Parents of a Teenager

Many of you may not know this about us, but Brad and I have a 5th child. He actually was our first. We adopted him through Compassion International in 2002 and he was just 5 years old. His name is Hakizimana Habimana and he lives in Rwanda.Some of the things the card we received when we first adopted him was that his chores include carrying water, gathering firewood and cleaning. He also loved to play soccer and hide-and-seek. Today he turns 13 and we have been supporting him for 7 1/2 years now. Over the years we have received many letters from him. When he sent letters thanking us for Christmas gifts and Birthday gifts he often told us that he bought Christmas dinner with the money or purchased a goat for the family. He has definitely shown us how good we have it here in America. Last year we received a letter from him stating that someone had poisoned him and he almost died.

Now that the kids are getting a little older we have tried to get them involved. All letters that we send out now include colored pictures from all the kids and they faithfully pray for him every night. We are thankful for the opportunity to support him and for what he has also taught us. We are thankful that through the God given money that we send to Compassion, Hakizimana is getting a Christian Education and is learning about God.