The Yellow Tents

Scientology Disaster Response Team in Ishinomaki, Japan

2011-12-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

Scientology Disaster Response Team in Ishinomaki, Japan

In Ishinomaki, Japan, where 29,000 lost their homes last March from the earthquake and tsunami, the Scientology Disaster Response Team continues its work providing any service needed to make life a bit easier for those affected.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers visited a home for the elderly to provide companionship and Scientology assists—techniques developed by L. Ron Hubbard that address the spiritual and emotional factors in stress and trauma.

(Left) A Scientology Volunteer Ministers provides a Scientology assist to a woman at a home for elderly women in Ishinomaki, Japan. Assists are techniques developed by L. Ron Hubbard that addressing the spiritual and emotional factors in stress and trauma. Courses in how to deliver Scientology Assists are available through the Volunteer Ministers website at volunteerministers.org

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Scientology Disaster Response in Thailand

2011-11-11T11:29:00.000-08:00

Scientology Volunteer Ministers are providing relief in Bangkok, Thailand, where flooding has affected some 3 million people.

Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Bangkok are working with other relief organizations to cope with the needs of those at a temporary shelter at Chon Buri College where more than 4,000 evacuees were moved to two weeks ago where they cooked and distributed food and provided Scientology Assists.

Teams of Volunteer Ministers also packed some 5,000 food boxes and delivered them by boat to those stranded by the flood waters.

To join the response team, fill out the disaster relief form on the Volunteer Minister website.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Volunteer Ministers Praised at Scientology Church Grand Opening in Twin Cities

2011-10-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

Scientologists, guests, state and city officials assembled in downtown St. Paul, Saturday October 22, for the dedication of the new Church of Scientology Twin Cities.

Scientologists, guests, state and city officials assembled in downtown St. Paul, Saturday October 22, for the dedication of the new Church of Scientology Twin Cities. (Event Images:http://www.ScientologyNews.org ). The Church stands at 505 Wabasha Street and was formerly home to the Science Museum of Minnesota. The acquisition of the 82,000-square-foot facility in the heart of St. Paul was necessitated by the meteoric growth of the resident Scientology community. The Church of Scientology Twin Cities is now the largest Scientology facility in the American Midwest and will serve parishioners from Wisconsin to the Dakotas.

Located just blocks from the State Capitol and St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Church is additionally adjacent to the famed Fitzgerald Theater and so forms an “historic square” of buildings in downtown St. Paul. The premises were carefully renovated to preserve its most memorable features, including the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Wabasha Street and the three-story atrium. Also faithfully preserved was the original 300-seat IMAX Theater, now to serve as the Scientology Chapel and community meeting ground for citizens of all denominations. >>

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Peter Dunn: All in the Name of Help

2011-09-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

Australian Scientologist Peter Dunn has served as a Scientology Volunteer Minister in Haiti, Queensland, and Japan.

At 4 a.m. on March 11, 2011, the shock wave from the magnitude 9 earthquake that triggered a 30-foot tsunami off the northeast coast of Japan reached Australia—not as a physical blast but rather as a summons for Scientologist Peter Dunn to return to Japan and help in her time of need.

Dunn, a native of Adelaide who lives in Sydney, had spent the last few months volunteering in the December 2010 Queensland floods, helping residents of Grantham, the town hardest hit, clean up their homes and neighborhoods.

Having lived in Japan for several years when he served as a staff member at the Church of Scientology of Tokyo, Dunn’s strong affinity for the Japanese people and his sense of duty prompted his departure for Japan.

Described by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan as “the biggest crisis Japan has encountered in the 65 years since the end of World War II," the earthquake and tsunami left more than 20,000 dead or missing, causing an estimated 16.9 trillion yen ($220 billion) in damage and triggering the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Dunn, who also served for several months in Haiti following the January 2010 earthquake, described the scene he encountered in Japan as very different from what he experienced in Port-au-Prince. Although the destruction was worse and more widespread than in Haiti, Japan rebounded, able to quickly leverage far more resources in the relief effort.

As is the custom of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, on arriving in Japan they asked what was needed and wanted and set about providing what was asked. They distributed food and water, worked on the search and rescue operation, and manned shelters. They even arranged bicycle donations so junior high school students could travel over roads still closed to cars and trucks to deliver food and supplies to ill, injured, and elderly residents in and around the city of Kesennuma.

While he was prepared to take on any task needed, Dunn is a Scientology spiritual counselor or auditor—“one who listens,” from the Latin audire, “to hear or listen.” So his main function in Japan was to provide Scientology assists. These are techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that relieve stress and emotional trauma and can speed physical recovery by addressing the spiritual factors in illness and injuries.

