Steven Snook
Hello, my name is Steven Snook and I am the Executive Director of Extraordinary Solitude, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. This is my story.
When I was born in 1976, my mother was only 15 years old and I was her second child. She was living on her own and in such extreme poverty that she put my brother and myself by the side of a road and called the police to come and get us.
I was sent to Illinois to live with an aunt. She was a waitress and married violent alcoholics. This life was full of abuse and poverty. So the foundation of my life was laid. Abuse, poverty, alcoholism and drug addiction.
By the time I was 15 years old, I was selling marijuana. I had become the fruit of my environment. Soon I went to live on my own and sell drugs full time. I was no stranger to trouble or law enforcement. By the time I turned 21, I was completely entrenched in the criminal lifestyle. I ended up getting sent to prison for 3 years because of a case involving my 17 year old girlfriend. I was 21 and our relationship was fueled with drugs and violence. Upon my release at the age of 24, I was still lost in the world of drug trafficking, and at 26, I got arrested with drugs again, and was sent to federal prison. This time my sentence was for 22 years. The story of a ruined life from birth.
But Jesus had a different plan! I was radically saved and born again in 2003. My life with God has been an incredible one. I became a preacher of the gospel to men in prisons all over the United States. God used me to reach inmates that could not be reached by normal means.
In 2017, I spent over a year in solitary confinement, where my life became a series of long periods of fasting and prayer. I would yell through the bars and preach the Word to inmates I couldn't see, and many were saved, delivered and baptized in The Holy Spirit! During this time I wrote my life story, "Extraordinary Solitude: Prison, Razor Blades & Jesus”, with a 4 inch pen and some scrap paper. The Lord Jesus was using incredible signs and revelation through me in order to reach the hardest criminals in America. My book also contains many of these miraculous testimonials!
In February of 2022, after 19 years in prison, I was finally released. Not a healed man, but a truly resurrected man!
My story has been featured on many podcasts and news outlets stretching around the world. I have had multiple speaking engagements at colleges, including Bradley University and many churches.
Extraordinary Solitude Ministries has an office at the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center, 801 W. Main St. Peoria, Il. 61606. We livestream every night at 8pm central time on Extraordinary Solitude Facebook and Youtube. We currently have over 370,000 followers.
I would love for you to be a part of this journey with us. If you would like to become part of the mission, please come to the livestreams and also please sign up for our email newsletter on the website. There is no judgment here and we would love to meet you.
I currently live in Peoria with my beautiful wife, Kelly Grace, and our pug Fern.
Thank you and Be Blessed,
Pastor Steven Snook