Newsletter_November

Since our last letter we have had our ups and downs and have grown from each event. We began 1999 with three volunteers from BYU who spent their winter semester helping us. Unfortunately, we hadn't received any children at this time but they were able to work at Los Alamos, the name we have given to the orphanage in Rosario Ixtal. One of the volunteers is a talented artist and painted some lovely murals including one of Jesus with a child. This is quite impressive and is in the hallway near the bedrooms and something all the children will view every morning and evening. In addition to painting and landscaping, our volunteers were also able to work with some of the locals, trying to improve relations. We have found that we have some misguided perceptions held by the locals that we need to overcome. Basically, they all stem from distrust of Americans and that we would help orphaned children without receiving some financial benefit. Anyway, our desire to build good relations has been beneficial with some but most others still question our motives.

When the volunteers left to return to the United States and we still didn't have any children, Gloria decided to close up Los Alamos and come home during the middle of April. Upon returning to Los Alamos at the beginning of August, Gloria set out to build trust with those in the local area. This has involved meeting with the wife of the Governor of the State of Chiapas, who is in charge of the DIF organization for the state. DIF is social services organization in Mexico. She has met with people in San Cristobol, which is in the area of the state where the social unrest is occurring and where the people are true natives. These people are distrustful of the government but I believe that we have built some good relations with them. In fact they called us to pick up a new baby while I was there in September but the mother later decided to keep the baby. Gloria has also been meeting with midwives in the small towns in the surrounding area to inform them of us and what we are doing. The midwives often deliver children which are unwanted. Those in the mountains are generally distrustful of those they don't know. We have had some come to Los Alamos and we have shown them all that we plan to do. I believe that we have developed some good relationships here as well. She has also tried to meet many of the nurses, psychologists and administrators of the local hospitals so they would consider us when they have children to give to the state. Of course, Gloria has also been meeting with all the local DIF administrators to build good relationships with them. They have to sign off on all placements within the state.

All this work has now paid off as we have received a little baby girl whom we have named "Lauren" and a six year old boy named "Jordan". The boy has been in another orphanage and we look forward to giving him some better opportunities. The baby has been abused in that it was dropped from a third floor window. She is a strong baby but has a broken clavicle. The doctors don't believe there is any brain damage but we will see. We believe that this one will be a challenge and will require some medical attention along with your prayers..

Name Change

In January we were requested that we not use "futures for children" in our name because it was trademarked. We are now using only "Radiant Futures" and are in the process of having it trademarked to avoid future problems.

Challenge for 2000

Our hard work is now paying off and we expect the number of children to grow quickly. We do not want this momentum to be halted by lack of funds to care for the children. We need your support so that we can fill the orphanage. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. If you can help, please send donations to Radiant Futures, 7001 Fairfield Greens Ct. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87111. Thanks for your generous support.

Stanford L. Call, Vice President