“At one shelter, a lady who couldn’t walk when we started rose after a five-minute assist feeling like she wanted to run,” says Dunn. “Another elderly woman was deeply disturbed and told me she expected to die soon. A week later, after daily assists, she had regained her will to live and her enthusiasm and she was bringing life and optimism back to the entire room of 30 survivors in the shelter where she was staying.”

Dunn is proud that in each disaster where he has served, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers have addressed the task at hand with industry, willingness and persistence.

“It has been my honor to help hospital-bound amputees in Haiti, polite and gentle Japanese pensioners in homeless shelters, and rough, tough Aussie farmers,” says Dunn. “And each of them know by our actions that we have simply come to help.”

Introduced to Scientology in 1974 when a friend gave him a copy of Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought by L. Ron Hubbard, Dunn, now 61, found answers he’d long sought about the meaning and purpose of life. What he appreciates most from what he has gained in four decades as a Scientologist is the ability and opportunity to help.

The Scientology Volunteer Minister program was initiated by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1976. There are now hundreds of thousands of people trained in the skills of a Volunteer Minister across 185 nations.

News about the Scientology Volunteer Minister at Blog.VolunteerMinisters.Org!

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

The Work of the Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response in Ishinomaki, Japan, Continued

2011-09-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

One volunteer speaks of her experience on the Ishinomaki Volunteer Ministers Team and the effect it has had on her life.

It has been six months since I came to the disaster area. I have been working in the Ishinomaki team ever since.

There are always some foreign volunteers working with us, which can cause some troubles due to the differences in language and culture, particularly because I couldn’t speak English. Thanks to this team, however, I have learned to understand enough English to get by. I call it my “Disaster Overseas Education,” or “studying abroad in disaster areas.”

Many VMs of various backgrounds came to the disaster area—it was a team of unique and dynamic people.

___

Ironically, one thing I gained through this disaster was a better relationship with my father.

I always wanted to improve my relationship with my family, and I wanted to balance family with doing much more for society and humanity.

When the disaster struck I accomplished the second goal—I completely immersed myself in the Volunteer Minister activities. But at a certain point I realized I hadn’t spoken with my parents in quite some time.

I live in Nagano Prefecture, 240 km from my parents in Kyoto, and it sometimes happens that I don’t contact them for quite a while. So when I returned temporarily to Nagano from the disaster zone, I called my parents, only to learn that my 70-year-old father had retired in April.

I have never been able to talk casually with my father, and we rarely speak much when I call. So after talking over the phone, I wrote my parents a letter.

It had always been difficult for me to express my love to them—I even had the idea that I had hated my father but I expressed my gratitude to them—especially to my father—for working to provide for us for such a long time.

I was so surprised when I received a post card from my father in reply. I have written many letters to him—this is the first time he ever replied.

The post card was tightly filled with characters apologizing to me for having acted out of selfishness.

I was so happy to read it, I cried.

___

The need for help in the disaster zone continues.

Please join us in our Volunteer Ministers activities. There is a free shuttle bus from Tokyo. You will see what a positive influence you can have on people and society.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Eastern and Central Africa Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour

2011-09-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

Scientology Volunteer Minister on the Eastern and Central Africa Goodwill Tour.

For news on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, visit the Scientology Volunteer Ministers blog.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Scientology Volunteer Minister Returns to Haiti to Train Local First Responders

2011-09-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

Volunteer Minister Ayal Lindeman just returned to Spring Valley, New York, after training 100 community-based first responders in Haiti in the fundamentals of first aid, search and rescue techniques, simple solutions to contaminated drinking water, and basic Scientology assists, technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard that speed recovery by addressing the emotional and spiritual factors in illness and injury.

Lindeman, an LPN and 20-year veteran EMT who was a pivotal part of the initial Scientology Haiti Disaster Response, has continued his personal involvement in the recovery of the country by working closely with Haitian-American groups in the United States and by return visits to Haiti to coordinate activities and provide training.

An active partner in the Rockland County Haiti Relief Coalition, Lindeman agreed to conduct the August 2011 training sessions the Coalition organized in Haiti.

Drawing from his experience in the days immediately following the 2010 earthquake, Lindeman’s training focused on methods of providing maximum aide with minimal resources under the most trying conditions.

The patient-care skills he covered included bleeding control, splinting, cervical spine protection and spinal immobilization, and doing this with the kinds of materials a first responder can simply find or create if a similar catastrophe to the January 2011 earthquake should ever occur again.

