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Birth Date: November 2, 1983 Roman was born in Anchorage and was raised in Kodiak. His mother is of mixed heritage - predominately Russian Alutiiq. She is from Kodiak and is a convert from the Roman Catholic church after Vatican 2. Roman's father is also of mixed heritage - predominately Yupik Eskimo. They are not together but both are living in Kodiak. Roman attended Kodiak High School and has completed his GED. Because he grew up in Kodiak, his Mother's best friends were teachers at St. Herman Theological Seminary. He had felt drawn to the seminary since a young child. However, Roman began to question God and felt a need to search other faiths for knowledge. He enrolled at the seminary as a part-time student about 2 years ago and worked full time at the local Ardinger's Furniture store. Mr. Ardinger has been a long time member of the St. Herman Board of Trustees. While working and attending classes, Roman broke his leg playing Basketball the summer of 2005. This caused him to have to quit his job. But he did not stop his classes and decided this is what he should be doing. The next year (2005/06) he enrolled fulltime at St. Herman Theological Seminary. Roman feels his biggest challenge the first year at seminary was difficulty with some of his close friends. They are in Kodiak and have tried to pull him away from the decision he has made. He says they are not good and have caused him to understand that he cannot have them in his life any longer. The classes have been fine for him but he says he did not apply himself fully. He is working better this year on his studies. Roman has taught himself Hebrew . This was furthered with the help from a friend of his Mother who grew up in Tel Aviv. He is currently taking New Testament Greek and hoping to learn Arabic. Seminary staff are amazed that he has self taught in these languages and say that Roman has a great interest in church history. Roman wants to be married and have children. He does understand that this will effect his decision for the priesthood. He says that the first year at seminary and attending services has changed the way he sees women. It is now more important to find a quality person rather then how one looks. Last summer Roman worked at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Kiosk and gave church tours for the cruise ships. He took a High School trip to Greece with his Grandmother. He hopes to go back to Greece under a program with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese as a counselor for Greek youth. He is looking into this program. He is excited about the upcoming year and looks forward to serving whatever is God's Will for him.
2421 Perry St. • Wichita, KS
67204 |
Roman Rice