Helping Anya Get to Safety

I have set this Go Fund Me up for my sister, Tara Whitmore. Please see her message below.

 

Our family was forever changed during the Christmas of 2012 when we were blessed to host Anya, a 15-year-old girl from Odessa, Ukraine, through a ministry called New Horizons for Children. NHFC matches orphans with Christian families for hosting and potential adoptions. I have shared our story below to understand how Anya became a part of our family.

 

With the war in Ukraine, we have urged Anya to get to Poland as soon as possible. Anya is now 25 years old and an adult, and we want to respect her decisions.

 

Until recently, she has been hesitant to leave Ukraine. We realized it was because her passport was stolen. She shared that she had not received her salary (despite working) since the beginning of February. The lack of a passport and funding kept her from entertaining the idea of leaving Ukraine. It seemed impossible to her, but Luke 1:37.

 

God is again providing personally and powerfully for Anya! New Horizons was able to find a copy of her old passport in their files- from 10 years ago- in just a couple of hours. I sent it on to her digitally. This is essential for obtaining a new passport when you no longer have the old one.

 

Odessa continues to come under attack… we’re waiting with bated breath for each message! Monday morning, Anya and I were messaging, trying to determine whether it was safer to stay put or brave the outdoors to get to the bomb shelter. We walk by faith and not by sight, 2 Cor 5:7. We are grateful she now understands that the window of opportunity may be closing.

 

Anya has given away almost everything she owns, packed and vacated her apartment. She has worked hard to build a life for herself, but she needs to get to Lviv and onto Poland. They will depart Wednesday morning. It is a 12-hour drive.

 

Then she needs to get across the border. It will take 1-2 days to be “in-processed” at the border. Her lack of a passport will not stop her from entering Poland, but it may delay her a bit, hindering her ability to travel elsewhere within Poland.

 

We have a friend of a friend in Rsezsow who will take her in, if necessary. I plan to meet her in Warsaw, get her passport and see if she wants to come to the US.

 

I’d hoped to take Faith with me, as this whole journey began with her prayers. Her passport is expired. And so far, there are no appointments in DC for passports.

 

If you feel led to help, any donations would be used to get us to Poland, pay for accommodations, help Anya secure her new passport and visa, replace the necessities that Anya had to leave behind and hopefully purchase Anya a ticket to the US. We will keep records of expenditures and share the story as we are able.

 

In the meantime, we continue to pray for all orphans who do not have this support. James 1:27 and 5:16.

 

 

Our Story

We were a military family, moving annually each Christmas, and our daughter Faith (then age 8) had been praying daily about a mission trip. On K-Love one day, we heard about New Horizons ministry and “bringing the mission trip home”. We both audibly gasped- I looked at her face in the rearview mirror, and I knew the Lord had just spoken to us both!

 

Anya came to us with nothing but a backpack and a passport. The first photo is awkward and funny in hindsight. After a run to Sonic for Happy Hour and a gigantic soda and then a trip to Target, she had some of her own things, and she got over jetlag in record time! She’s an amazing traveler!

 

Over the next few weeks, we watched- rejoicing- as caring family, friends, and the Body of Christ supplied all of her needs- and MORE. Gift cards, clothes, luggage, monogramming of luggage, hygiene items, make-up, outings, a day at a country club pool, haircuts, family photos sessions, dental care and an optometry check-up. I didn’t even know all the people who helped, but it was beautiful!

 

The dentist in Leavenworth, Kansas, worked for over four hours to rebuild her front teeth, which had been broken. We used an iPad to translate instructions into Russian during the procedure. I am sure the bill would have been thousands of dollars, but he considered it an honor to provide for her. She was so brave….in Ukraine, they do not use anesthetics for dental procedures.

 

After her teeth were repaired, Anya began smiling in pictures. It felt like her dignity was restored. She shined. She gained weight. She grew 2 inches that next summer.

 

She taught me to make Borscht and Ukrainian Christmas dishes. We celebrated “American Christmas” and then “Orthodox Christmas” together. After hosting fees, there was not much extra to provide presents….our kids had gladly opted in to a “Dollar store” Christmas so that Anya could visit.