“One of the most important things to provide is clean drinking water,” says Lindeman. “This is an urgent situation in Haiti.”

To provide solutions to this problem, a key aspect of his training program was educating attendees on simple water purification technology disseminated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He also covered a very simple re-hydration formula, vital in Haiti today where a cholera epidemic that began in October 2010 is still claiming lives.

The Scientology assists Lindeman trained the first responders to deliver were the Locational Assist and the Nerve Assist. These and other Scientology assists are covered fully in the free online training available through the Volunteer Ministers website.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Action

2010-08-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

Scientology Volunteer Ministers have been in Haiti since the January earthquake. Sponsored by a grant by the International Association of Scientologists, they will be there for the long haul.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program was created by L. Ron Hubbard in 1976. The motto is "Something CAN be done about it."

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program came into the forefront when a group of VMs spent months at Ground Zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mr. David Miscavige expressed the gratitude and pride of Scientologists everywhere when he awarded the leaders of that Volunteer Ministers disaster relief action "Freedom Medals" of the International Association of Scientologists. The IAS further acknowledged The Church of Scientology of New York by funding the entire refit and renovation of the New York Org. David Miscavige was the special guest speaker when the New York Org opened in 2004.

Video footage of the grand opening and speeches, including that of David Miscavige, are online at the Scientology website.

Scientologist Assists Doctor in Helping Young Woman

2010-08-26T20:56:00.000-07:00

A Scientology Volunteer Minister assists a doctor in Haiti.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Home Page, Free Info. Kit, VMs in Action, Free Courses Online, Interactive Information Center

2010-08-16T20:44:00.000-07:00

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Home Page, Free Info. Kit, VMs in Action, Free Courses Online, Interactive Information Center

The Volunteer Minister (VM) program was launched more than thirty years ago, in response to an appeal by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Noting a tremendous downturn in the level of ethics and morality in society, and a consequent increase in drugs and crime, Mr. Hubbard wrote, “If one does not like the crime, cruelty, injustice and violence of this society, he can do something about it. He can become a VOLUNTEER MINISTER and help civilize it, bring it conscience and kindness and love and freedom from travail by instilling into it trust, decency, honesty and tolerance.”

Scientology Video: Why we help

Scientology Volunteer Ministers African Goodwill Tour

2010-08-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

Two lovely ladies from the Scientology Volunteer Ministers African Goodwill Tour.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Scientology Volunteer Ministers News

2010-07-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here's where you can find news of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Who are the Volunteer Ministers?

2010-07-01T22:01:00.000-07:00

Founded by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1970s, the Volunteer Minister program was designed to provide practical Scientology tools and indiscriminate help in an often cynical and cruel world.

Through the ensuing decades, Scientology Volunteer Ministers (VMs) have provided emergency relief at more than a hundred worst-case scenarios. This includes a corps hundreds strong at Ground Zero within hours of the 9/11 tragedy, more than 500 volunteers from 11 nations in Southeast Asia in the wake of the tsunami, and over 900 Volunteer Ministers attending to victims in Louisiana and Mississippi in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Rita. In the Haiti earthquake disaster, the Church of Scientology and its parishioners delivered planeloads of much-needed medical and food supplies. In addition they brought hundreds of medical professionals and Volunteer Ministers to help Haitians cope with their losses and rebuild their lives. In consequence of these and a multitude of other disaster relief efforts, Volunteer Ministers have partnered with more than 500 national and international emergency rescue organizations, including the United States Federal Emergency Management Administration and various branches of the United Stated armed forces.

Today there are over 200,000 Scientology Volunteer Ministers, making it one of the largest independent relief organizations in the world. And in the last ten years alone they have helped some 10 million people.

Volunteer Ministers are further equipped to respond in time of personal disaster, providing assistance to repair broken marriages, recover failing students, comfort the bereaved and much, much more. Accordingly, Volunteer Minister Goodwill Tours are now welcomed across 150,000 miles between Africa, Asia, South America and the South Pacific Islands. Volunteer Ministers additionally succor those in need wherever Churches of Scientology stand.

Volunteer Minister assistance is further available through the Volunteer Ministers online. Here one can link to a Volunteer Minister for one-on-one help. One can also enroll in any of nineteen free online courses covering a range of subjects: from Scientology basics, to communication and tools for the workplace.

Anyone with a desire to help others, no matter their faith, can train to become a Volunteer Minister at a Church of Scientology.

As L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “A Volunteer Minister is a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.

“A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence.”

Volunteer Ministers live by the motto that “Something can be done about it.”

