AJ, son of Nance Santino and Al Santino, grew up in Mt. Bethel, PA, where he spent all his life on the basketball court, the football and baseball fields and the gym.  At the age of 16, AJ’s life was radically changed for Jesus.  Since that moment in time, nothing seemed to matter to him more then raiding his High School for Christ.  AJ was very active in his church with the youth and decided to go to Nyack College. From there, AJ graduated from Nyack with a degree in Pastoral Ministries and a concentration in Leadership and Preaching.  One thing about AJ is that he loves people, especially children and teens.  And what he would like people to know the most about him is that he is crazy and crazy in love with Jesus.  His desire is for people to be challenged every day to know the heart of God on such deep levels, but to also be challenged to be “real” with who God made them.  And somehow that desire of his connected with the better half, Larissa. 
Larissa, daughter of Nancy and Rich Troast, grew up right here in this very town of North Haledon.  Larissa attended Eastern Christian, spent lots of her time playing various sports.  But it wasn’t until her last couple years of High School that she became passionate for volleyball.  As she approached college, she received a scholarship to play collegiate volleyball for Nyack College, and she couldn’t think of a better way then to play for Christ and learn about the Christian faith. Larissa has a strong desire for people to know what true intimacy with Jesus is all about.  Larissa went to Swaziland, Africa for 3 weeks, and when she returned home, a woman of God was birthed.  Larissa had a renewing of her heart that gave her a burning desire for Africa.
AJ and Larissa first started to chat as AJ became a manager/assistant coach for the women’s volleyball team.  Larissa thinks that he just wanted to watch her play and didn’t care much about the game.  However, AJ scared Larissa away when he told her how he felt about her. And it wasn’t until their second year of college where they met back up again, and in a blink of an eye, the church bells rang with joy in the air as AJ and Larissa became “one” on December 29, 2007.   
We are both looking forward not only serving the youth, but serving Covenant Church Community.  Please feel free to call us anytime or invite us over for some tea and crumpets. Blessings to you all from the Santino’s.