Meet Anya......She Is Asking For A Second Chance For A Family!

UPDATE** ANYA'S FOREVER FAMILY FOUND HER AS OF 9/2/13!!!!  
THANK YOU EVERYONE THAT HELPED PUSH HER FAR AND WIDE!!!
Second Chances….Meet Anya!

This is Anya she is asking for a second chance.   Anya has been hosted to America before and a family wanted to adopt her.  At the time Anya had a laundry list of expectations and demands on what she wanted from her forever family which was centered around friends and friends only no care of what a family could provide her with.....love, family, education, life skills, learning more about Christ, etc. 

Then she started watching her friends get adopted and saying “yes” and then they were gone.  Suddenly it hit her…..it really was not about just finding a family in North Carolina next to all her friends but about the love of a family.  Anya has searched out different adoptive families including myself, mission team members and mentors that I know to reach out to say she made a great mistake and is hoping for a second chance. 

She has been anxiously awaiting someone to hear her voice and change of heart.  When I saw her I told her I heard she has had a serious change of heart since I last saw her in March/April of this year.  She said yes and I told her then we need to talk.  Little does this young lady know many of my friends God has placed her specifically very heavily on their hearts.  Too many in that it cannot go un-noticed God has a plan for this young lady.  

Let me tell you about Anya….Anya is 14 years old and is the smallest little thing!  She is at the school with my boys we are adopting so I will be spending a lot of time with her and look forward to getting to know her more.  She has been at the boarding school for 7 years and she does have brothers and sisters but they have aged out and are on their own.  When I asked her if she recalls what happened or why she came to the boarding school she said her family did not want her and brought her there because she had speech issues.  She has an occasional stutter and you rarely hear it.  You can tell by talking to her she is a very bright and intelligent young lady and a spitfire if need to be.  I will say since I last saw her the spitfire has tamed way down and reality has hit….she wants a forever family and her laundry list had to go and she indeed let it go.

If I can give you a visual picture of me talking to her and if you can just go this road with me for a moment….when asking her things like if you could be like anyone who would you like to be like…..answer, I don’t know.  If you could change something about yourself what would it be……answer, don’t know.  Do you have a favorite singer?  Her response “do not have one”.  So talking to her was like pulling teeth out of a horses mouth with a pair of pliers.  Then it hit me……she has been so humbled by her laundry list and letting it go that she has truly set it all free and out the door.  Then I asked her Anya are you just wanting to do what your family wants to do and learn and experience what they want to.  Then the answer came “yes”.  She said “yes I just want to be with them and do whatever they want to do”.  I told her girl that is a good answer. 

Ok let me tell ya some things I did learn about Anya…….she likes a lot of different styles of music and would like to learn how to dance.  She really does not dig eating salads but she said she loves just about everything else.  She made sure I heard the word everything.  Not sure where the food goes on this girl, being so tiny!  She enjoys swimming, there is a creek right next to the school and the kids have fun swimming in it.  She likes to sew, make crafts and dance.  Anya is more on the quiet side and I like to refer to this as she is not all up in your grill/business.  When I asked her if she preferred quit times or a busy atmosphere she said she likes a little of both.  When asked if she would like to be with friends or alone she would prefer to be with friends.  She told me she does not care if she is a leader or a follower so she will not be fighting for the lead dog role.  And to follow that up which is really rare she even said she would prefer to be the youngest in a family if there was kids.  THIS IS RARE FOLKS!  She loves to be outside and have fun and would love to learn English.  She said she loves learning period and is excited to learn. When I asked her what is one thing she would like to learn to do her response was she wants to learn and do whatever her family is willing to do and teach her.  Open book folks!

Her wish is to have a family to love and treat her well.  So I reversed the question and asked her if you had a family would you treat them well too.  She said yes she would love and treat them well.  I asked her will you make demands on your family like you had done before when a family wanted to adopt you and her response was “no”.  Anya believes in Jesus and is praying for a second chance.  She is eager and awaiting a family to come for her and she is ready!  If you have any questions please let me know and I will do my best to answer them, again I will be with Anya for the next month while doing our adoption.  