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Scientology Volunteer Ministers program inspired by David Miscavige

2010-06-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

Nine years ago, after 9/11 the ecclesiastical leader of Scientology, David Miscavige, challenged Scientologists to take the terrorist attacks as a wake-up call and do something effective about changing things on this planet. Since then, Mr. Miscavige launched the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tours. Here is an article from the Scientology press office web site on the VMs in the South Pacific.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour Targets Literacy in Papua New Guinea

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

_{The Conchoo Dance Group performs a traditional dance, welcoming the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour to Papua New Guinea.}

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers South Pacific Goodwill Tour was officially welcomed by traditional dancers and local dignitaries at a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Murray Army Barracks in Papua New Guinea June 7. Tour members and officials spoke of working to tackle illiteracy and poverty through seminars and courses that the tour will provide at local level throughout the island.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals include improving literacy as a pivotal target for eradicating poverty, increasing opportunity and guaranteeing other human rights. Of all Pacific island nations, Papua New Guinea ranks lowest in both literacy and standard of living, with some 30 percent of the population living on a dollar or less a day. To make inroads against this crucial problem, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour is providing free seminars and courses to teachers and students across the island.

Established in 1976 by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program enables people to better cope with common problems and stresses of life and independently improve their situations. Scientology Churches and Missions provide training in Volunteer Ministers know-how and sponsor Volunteer Ministers activities in their areas.

In 2004, to extend the reach of the Volunteer Ministers program, ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige launched the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tours, enabling teams of volunteers to bring help to remote areas including South and West Africa, Southern Asia, India, the South Pacific, Eastern Europe, Siberia, the Australian Outback, and Latin America.

For more information, visit the Scientology Volunteer Ministers website.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

One of my Favorite Volunteer Ministers Videos

2010-06-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

This clip from the Today Show really gets across what it's like to be a Scientology Volunteer Minister

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Haiti

2010-06-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

Scientology Volunteer Ministers arrived in Haiti the first week after the earthquake in January, but new volunteers continue to arrive, and they are training Haitians in and around Port-au-Prince in Scientology technology who in turn are opening new groups all around the island.

The Church also sent a ship down with supplies, and this shows the arrival of the ship in P.A.P., being unloaded by a team of Scientologist VMs from about 15 nations including 100 Haitian nationals.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program was developed in 1976 by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. In the wake of 9/11, David Miscavige greatly expanded the scope of the program, which now includes Goodwill Tours throughout the world.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Scientology volunteer returns from Haiti

2010-06-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

Another great story about a Scientology Volunteer Minister who served in Haiti.

This shows up on the Scientology Today web site:

_{Paris Morfopoulos (far left) with other Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Haiti}

Clearwater, Florida—Paris Morfopoulos, best known to Downtown Clearwater visitors as the calm but cheerful owner of the One Stoppe Shoppe, just returned from a tour of duty as a Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Haiti.

A Volunteer Minister is defined by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard as “…a person who on a strictly volunteer basis helps out his fellow man by providing simple, basic counseling to people he meets to assist them in overcoming difficulties they may be having in life.” Volunteer Ministers are trained in basic Scientology techniques through the Scientology Handbook.

This is Paris’ second trip to the earthquake-damaged country. “I can tell you that there is a lot of enthusiasm and activity in helping to rebuild the shattered country and lives of the Haitian people,” he said. “The physical infrastructure is still in shambles and the rubble seems to be largely still where it was when I was last there in February. But many, many people are pitching in and the work is going forward.”>>

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Kenya Scout leaders use Scientology Volunteer Ministers methods to help in the wake of Uganda mudslides

2010-06-07T14:15:00.000-07:00

Search and Rescue

A team of Kenya Scouts who are also Scientology Volunteer Ministers traveled to Uganda last April when massive mudslides killed 94 and displaced 30,000 from their homes. Led by Elly Rajab, 22, the Scouts joined Uganda Army rescue workers in their search for 500 people missing in the flood-affected area.

Arriving in Uganda from Nairobi, Rajab and his team learned from survivors in IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps and from the Red Cross and the Uganda Army where their help was most needed. With hundreds still missing, the first priority was search and rescue-work that had to be done by hand with shovels and picks, as use of heavy machinery could trigger further landslides on the heavily saturated ground.

The Volunteer Ministers also distributed food and supplies and provided simple but powerful Scientology techniques, called "assists," developed by L. Ron Hubbard to help people in the camps overcome the disorientation and trauma of losing their homes, families and possessions.

