Anya's Journey from Resident to Shelter Home Worker
Written by BERT DOKTER
Our MP team members serve God and people out of a deep calling. Many had pasts of abandonment and trauma but found help, healing, and a new beginning through Mission Possible. These staff members are some of our newest co-workers and willingly give of themselves, which has produced great fruit. Anya is one who has joined MP’s staff not just as a job, but as a way of life.
Anya didn’t have the blessing of a happy childhood. She never met her father, who left the family right after she was born. Her mother abandoned her, too, causing Anya to spend the first seven years of her life in an orphanage.
She was then placed with a foster family for two years before her mother unexpectedly took her back. “I don’t know why,” Anya says. “She already had ten children! It was constant conflict and chaos at the house. Once, my mother even threatened me with a pitchfork. She threw me out when I was 19.”
A Single Mother Facing Hardship
Anya found work on a farm and rented a small house nearby. While working there she met a man and became pregnant. But after their daughter Milana was born, he wanted nothing to do with either of them. “I still see him occasionally,” she says, “but he’s never once asked about Milana.”
Social services deemed Anya’s rented residence unfit for a child. If she didn’t improve her living conditions, she would lose custody. “I couldn’t afford renovations or a better rental, so I ended up at Mission Possible’s shelter home in Omsk. That was three years ago.”
Trapped by the Past
“At first I didn’t want to stay at the shelter home. It was hard. I got offended easily and argued with others a lot.”
Anya and Milana stayed there for a year before they tried living independently again, but Anya’s past haunted her.
“When I saw my mother again, old wounds resurfaced. I blamed her for my awful childhood and couldn’t forgive her. Eventually I chose to return to the shelter. Thankfully, they received us again.”
Forgiveness, Faith, and a New Start
Today Anya’s life looks very different. Everything began to change when she surrendered her life to Jesus Christ, forgave her mother, and found fellowship in a local church.
“I completed a year-long rehab program at the shelter. During that time I gave my life to Christ and, with His help, learned to forgive. I’ve since been baptized. I sing on the worship team at church and teach a kids’ Sunday school class. With help from the shelter, I now have my own apartment where Milana and I live.”
“I want my daughter to have a better childhood than I did.”
The shelter home also gave Anya the opportunity to enroll in a seven-month training program in fundraising. “It wasn’t easy being away from Milana during the day. And I didn’t think I was good at speaking or numbers. The first time I had to call a company I was so nervous I hung up mid-call!”
But she didn’t give up.
“I pushed through. I wanted to succeed for Milana’s sake. Little by little, I overcame my fear. Now I have a full-time position at the shelter, which has become my dream job. The best part is being able to help other moms and children.
“The shelter is like a second home to me. I love our church, too. If I ever get married, my husband will have to be from this town – or willing to move here – because I never want to leave!”
Omsk, Siberia, has a population of one million. We have a facility in the city that helps mothers and their children in crises start a new life. Our team is currently raising funds and materials to renovate a new shelter home there.
More Mothers and Children Need Our Help - Join Us in Renovating the New Omsk Shelter Home!
Mission Possible’s shelter home in Omsk has been operating since 2020. The space, however, has been too small to accommodate all the mothers and children who’ve come seeking help.
Our team has been praying for a new building. Urgency increased recently when the shelter was fined for poor conditions. In March, a 3,230 square foot building that used to serve as a dormitory was found. The structure is sound, but it needs major renovations. When it’s completed, it will make a very suitable shelter home.
The shelter home staff in Omsk is actively fundraising and collecting materials for the renovations. Our whole MP team is coming alongside them for this major project.
You can join this effort by contributing to the renovation fund. Please designate your gift to “Omsk shelter home.” Thank you!
