On this first episode of The Church Planting Life Podcast, I share the reason why I decided to plant a church. This is one of the most often asked questions that I get. People always want to know, why is it that I, along with my wife Victoria founded and planted a brand new church in Irvine, California? In this inaugural episode, I am going to talk about how my family immigrated to the United States from the former Soviet Union. From there, I am going to share my experience growing up as a child and then as a young adult within the context of an ethnically Slavic church in Seattle, WA. Then, I will talk about my transition and beginning steps of how we founded and launched Forward Church, a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, American church in Irvine, California.