As we stop to remember over this season, please remember Patrick on his journey from soldier to Scripture Reader.
By Sandrina de Klerk, Communications Assistant
This article was first published in our Autumn 2023 Ready magazine. Since then, Patrick has completed his Scripture Reader training and is now based at Salisbury Plain.
Being an identical triplet comes with its challenges. Particularly when each triplet has been involved in the military in some way. Matthew Steen went to Germany for University Officer Training Corps summer camp, and during his trip back on the ferry to Dover, his identical brother Patrick Steen’s Commanding Officer and Second-in-command (2IC) were on that same trip and assumed Patrick was AWOL. They did not believe Matthew until he took them to his officer who confirmed that this was ‘our Steen, yours is where he’s supposed to be.’
Before Patrick got to the military, he was growing up in Fleetwood, Lancashire, working his way through Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and finishing with the Army Cadets. When he turned sixteen, he was sick of school and wrongly thought that joining the Army would mean saying goodbye to sitting in classrooms! On top of that motive, Patrick was told by someone that he wouldn’t make it in the Army, which of course, made him all the more determined to ‘make it’.
He was sick of school and wrongly thought that joining the Army would mean saying goodbye to sitting in classrooms.
He joined with a false sense of security, thinking he would be better, or at least above average, due to his experiences with the cadets. He was also obsessed with fitness, partly in preparation to join the Army. That aspect did pay off– he was marked as the fastest and fittest at the end of training. He was grateful for it, as his running speed saved him when he struggled in other areas.
Patrick had to recognise his own limitations, and dealing with these proved a challenge.
He could not shoot for the life of him and for some reason, he could just never get drill right. Trying to meet the standards and constantly failing was frustrating. Patrick had to recognise his own limitations, and dealing with these proved a challenge.
When Patrick was a child, he attended St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School, which was connected to the church he attended with his mother and siblings. He was confirmed in the church and never doubted the reality of a God. When he swore his oath of allegiance and joined the Army he swore truthfully, ‘by Almighty God’.
During training, he received a Bible along with everyone else, to which his immediate thought was, ‘I need this’. Though he did not regularly read it, he found it a comfort when he did, and so he kept it. He also found comfort at church, so he went along every Sunday – it was also just nice to get out of the block! It was at church that he met ASR Lee Philipson and had brief exchanges with him.
Phase Two training came around (which was much less exciting than Phase One), and Patrick found himself bored in Bordon. In between waiting for courses, the recruits were given two options: either to busy themselves with some jobs that needed sorting, or to go and speak to the Bible man about the Bible. Option two seemed the obvious choice to Patrick. The ‘Bible man’ was in fact the Scripture Reader at Bordon, ASR Tiaan de Klerk.
The ‘Bible man’ was in fact the Scripture Reader at Bordon.
Tiaan first met Patrick during a Friday event he regularly ran. The hold platoon would send all the soldiers they had to Tiaan for a couple of hours on a Friday. Alongside coffee and cake, he would ask for a topic, then give a Christian perspective on it before opening the room for discussion. Patrick approached Tiaan after one of these sessions, and they started meeting together to study the Bible.
I always believed there was a God. I thought He was distant and sort of unknowable. I thought I was an alright person and figured if I did enough good it would weigh out the bad, and one day when I died, I would sit down with God and work it out. He would be reasonable enough to let me into heaven.
They began going through Galatians and after that, Romans. Patrick wrestled with the idea that ‘none is righteous’, and everything they studied seemed to clash with his idea of a universal God who could be reasoned with. As they met together, he began to be more and more convicted, until one evening in his bedroom, he surrendered and gave himself to the Lord. From that point, the rest of his time in Bordon was the process of being rooted and grounded.
Members of The Queen’s Royal Hussars (QRH) on exercise in Finland. UK MOD © Crown copyright 2022
Though he had joined REME, Patrick had originally wanted to work with tanks after watching a documentary about them. An opportunity came to do that, so he transferred to The Queen’s Royal Hussars and moved to Bovington.
Patrick was initially nervous about the transfer, which would involve finding a new church. But God was ahead of him. A former SASRA worker gave Patrick the information for a church in Bere Regis, which soon became his church family over his time in Bovington.
Patrick was posted to Germany in 2014. While there, he connected with three different Scripture Readers: Ray Hendricks, William Wade and Gavin Dickson.
The time in Germany was a time of growth... it broadened his understanding as well as giving him a church family.
For Patrick, the time in Germany was a time of growth. He was young in his faith, but the SASRA Bible studies that were held on camp deepened his knowledge and love for the Lord. The church he joined was rich in fellowship, but not always theologically sound. However, even that was a blessing, as he was exposed to different people preaching, different theological opinions and different styles of worship. It broadened his understanding as well as giving him a church family. Another factor that contributed to Patrick’s growth as a Christian was that his time in Germany coincided with the 500-year anniversary of the Reformation. During that period, the Five Solas of the Reformation were drilled into him, for which he remains grateful.
ASR Gavin Dickson is one of the Scripture Readers who spent time with Patrick in Germany. He recalls the weekly Bible studies and the faithful attendance of Patrick, with commitment that so many were lacking. Patrick was round at their house often; he was always helpful and even babysat for them a couple of times.
Germany was the hardest posting to leave for Patrick. When the British Army ended its permanent deployment to Germany, he and several others commemorated the event, by cycling from Germany, through Holland, Belgium and France and running to Tidworth.
The Five Solas of the Reformation were drilled into him, for which he remains grateful.
Once again, God was ahead of him, providing a church and a Scripture Reader, Dave Hossack, almost upon arrival. Patrick was then deployed to Estonia for six months on ‘Operation Cabritt 5’. During 2019 and through to 2021, he had big ambitions for a military career, wanting to promote to Corporal and to become a Tank Commander, but these aspirations kept falling through.
A Challenger 2 main battle tank moves at speed across rugged terrain in Finland. UK MOD © Crown copyright 2022
He had big ambitions for a military career... but these aspirations kept falling through.
After twelve years, it felt like nothing he had planned towards had happened. The frustration of his perceived failures irked him. Why could he not meet the standards? What was he doing wrong and why was God not giving him what he wanted and what he had worked so hard for?
SASRA had always been a part of his life and many individuals had mentioned the idea of him becoming a Scripture Reader in the future. At this point, ASR Tiaan de Klerk asked whether Patrick would apply.
He fought against it at first. He couldn’t talk to people about Jesus, he wasn’t an evangelist. Why would he join SASRA?
‘Lord, if you open the door, I will walk through it’
But the Lord kept nudging and brought him to the place where Patrick finally said, ‘Lord, if you open the door, I will walk through it,’ and he kept saying that. This led him right through the interview process and to a job offer. It has been a process that has taken a couple of years, but it has truly been something of a round trip for Patrick.
Part of me doesn’t want it, but God has opened the door to serve those who serve. It’s exciting, the possibility that God can use me in a great work within the Armed Forces and continue that faithful work in SASRA to carry forth His Word.
Eleven years after his conversion as a soldier who met with a Scripture Reader, Patrick now becomes a Scripture Reader. He is taking up that metaphorical torch that has been faithfully carried in the Armed Forces for so many years, and he goes forward with that torch, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
PRAY WITH US
- Give thanks for the Lord’s guiding hand upon Patrick’s life, which has prepared him for and led him to his role of Scripture Reader.
- Praise God for all the opportunities Patrick has had since starting at Salisbury Plain. May the Lord continue to open doors for the gospel there.