Today 8/10/13 I asked Anya's friends (boys and girls) what could they tell me about her they all agreed and said the same thing.  That Anya is a good girl and helps others.  She is more on the quiet side but she does not smoke or drink like many others.  

Please help me push her far and wide! 

Here are some comments from people that know Anya personally:

She is kind and smiley, grateful, friendly. She has a sense of humor and she likes doing crafts. She wants to have a family. She is more introvert, but once she knows the person she is much more open and its easier for her to open herself.  She is a girl with a deep personality. She bares all her pains and troubles in her heart. I would say she is a very sensitive girl who needs love and care, some sense of humor would be great ice-breaker in relationship with her.  -Natalya (Missionary that lives in Ukraine)

Anya is a very sweet and kind girl, I remember she told me she loves doing drafts and reading. She is also very generous, during our mission trip the night we took Anya and a couple of other children to dinner I brought her a bag of sweets and she was very excited to share her sweets with her friends. She is also polite and respectful to her friends and adults. After hanging out and talking to Anya during the mission trip and the summer camp I noticed she picked up some English and I have no doubt she will learn more very quickly, she is smart. From the way Anya talked about her friends, caretakers and other people in her life I see her as a very caring and enthusiastic young lady. It was very easy for me to fall in love with Anya and I believe it wont be difficult at all for anyone who is interested in becoming her family.  -Varia (She was on a past missions trip that spent time with Anya)

Anya
Anya is a very sweet 13 year old girl. She is talkative, friendly, and always a good friend to
the others girls in the orphanage. Anya is quite small for her age with beautiful freckles on
her nose. Her teachers say that she is very calm and enjoys studying. Our team saw this
when she and a friend pulled out their English notebooks to study on our way to the beach
for a field trip.
Anya’s father passed away recently and her mother is unable to care for her. Although she
has lived in this orphanage for six years, she has only recently become a true orphan and
she is still adjusting to this change. Her mother has only been to visit her once this year but
they speak on the phone often. She has an eagerness to connect with her host father,
which seems to demonstrate her deep desire for an active and involved father in her life.
She has much healing ahead of her and she will need a family who is loving and patient.
Anya enjoys doing crafts and embroidery. Despite an initial hesitation for the field trip to the
beach, Anya really seemed to enjoy herself. She is a strong swimmer and was not afraid
of the waves. Anya has a playful spirit and a tender heart in family interactions. Anya has
proven to be a great big sister, also. She jumps right in to help with little shoes, push on
swings, and hold hands in a parking lot. Her care and concern for her host family’s
youngest children, even when she is with her friends, is striking. She has brushed teeth
and even humored their 4-year-old with a Russian fairytale at bedtime.
Anya has been on a food adventure so
far with the hosting program. Sometimes
she enjoys the results and sometimes she
does not, but she is willing to try. Waffles,
bacon, and fresh fruit are a favorite for
Sunday brunch with her host family. Any
could not recall if she had ever eaten
bacon. By the end of the meal, she had
downed about a half-a-pound! Salmon
and bratwursts have also been a big hit.
She is a meat and potatoes type of girl!
Her host family has seen that Anya, this
13-year-old girl from Ukraine, is not much
different from their own 13-year-old
daughter from the United States. They
struggle with similar insecurities and social
pressures. They both want to please their
teachers and hear that they have done
a good job. They are both trying to figure
out where they fit in this world that doesn’t
always seem to have room for them. So,
her host family gives Anya a hug before
bedtime and hopes that she understands
that they are so thankful for her!
It should be noted that we do not receive
any medical history on the children who
come to the United States for a hosting
program, as this information is confidential.
The commentary in this profile is based
solely on opinions of their host family and
others who have interacted with them
during their visit. All children from hard
places may have trauma, family history,
or medical issues that could have a
lifelong impact.  - Danielle Merritt-Sunseri (Anya's Previous Host Family)