AS FAR BACK AS I CAN REMEMBER, I have always believed in God. I was christened in the Russian Orthodox Church, but my family didn't attend church regularly.
When I was 11 years old, a Christian Science teacher came to lecture in our city, Ukhta, known as the "Pearl of the North" in Russia. Some call it the city of oil and gas workers because it was the first Russian city where oil was discovered.
Christian Science really helped our family at a difficult time. My mom had already been searching for spiritual answers to our challenges, so we went to hear the lecture and became interested in Christian Science. We bought the textbook, Science and Health, and also met with the Christian Science teacher. We began to read the weekly Bible Lessons (published by The Mother Church in the Christian Science Quarterly) on our own. As a follow-up, the teacher came back to visit us every year. By then, my mother and I were part of a small group who were interested in Christian Science and who regularly gathered together to read the Bible and Science and Health.
