Photos by Reuters/Nicky Loh
China (MNN) ― China's one-child policy is exacting a great price in the wake of the deadly quake. The policy was launched in the late 1970s to rein in China's exploding population and ensure better education and health care.
Many among the more than 22,000 people killed across central China were students in school.
Construction experts blamed substandard building practices, materials and construction for the fact that so many children were buried under collapsing school buildings.
International Bible Society-Send The Light's Sues Hyde explains that the loss is felt more deeply by families who have lost not only a child, but their future. "Many parents have had one child, and that one child was lost. Right now, they do not feel hope; they do not feel any kind of comfort. They feel very desperate."
The surviving parents are finding it hard to restart their shattered lives. Hyde says, "It actually takes the longest to rebuild the emotional and spiritual lives, compared to rebuilding the physical life. One of the things that we have done is provide a disaster journal. Disaster survivors often have similar questions."
As the task of survival becomes less urgent, people begin wondering why they survived when others didn't. Some question why they had to experience hardship, while others feel overwhelmed. Others wonder if they are allowed to grieve or be angry, and ultimately, they begin to wonder about God.
The disaster journal helps people walk through the grieving. It also allows for believers to respond. Hyde says they're working with the indigenous church to make sure these resources will be ready when the questions start coming. "God's Word can give them hope. It can bring some comfort to them. Pray that other believers who are in their lives will allow God to use them to bring them that hope."
As funding comes in, they're hoping to be able to develop some radio broadcasts that will address some of the needs in a wider scope. Pray for the people impacted by this disaster. (Click here if you can help.)
IBS-STL Global is one of the largest Bible and Christian literature ministries in the world, translating the Bible into languages of 1 million or more speakers and distributing Christian resources to people worldwide.
