The first time Nasya Joell danced on stage he was nine.

He was so nervous he kept dropping his prop but the experience got him hooked on performing.

By the time his family left Bermuda for Huntsville, Alabama a year later, Nasya was dancing competitively.

There was just one problem. Practices were often on a Saturday and he was a Seventh-day Adventist. Eventually, he had to choose between church and dance.

“I decided I needed church more,” said the 15-year-old.

He doesn’t regret the decision.

“It gave me a chance to explore my other passions, such as singing,” he said. “I’ve always loved singing — although whether I’m any good at it is another question.”

He joined the 50-member Quiet Hour Ministries choir in Huntsville and learnt that fun things can happen in church too. “I sing tenor,” he said. “I am all about choir singing now. It’s provided me with new opportunities.” In December the teenager is going with the choir to sing in Bonao, in the hills of the Dominican Republic.

“They don’t have a lot of Seventh-day Adventist churches in the area, so we will be building them,” he said. “It is going to be really fun and a learning experience for all of us. It is a big thing to take it overseas and to see how everyone else is living Christianity.

“We will also be talking with children in the community about Christianity and our faith.” He feels that the teen years are particularly hard for Christians.

“It is very difficult because a lot of the things you want to do, you’re not supposed to do,” he said. “As a child, I didn’t get to do a lot of things, because I was Seventh-day. Sometimes it seemed like everything happens on a Saturday.

“In the long run, it was for the best, and I realised it wasn’t that big a deal.”

He’s now trying to raise $2,050 for the trip through bake sales and a fundraising page.

“I could ask my parents, but I want to raise the money myself,” he said.

His family moved to Huntsville so his mother, Teresa Brown, could go to college. Nasya hopes to finish his education in the United States.

“Moving to Alabama wasn’t difficult, but it was different,” he said. “There are a lot of opportunities and different things I would get to do easier than I would in Bermuda. It is a lot of fun.”

The Bermudian was named “best actor” at his school, the Academy for Academics and Arts, in 2013. He’s since transferred to Oakwood Adventist Academy.

“It helps to go to a Christian school, because everyone there has the same faith,” he said. “But of course there is still temptation. In some ways, I think it might actually be worse than going to public school. The majority of the children in my class have been in the same school since they were in kindergarten.

“Some of them decide to rebel. Everyone is human.”

His first goal in life is to stay close to God; his second is to find a career that he loves.

“I’ve thought about becoming a minister, but I’m not sure,” he said. “I took a workshop in the summer that involved creative writing and film. I loved that, particularly the film aspect. Whatever I do, it will probably be in the arts.”

He is most proud he has managed to stay true to himself. “I think some people change due to pressure from other people, particularly when they are in their teens,” he said. “I don’t want to do that. I want to stay me.”