Scientology Volunteers in Natural Disaster Zones

There are so many stories of heroism and true emotion that never get told. And none as heart-wrenching as the people who have suffered loss of family and home, and their whole community when disaster has struck.

We all watch the results of the tsunamis in South East Asia, so glad it didn't happen to us. However, close to home Hurricane Rita struck and Americans felt this much closer to home.

Right now we have Central America and Pakistan undergoing the same upheavals when your house is just swept away, or worse, family members lost.

In each case Scientology Volunteers have been on the scene as fast as possible to help give these people comfort. Specific stories and articles can be seen at the Volunteer Minister website.

This is a photo from New Orleans:



Scientology Volunteer Ministers in their yellow shirts unloading supplies for the evacuees.

Hot Line Heroine

Coming up in October is the annual International Association of Scientologists event which takes place at the beautiful Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead Sussex England. This year's event is going to be the biggest ever. It is predicted that 10,000 Scientologists and others who are friends of the Church will be arriving.

There are always very moving acknowledgements done of individuals who have made great strides to assist their fellows in the world. Those helped by the technology cover vast subjects and people of all walks of life. This includes getting people off drugs, criminals in prison for real reform, psychiatric abuses exposed and handled, great strides in education for third world children just to name a few.

One that was memorable was a woman who assisted on a teenager suicide hot line. She has stories to tell but several young people going through a rough time were saved due to her compassion and willingness to be there and communicate to them.

In a Prison in North Carolina

I heard a story that I thought you might like to hear. There was a prisoner in North Carolina who saw a Dianetics book. The way he tells it the book leaped off the cart and there was L. Ron Hubbard's face looking at him. He read the book. He wrote to the Church of Scientology address on the book.

He was then directed to do an Extension Course. He began to do counseling with other inmates and reports that his life has never been the same. He then did another course and now several inmates are carrying on and violence has gone down markedly. This prisoner now has hope for the future.

Sports Hero

Some say leaders are born and some say leaders are made. There is a coach who was captain of his football and hockey team in High School. He then grew up to be a coach at several colleges. He learned about Mr. Hubbard's tools of communication and the components of understanding which consists of Affinity, Reality, and Communnication. By using these tools he states he could form a team that was a real team and that would work together.

This coach recommends that anyone who needs to learn the skills of cohesing a bunch of hopeful prima donnas into a team should go to their local Church of Scientology and take the basic Communication Course that is available.

He is a hero to his team because he is dependable, fair, and predictable as well as competent and those characters go a long ways.

Applied Scholastics

The Church of Scientology delivers study technology that was developed by L. Ron Hubbard. This technology has some very basic principles. One of them is related to the fact of never going past words that one doesn't understand. A book called "How to Use a Dictionary" is user friendly to readers of all ages and is highly recommended.

One child who never was able to add or subtract but otherwise was quite intelligent cleared up the definition of the word "equals" and f ound that she never understood this word that alone was preventing the ability to add or subtract. Once that was cleared up she could do math like a champ and the grinning never stopped.

An Italian, my Sister, my Friend, a Scientologist

My sister, Amanda, has been an inspiration to me my whole life. She married an Italian and now speaks it fluently. While in Italy she became a member of the Church of Scientology. She told me a story of a friend who had a horrible accident and as the friend came from an Italian family the last rites were being administered.

My sister went to the hospital and she is a Volunteer Minister from the Church of Scientology. She delivered what is called an "Assist" which is a technique created by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology. This procedure enables the spirit, or the person himself to re-orient himself with his environment. The Doctor's can only call it a miracle. Amanda's friend recovered. I decided to check out Scientology myself after this.

Based on the peace and confidence I have as a result of joining this Church I want to thank from my heart my sister for this gift. She is my hero and so is every other Scientologist that I know.

Ms. Elena Ruggero

Elena Ruggero is a humanitarian artist of our time. She is beautiful, talented and has proven over and over her care for her fellow man. She is a Scientologist and high energy singer who recently gave a stellar performance in Hollywood at the Celebrity Center International annual Gala a week ago. She sang to a crowd of over 500.

She has been a Scientologist in Italy for many years and applies the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard in her profession and personal life.

Volunteers

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers consist of everyday people with jobs, families and responsibilities who are willing to step out of their normal lives in order to help others. A good example of this was when hundreds of VMs from all over the world traveled to the Asian Tsunami area to help with relief efforts. They stayed for many weeks until the situation was much improved and the local people could now look after themselves.

Freedom Medal Winners

David Miscavige Presents
IAS Freedom Medal Winners

Arresting the decline of drug proliferation was the first topic in Mr. David Miscavige‘s round-up of year number 19‘s accomplishments. It was, as well, the cause championed by the evening‘s first IAS Freedom Medal winners Michael Neilson and Åsa Graaf, leaders of a team of drug education specialists in Sweden who, in Mr. David Miscavige‘s words, are “doing more to handle the drug problem than any other group on the planet.”

Neilson and Graaf set out ten years ago to save Swedish children from a drug problem of epic proportions. In that time, they have not only salvaged an entire generation, they have created a nationwide movement for a drug-free tomorrow.

