Briana* is one of the many children in Romania left behind by parents, who decided to work abroad. For years she was raised by her grandmother until her mother decided she wanted her daughter back, but not for the right reasons. Slowly, but surely, abandonment became a secondary problem for this family. Briana’s mother became a danger to her and she was a smart teenager, she knew it.
Because of her mother’s repeated aggressive behavior, one summer on June 2nd (June 1st being the Children’s Day), at only 14 years old, Briana took the step that would change her life forever: “I gave myself a present, right after Children’s Day – the responsibility of fighting for my own life. I kissed my grandmother on the forehead and left everything behind.” And she came to Deborah House.
What a courageous child! While she was at Deborah House and Aspirations, she went to ballet classes, played handball, took piano lessons and graduated from high school. She would always cheer everybody up and most importantly, she gave her life to Christ. She married a christian young gentleman and they are now building their own marriage, house, and life.
Besides being married, working and going to school to become a paramedic, Briana is also a volunteer at Deborah House and an ambassador for MLI. She started her own ministry project: together with her best friend, every week she visits the girls from DH, and they all spend some girly time together. Sometimes they have deep conversations and other times, they simply do each other’s nails and have fun. She is their older sister, their role model and the girls simply love her.
Briana is a powerful example of how God can change a life. Unfortunately, there are thousands of other children in Romania with a similar background. We believe that no child should be abused and every abused child deserves the chance to a new life. Thank you for helping us to offer them this chance!
*Briana is not her real name. We changed the name of the girl to protect her identity.