My parents weren't Christians but my father had an interest in church architecture and organ music. Due to this interest, when I was 3 years old, we went to Tartu St. Peter's Church.

I grew up in a family where, for my parents, Christianity was part of culture. We had an icon in the corner of my father's childhood home in Setomaa. The baptism of children and confirmation were expected.

I am American, born in Brooklyn NY, and my family heritage is from Puerto Rico. I was raised in a Christian home.

I come from a little congregation in Lviv, Ukraine, where I have been serving for the past 5 years in an interdenominational Christian youth organization «Youth to Jesus».