Australian Wendy Honnor, the next Freedom Medal recipient, is a Scientology Volunteer Minister working one-on-one with residents of all social strata in her native Tasmania.
“Our final Freedom Medal Winner didn‘t just answer a call — she led a charge,” said Mr. David Miscavige in introducing Honnor, “In fact, her personal mission of bringing real help has given new meaning to that old phrase ‘charity begins at home.‘”

Honnor assists local leaders in communities throughout her island home state with the 19 technologies a Scientology Volunteer Minister is trained in. In so doing, she has helped to change the tune of media headlines from those that once trumpeted “the land of gloom and doom” — marked by the nation‘s highest suicide rate and 10-year economic slump — to the upbeat of a state now enjoying a full social and economic resurgence.

On that theme — of what one individual Scientologist can do to bring about dramatic change — Mr. David Miscavige told the audience, in closing, “Your participation is more than the proper thing to do. It‘s the difference between more of ‘same old, same old‘ and total freedom. That‘s the crossroad where we stand, a place and point in time where our actions individually and collectively, will determine the course of history.”

Mr. David Miscavige

Mr. David Miscavige opened the 1993 birthday event to a capacity gathering at the spiritual mecca of the Scientology religion, the Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida.

Mr. David Miscavige first gave a summary of the international tributes and proclamations bestowed upon L. Ron Hubbard over the previous twelve months. He then introduced a riveting account of L. Ron Hubbard's path to discovery of Dianetics and Scientology.

Read the tribute by David Miscavige>>>

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Honored

It was all through the news - Scientology Volunteer Ministers Honored as "Hurricane Heroes" by Governor Jeb Bush. The basic story goes like this:

Tampa Bay, Florida - In his Indian Shores office on Thursday March 24th, State Representative Everett Rice, Florida District 54, presented four of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Tampa Bay with a certificate from the Governor of Florida, which honors them with his Points of Light Award as “Hurricane Heroes.”



The certificate signed by Governor Jeb Bush, Lieutenant Governor, Toni Jennings, Points of Light Foundation representative, Robert K. Goodwin and Volunteer Florida representative Cynthia Asia, acknowledged that, “This certificate is presented to Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Tampa Bay Hurricane Heroes, in recognition of exemplary efforts that not only benefit your local community but also lend truth to the belief that all citizens of Florida can make a difference in the lives of those they serve.”

Florida State Representative Everett Rice said, “We were all very impressed with what the Scientology Volunteer Ministers did during the Hurricane season of 2004.”

Over 300 Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology spent some 20,000 hours during the summer of 2004 in relief efforts following the wake of Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. They distributed over 500,000 gallons of water, 500,000 bags of ice, 400,000 food packages and thousands of supplies including clothes and baby items.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers [www.volunteerministers.org] have been responding to disasters for more than 25 years. They are active in 50 U.S. states and in many countries around the world. They have been on the scene after scores of disasters, including the Oklahoma Bombings, the California fires, the Zimbabwe floods, the Taiwan Earthquake, the Moscow, Russia Hostage Crisis, the 911 tragedy and to this day they are still providing relief in Asia for the victims of the Tsunami Disaster. Scientology Disaster Response volunteers are professionally trained to respond to many aspects of emergencies. In addition to first aid services, The Volunteer Ministers provide expertise in organizing confused areas and delivering spiritual “assists”, which they describe as simple, but powerful techniques developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard to address and alleviate emotional and spiritual components of physical pain, shock and trauma.

Here are links that show all the on-line media that picked up this story:

PRESSBOX IN THE UK

PR LEAP

TOPIX.COM

THE SCIENTOLOGY.ORG NEWSPAGE


Even JEANETTE WALLS from MSNBC

also picked up by:

SAVETUITION.COM NEWS PAGE

OPEN PRESS

MEDIASYNDICATE.COM

and WEBWIRE

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in SE Asia

Sri Lanka

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers are operating in the Galle area in the south of the island. Local officials and business leaders are very supportive and appreciative of their work.

One man in Galle who was very depressed and seemingly unable to plan his future after losing his clothing business in the disaster, received an a Scientology assist (Assists operate on the principle that one tends to withdraw mentally or spiritually from an injured area. Only by restoring communication with this area can one bring the spiritual element into healing, thereby greatly speeding the healing process. Assists are used to alleviate stress and physical aches and pains, or to orient a confused or distraught individual to his present environment. Assists are not “massages.” They are techniques developed by L. Ron Hubbard to alleviate the spiritual component of physical pain, shock and emotional trauma.) that resulted in his commenting that he had lost his fear of the future and regained his interest in his livelihood. The following day, he returned requesting another assist, which he received. He is now working to rebuild his business.

Another successful result was an assist given to a woman who was experiencing pain in her leg and shoulder. Afterwards, she proudly displayed her ability to move her foot to the left, right, forwards and backwards, while she said the pain in her shoulder was gone.

Seeing such results, some local business leaders are sending their staff to the training workshops the VMs are holding, so the staff can learn how to do assists as part of their contribution to the recovery effort. The manager of a local hotel has been distributing fliers encouraging people to support the work of the VMs.

If you can help with donations or wish to volunteer time, call (323) 960-1949 or 1-800-435-7498 or e-mail vm@volunteerministers.org

For more information: Scientology Volunteer Ministers News