 

But God doesn’t need our checkbook! Miracle after miracle of provision kept coming. Christmas presents. Gift cards. Boxes of steaks…We were overwhelmed! And it was often humorous, which was even more delightful!

 

The kids didn’t need the iPad to navigate the language barrier. They somehow communicated better than the adults! They taught Anya to bounce on the trampoline and snorkel and play Fruit Ninja on the iPad. She became a master of Wii Tennis and bowling. Folks gave up challenging her! I knew they’d all bonded as siblings when they argued over the remote or which game to play!

 

She became a master road tripper…one of the things she listed in her application was wanting to be in a family with younger children, lots of pets, and see ALL of America. We tested that to the limits of her wanderlust with a road trip from Georgia to Florida to North Carolina and then back to Kansas.

 

In Ukraine, pets are for the wealthy. I don’t have a single, non-selfie picture of Anya without a cat or dog in her lap. Even when we toured possible homes to buy, their pets were in her arms. We still giggle, remembering this!

 

There were hard things, too- the language barrier often made her feel alone. Well-meaning people said unkind things, one time in Russian. Sometimes the attention was too much; she just wanted to blend in, as most teens do. And she really missed her friends in Ukraine. She was easily delighted, but everything was also unfamiliar. The culture shock was hard.

 

I did not birth her or raise her, so there were times when we were not in agreement. She was almost an adult. In Ukraine, most orphans leave the orphanage at age 16. She tested limits. She eventually got to the point where she was our teenage daughter, hiding in her room, wanting to just message with her friends.

 

Because she arrived just days before her 16th birthday, it meant that adoption was not an option. That was confusing and disheartening, so we had to trust God’s plan- watching His story unfold through this intersection of lives as He was creating a new family.

 

We knew this was God’s plan, but I wrestled in my heart… I was becoming her mother. How could I send her back? But then- Ukraine was her home! It was easier to send her back when I knew she would be back in a few months. Eventually, that opportunity ended. More wrestling.

 

She came to us twice more before aging out of the hosting program and her orphanage.

During that time, she became our daughter- our oldest “kid”. It was very hard to be separated, not knowing if she was safe, healthy and if she was following the Lord! Was she brushing? Was this new guy a nice guy? Could she find work? How was college going? We thanked God for Western Union, Facebook messenger, and Google translate and for each and every time she sent a message.

 

We always hoped we would move back to Germany and be able to have her live with us or at least visit regularly. Twice, we almost got there. Just a couple of months away from flying, some bureaucracy would prevent that move. And each time, when it fell through, I grieved again the loss of having Anya come “home.”

 

Things have been hard for her. Orphans in Eastern Europe are at risk for trafficking, for drugs, for crime…the stigma is real, and the statistics are staggering. Work is hard to find, but Anya is a hard worker. Often, even a full-time job is not enough to provide for even those who live frugally. Which explains why trafficking, crime and suicide are rampant! The vulnerable are easily victimized.

 

While fleeing the war in Ukraine is not how we hoped for Anya to leave Ukraine, we are so thankful she has so many people praying for her and willing to help us navigate her journey as a refugee. She may opt to stay in Poland. However, we want her to have a valid passport so her options are open. She needs a safe place to stay and help to navigate that process. When/if she returns to Ukraine, she will be completely starting over. We will worry about that later, Matthew 6:34!

 

It is a long flight and we have a lot of international bureaucracy to wade through. We will do our best to post updates. Faith and I will fly to Warsaw on Saturday, arriving Sunday, midday local time. We trust that Anya will be able to meet us there. There will be a lot of waiting in line in embassies. We appreciate your prayers for successfully obtaining all paperwork in a timely manner.

 

We are so thankful for sincere and helpful suggestions, but wading through multiple messages, across multiple time zones and in multiple languages is difficult. We are grateful for all of the amazing people we can call upon for help! We are very seasoned international travelers, and we lived in Europe for quite a while.

 

There are many in Cru (where I work) who are experts in all the things! I have experts just a message or phone call away who are connected to people in-country. We also have dear friends who live or have lived in all of the places we will need to go. The Lord goes before us, Deut 31:8.

 

If we are unable to answer your message or questions, please know that your support/prayers/concerns are invaluable. We will post updates here, so everyone is up to date. Thank you for all the love and support!