Our Team

We are a team of dedicated individuals who are passionate about helping people connect with God through prayer and fasting.

Fr. Mesrop Ash

Spiritual Advisor & Project Leader

Fr. Mesrop serves as the parish priest of St. John Armenian Church in San Francisco and is the project leader of Fast & Pray. With a background in web development, he combines technology and faith to create tools that inspire spiritual growth.

Dn. Andrew Ylitalo

Software Engineer

Dn. Andrew also serves at St. John and has a passion for discovering and sharing how the practices of the Armenian Church can bring us closer to Christ. With his background as a deacon and as a software engineer, he helps ensure the app is both spiritually meaningful and technically robust.

Anahid Ylitalo

Product Designer

Anahid is Dn. Andrew's wife and the designer of the Fast & Pray app. With her background in user experience design, she works to make the app beautiful and easy to use. She is happy to receive any feedback or suggestions you have for the app.

Acknowledgments

We thank everyone who has supported Fast & Pray.

His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II: For his spiritual guidance and leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Archbishop Hovnan Derderian: For his unwavering support and encouragement of this initative and all efforts to strengthen the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church.
Bishop Daniel Findikyan: For his precious insight and the many valuable educational resources privided to give meaning and structure to this tool.
Tom Samuelian: For providing one of a kind resources about the intricacies of the Armenian Church calendar.
Rev. Dr. Archdeacon George A. Leylegian: For insightful discussions and for sharing his research findings.
Dn. Mikayel Margaryan: For his invaluable work in translating the user interface into Armenian.
Daily Worship: For generously providing the daily readings that inspire and guide users in their spiritual journey.
Catena Bible Team: For their work in making Scripture accessible and providing tools that complement our app’s mission.
API.Bible(American Bible Society): For providing the New King James Version (NKJV) and King James Version with Apocrypha (KJVAIC) Scripture texts free of charge to support the reading of Holy Scripture among our users.
Our Beta Testers and the Faithful of St. John Armenian Church: For their encouragement, feedback, and unwavering support throughout the development of this app.