LWML Bears: Bridges of Hope
By James H. Heine

Sometimes a simple gift can bridge a gap of language and culture, even in the midst of conflict and war. In Iraq, LWML Hope bears have helped chaplains and others build bridges and promote goodwill between the U.S. military and Iraqi citizens.

One such chaplain is Navy Lt. Richard Townes, who is assigned to the First Battalion of the Seventh Marines. Townes reports that Hope bears were among supplies of candy, pens, notebooks, quilts, and soccer balls that he and the Marines he serves distributed as humanitarian gestures to children (and some adults) in an impoverished community along the Euphrates River.

“On my flack jacket I wear the symbol of a Christian chaplain,” Townes says. “It is, appropriately, the cross of Christ. Usually it’s metal and only about a quarter inch tall, but I wanted people of Iraq to know that I’m a Christian; so I made one out of green duct tape and a black marker that was two inches tall. The children saw it and began pointing to me, asking, ‘Ma-sa-he?’ ”

He was told Ma-sa-he is the Arabic word for Christian, Townes explains. “Because I couldn’t speak the language and tell them that I wanted them to learn to love Jesus like I did, I had to hope they would at least recognize my Savior through this act of kindness.”

The money for the Hope bears, as well as for other supplies for chaplains, comes from the LWML’s Military Fund, reports LWML President Linda Reiser. After 9/11, the LWML Office began receiving unsolicited donations earmarked for materials for the Armed Forces. Sometimes amounting to several thousand dollars, and at other times just a few dollars, the donations are placed in a dedicated account and used to fill requests by chaplains or pastors assisting in emergency or disaster situations. The account balance varies greatly, Reiser notes, but just like the flour and oil jars in the Bible story of the widow at Zarephath (see 1 Kings 17:7-16), it never runs dry.

“Whenever it gets low, we always seem to get a new round of donations,” Reiser says.

In addition to filling requests for bears, donations to the Military Fund also help fill requests for devotional materials (including In His Service, By His Side, and As His Hands) and other items, Reiser says. “The most frequent requests are for devotional books, Mustard Seeds, and bears.”

That the little red bear’s name is Hope is appropriate, Townes notes, because we all find hope in Christ. “There are, without a doubt, people who will be able to translate that moniker [found on the ear tag of each bear] for the kids, and my prayer is they will be able to connect it with the cross in the bear’s little
purple heart.”