia; Danny and his wife Shari, and their children Addie, Emilie, and Brady; and Sam and his wife Julie, and their children Cecilia and Jameson.

In the 1970s, Steve was ordained and pastored the Slavic Evangelical Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois.

In the 1980s, he pastored Iglesia Evangélica Bautista Cortland, the largest Hispanic church in Chicago. During that time, he led a thriving television and radio ministry. Alongside Dina, he organized a transportation and van ministry that allowed people of all means from across Chicago to attend church in person. Through that ministry, many came to know Jesus.

In 1988, Steve moved his family to Sacramento, California, where he and Dina planted numerous churches, including Iglesia Bautista del Valle in Sacramento, Iglesia Bautista Nueva Esperanza in Woodland and Davis, and Iglesia Bautista Jerusalem in Citrus Heights.

Steve served on both the national and regional boards of the Baptist General Conference (BGC), now known as Converge. While serving with BGC, he oversaw the national Hispanic church ministry, ministering to more than 30 churches across the country. In his later years, he traveled to Russia to teach seminary through the Slavic Gospel Association.

After retiring in 2005, Steve and Dina moved to Somerset, California, where Steve served as a church elder at Pioneer Bible Church.

Known as “Dido” to his family, Steve boldly shared his faith everywhere he went, leaving behind a legacy of transformed lives. Jesus was his guiding light, and Steve was ready to meet his Savior. In the end, his undying love for the Lord gave him joy at the thought of eternity with Him.

While he will be deeply missed here on earth by his family and friends, they take comfort knowing he is rejoicing in the presence of the Lord, and that there were surely cheers in heaven when he arrived home.

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4