I was born into a strong Christian family in Cairo and I worked for 10 years before I decided to dedicate my life to one of the oldest monasteries in Egypt.

It was my plan to continue my life within its walls, but our Pope summoned me to America to become a priest. His Holiness then sent me to Nottingham and finally to Llandudno in February 2008.

It was Father Bishou of Manchester who originally founded the Coptic Orthodox community in Llandudno four years ago. Soon the congregation needed their own church, so we found this great building on Trinity Avenue.

There are 10 families in North Wales, Chester and Liverpool who attend services. I was sent here because they're far from the mother church and need someone to minister to them. We also want to serve the people of the area because the word of God is for everybody. So our doors are always open.

When we bought this chapel we followed the traditions of the Orthodox Church and filled it with icons. We believe they are a window to heaven - whenever I look at the icon of St Mark, I believe he is with us and his spirit is with God.

We follow in the steps of St Mark the Evangelist, who wrote the second New Testament gospel. He began to preach in North Africa after Christ's death, which is why he was our first Pope and we consider any Pope his successor. The current Pope Shenouda is the 117th.

The main language of Egypt was Coptic until the 7AD when the Islamists invaded and forced people to speak Arabic. So now Coptic is only used in the monasteries and at church.

On Sundays we meet between 9am and 11.30am and begin with morning prayers, then some readings from the gospels and psalms, a sermon and then the service itself.

One of St Mark's teachings is to fast regularly. We fast for 40 days before Christmas to remember the forthcoming birth of Christ and again for 40 days before Easter to remember his death. We also fast on Wednesdays, the day when Judas betrayed Jesus and on Fridays, when Jesus died on the cross.

Fasting doesn't mean going without food or drink of course - it means not eating any meat, fish or dairy products. We do it to control ourselves; live a spiritual life and enjoy thinking of God and the events he prepared for our salvation.

Just a few weeks after I arrived, we received the blessed news that our Pope would visit here in March to consecrate this new church. All the walls, the icons and the altar were anointed and given special prayers and so now we can only worship in this building.

It was a fantastic two hours. Friends from other churches in Llandudno came too.

All Christian leaders in Llandudno meet each month to share the love of Christ together and introduce ourselves to each other. Instead of them wondering who this man dressed in black with the hat and beard might be, they see we're part of one of the oldest churches in the world and we're not some sect!

I like living in Llandudno. The people are kind and I love serving my congregation, though if the Pope is generous, I hope he will allow me to return to the monastery in Egypt one day.
Father Saraphim

Take a virtual tour of Llandudno Coptic Orthodox Church.