<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The Rev. Davis Clark, pastor of Warren United Methodist Church, wants to send teddy bears to each Lake Area hospital with a pediatric unit by the end of the year.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">And he plans to send the stuffed bears to hospitals statewide by 2018.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Clark came up with the idea for the ministry after he saw commercials for sick children at places like St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Watching them “tears my heart out,” he said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He said he began thinking of ways to help those children and their families. “God gave me this vision,” Clark said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Church members and area residents began donating stuffed bears, and through a chance encounter Clark gained permission to go to Lake Charles Memorial to deliver them. He plans to make the delivery soon.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">In the ministry, “teddy bear” is an acronym — the letters standing for trustworthy, effective, dedicated, distinguished, yielding, beloved, ethical, accessible and righteous.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Clark said the ministry has several purposes but that the main one is to bring comfort and happiness to children who are in the hospital.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He said he also wants to “re-engage” the church and its relationship with the community, bringing people back to God, he said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“This is the right time,” Clark said. “I move by God’s time.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Clark asks that people bring medium-size teddy bears to the church, at 1800 Orchid St. Everyone who donates will be recognized in the delivery of the bears to the children, he said.</span>

<p style="text-align: center;"><span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">—</span>

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