A missionary team of seven travelled halfway across the world to minister to young abused Romanian girls.
Timothy B. Dyeson, assistant professor of social work, led the team to Romania, a backward transitional country, at the end of May.
The team consisted of Dyeson, Dyeson’s wife, vetinary medicine professor Dan Pauleson, Pauleson’s wife, LSU graduate Jenny Savario, and Dyeson’s parents.
Dyeson, the faculty sponsor of the non-denominational Christian student organization, Living Waters, heard about problems of abused girls in Romania two years ago in a meeting put on by Missio Link International, a Romanian Christian organization, Dyeson said.
“I showed up at the meeting, and my heart got branded,” Dyeson said.
MLI started the Deborah Center to provide long-term service to underage girls who are the victims of domestic abuse, said Dyeson.
In 2001, Dyeson helped a team renovate a house in Giarmata, a village outside of Timisoara. The first girl had arrived in April 2002 to the safe-haven that would provide shelter, consultation and a warm atmosphere. When the team arrived in May, 11 girls, with ages ranging from 6 to 19, lived in the Deborah House, Dyeson said.
Pauleson and Savario were both apprehensive about the girls’ initial reaction to seven strangers in the house.
“They were surprisingly sweet, affectionate, normal active kids,” said Pauleson.
Savario wanted to make sure she made the girls happy.
“I brought a bag of candy,” said Savario. “It was gone in an hour, and the girls all hugged me and kissed me before I left.”
All of the girls had been abused by either families or by caretakers, Pauleson said. The oldest, a 19-year-old girl with a first-grade education, was treated as a servant and forced to raise 20 pigs instead of going to school.
It was difficult for many of the girls, Dyeson said.
Dyeson wanted to break through the girls’ barriers as soon as he could.
Four students videotaped testimonials for the older girls to watch. The testimonials described their own trials and challenges of life.
It was a moving time for all in the room, Dyeson said.
“At the end of the testimonials the girls were all crying, the interpreters were crying, and I was crying,” Dyeson said.
He said it was as if their hearts had melted and they understood that God loved them no matter what.
The two-hour session set the tone for the rest of the trip, Dyeson said. Those two hours were the best thing that came out of the trip, he said.
Savario felt the impact of that session too.
“The girls asked us to pray for them,” said Savario. “They asked for things like trust, strength and wisdom.”
The group got to work on many activities, Pauleson said.
“I taught one of the girls to play guitar. My wife taught dancing. Jenny took them out with disposable cameras,” Pauleson said. “The girls really had a fun time.”
One of Pauleson’s main activities was to help build a chicken house for the girls, he said. By the time they left, 30 chickens had been donated and some were already laying eggs.
Dyeson was pleased with much of the trip, but he said the group faced many challenges.
“The challenge for us was adjusting our pace,” said Dyeson. “They take two-hour lunch breaks, and we’re looking at our watches.”
Despite the cultural differences, the group managed to get along fine, Dyeson said.
“I communicated with the girls who couldn’t even speak English,” said Savario.
A trip already is being planned to return to Romania next year. Plans for expanding the Deborah House project are becoming reality, Dyeson said.
The end result will be five houses total, all located in Giarmata.
Members of MLI intend to make more people and organizations aware of the girls’ plights in Romania through the distribution of a video the team filmed while they were there, Savario said.
To find out more about the program, visit www.missiolink.org.