A Family For Vanya?

This is Vanya. He is a 15 year old boy being hosted here for the summer through Project 143, and he would like a family!

If you are anything like me there is no way that you could even fathom having been alone at the age of 15. No parents to guide you, no one who truly loves you and cares about what happens to you. I can't even imagine what I would have felt like during those very difficult teen years had I been all alone in this world.

Well, Vanya is alone and he has been for a long time. You see, Vanya is a what they call a true orphan meaning he was not just given up at the orphanage by parents who couldn't care for him.... He has no parents. They both passed away when he was very young. From a woman who lost her own mother at 19, that was hard enough, but to be a small child, even more heartbreaking.

We have had the pleasure of hosting Vanya for the past few weeks and will host him until the end of August when he returns home. He is a very quiet boy who has taken some time to warm up to us.  I truly feel he is being cautious, reserved, too afraid of getting his hopes up then his heart broken.

When he first came to us he was unsure about adoption.  In fact, he was almost against it for sure.  He loves his country, which is understandable! He feels like the only life he has ever known has been pretty ok. So he was reluctant to consider something new.

We had a good conversation with him after he was here for a few days. We talked frankly about his life and his options, and what his life would look like in the future following both scenarios- adoption into a family or aging out into a trade school. I prayed that God would give me the right words to say to this impressionable young boy during the short time he was here and that he would know we truly care about him and his future, even though we just met.

You see, since Vanya is 15 he will be aging out soon. Very soon.  This precious boy turns 16 this November which means he has very little time to find a committed family and for them to get going on their paperwork. He needs to be officially committed to with USCIS before that birthday.

That is no easy task, but we serve a mighty God and we know that through Him all things are possible!  We know that His eye is on this boy and we pray He is guiding us in our influence on Him so that he might grow to know more about our Lord and trust Him with the plans for his life.

So a little more about Vanya.......

He is smart! He knows way more English than he cares to let on. ;)
He is respectful... Holds the door, clears his plate after each meal.
He is quiet... He takes his time getting to know you.  He is a bit of an introvert until he is comfortable, but he has done great in our family with our ten kids!
He is quite the athlete!  Plays soccer very well, is on the soccer team at his school, as well as track and field and wrestling.  He loves the trampoline, swimming, riding bikes and doing flips!
He is a master of UNO. :)
He loves music of all kinds
He loves cake, chocolate and ice cream.... And fish!

I ask that you search your heart and see if you have room in it for an amazing teenager like Vanya.  He deserves a chance, a home, a family.  Please feel free to contact me for more information either by posting a comment on this blog, or at jurowe@vnet.net  Thank you!