Print View - Go Back

China Bears and Books

On May 12, 2008, an earthquake shook Sichuan province in China and changed the lives of those living there forever. The number of people listed as dead or missing stands at more than 87,000, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency, but millions of people are displaced and still struggling to cope with the emotional dimensions of the disaster.

Doors have opened for Southern Baptists to help train thousands of Sichuan teachers in techniques of trauma counseling that will help the survivors. Counseling will help children who have been traumatized to verbalize their feelings.

Key tools for the training are a series of six books that cover grief and suffering and fuzzy teddy bears with the Chinese characters for “peace” and “joy” stitched on the bottoms of their feet. One set of books and a bear cost $11.

Each child who is counseled will receive their own teddy bear to hug and love. Teddy bear hand puppets will be used by teachers to draw out the children in make-believe conversations.

Click here for a bulletin insert

Click to see video of China Bears & Books