“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:11-12)
It is our desire that we are able to be imitators of several of the families who have courageously traveled the path of adoption from Rwanda before us. It is hard to imagine that we would be starting this journey if it weren’t for what these families have done before us, and for that we are thankful. One of the biggest reasons that we decided to start this record was how much we appreciated families ahead of us sharing their experiences. It is my hope that someday God will use our story to encourage another family in this exciting decision to adopt. As it happens several of the families that I read about (blog stalked) as we were considering adoption are currently in Kigali being united with their children! Most of the links for these stories can be found in the sidebar, but the families in Rwanda right now are:

http://fisherbloggers.blogspot.com
http://hunterandadrianne.blogspot.com
http://www.littlewats.blogspot.com
http://maddoxpartyof5.blogspot.com
http://susiehereonly.blogspot.com
http://sneadventure.blogspot.com
http://dokolasadoption.blogspot.com
http://man-of-melissa.xanga.com

I also wanted to point out (and give a big thank you) to two couples who were instrumental in getting the ball rolling with us on Rwanda adoption- the Braners who brought their little girl Gabby home in the fall of 2007 and the Watson’s who are bringing Desmond home right now. I went to high school with Suzanne Watson and it was following their story from a link on facebook that first got both Tara and I thinking about adopting from Rwanda. The Braners were a pilot family in the AWAA Rwanda program – and we’re among the first to adopt from the country. We’re familiar with the Braners through Kanakuk and it was encouraging to know that they’ve been through the experience. The courage they demonstrated in tackling the unknown processes in an East African country is inspiring.

Some statistics on Rwanda adoption from http://adoption.state.gov/country/rwanda.html -in 2007 there were only 5 adoptions from Rwanda to the US, that number has climbed to 17 in 2008 and 16 in 2009. As a country with around one million orphans, you can see that the need is colossal. If you aren’t familiar with Rwandese history I would encourage you to read up on the conflict and rebuilding that has taken place in the country all in the past 15 years, the history simply amazing.