In Nairobi, the previous year Rajab had trained as a Scientology Volunteer Minister to gain practical skills that he and his fellow Scout leaders could use to help the people of their country. After completing free online training in communication skills, conflict resolution, organizational basics and other subjects offered at www.volunteerministers.org, in fall 2009 Rajab arranged for Kenya Scout leaders from Mombasa, Marsabit, Kisumu and Nakuru to join him in Nairobi for a series of seminars provided by a Volunteer Minister sent from United States to Kenya. Since the seminars, the Scout leaders have in turn trained hundreds more Scouts in their own regions in Scientology Volunteer Minister technology.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in action at the Scientology VM Blog

Scientology-sponsored Ship Brings More Than 100 Tons of Supplies to Haiti for the Relief Effort

2010-04-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

HAITI—A Scientology-sponsored “Lifeboat to Haiti” arrived in Port-au-Prince April 8, carrying more than 100 tons of urgently needed supplies including medicine, medical equipment, an ambulance, food, cooking stoves and tents.

In the first weeks following the earthquake, the Church of Scientology sponsored five chartered flights, bringing more than 440 doctors, nurses and emergency medical technicians and 280 Scientology Volunteer Ministers to the island, helping more than 200,000 people through their combined efforts in the first two and a half months.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers are in Haiti for the long haul, not only providing disaster relief but also working with local government and civic groups and community leaders who are determined to improve the quality of life for all Haitians.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers work in the IDP (Internally Displaced Person) camps providing food, water, and other supplies and training people in Scientology Assists—techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that help the individual overcome the emotional and spiritual aspects of trauma and stress.

The Volunteers Ministers are also establishing a base in Petionville to provide free training to individuals and groups including teachers, students, disaster relief groups and government agencies. This training addresses the underlying social issues and skills needed to bring about lasting improvement. Seminars and courses include subjects such as communication skills, the basics of organizing and study technology. So far, they have provided seminars and classes to over 8,000 local residents.

For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Haiti Response Team, visit their web site at blog.volunteerministers.org.

Scientology-sponsored Ship Brings More Than 100 Tons of Supplies to Haiti for the Relief Effort

2010-04-09T12:49:00.001-07:00

A Scientology-sponsored “Lifeboat to Haiti” arrived in Port-au-Prince April 8, carrying more than 100 tons of urgently needed supplies including medicine, medical equipment, an ambulance, food, cooking stoves and tents.

Scientology-sponsored Lifeboat for Haiti at the dock in Port-au-Prince

For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Haiti Response Team, visit their web site at blog.volunteerministers.org.

Erika, USA - "A motto to the VM Camp was 'Do anything and everything needed to get help to the people of Haiti'."

2010-03-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

I went to Haiti with one of the Church of Scientology’s charter flights that came from Los Angeles via Miami and arrived in Haiti on 21 January 2010. Cindy was with us who just has recently done the VM courses recently and did a terrific job out there, mainly in the Future Orphanage. Paris drove us on his car, so when we got to Miami, Olaguer and I helped him to get all the communications equipment tested and wrapped up some set ups that had to be done before we could take the equipment with us.

So when I was in Haiti I helped with some aspects of communications and doing some things for Paris, typing and relaying communication. Computers were spare in the beginning so we had people hand write their messages when there was no computer available and I was typing it up later. I also helped to make ID badges for the VMs as we were required by the US Army as they were controlling the traffic in and out the Airport were our camp was.

The day after we got there I had the idea of making a internal phone book - I had noticed that Paris had several random notes of people’s phones, local numbers and in the US, VMs and other contacts outside the camp. So I made a handwritten Phone Book on a notepad. Days later at the Camp we had some Army guys visit us on trying to find help for a food drop with their chopper and one of our guys told him "let me find our Phone Book to get you the number of this team." The Army guys said: "A Phone Book! That's why we like you guys, we are so well organized". Well, they got their contact and their food drop lined up and happily left the camp (and I was proud).

The first three days outside of camp I was working in the General Hospital. It was very good that we got out there then because there were no visible groups of foreign doctors or other Disaster Relief Units there yet. Help was really desperately needed. The first day was a bit of a shock to me, it was so extremely hot, and seeing so many maimed people was not easy. I worked mainly in the park of the hospital, outside the buildings were there was a lot of people left lying around while the doctors were working mainly inside de buildings. I went around and saw what these patients needed, cleaning, sanitizing and covering wounds. I have no nurse training but I could do what anyone with some basic First Aid training can do to help injured people.

There were a lot of people in the park, I would say 60 people in beds, 20 more on the ground and their families or some family members with them. Someone I remember in particular was a woman who had an open wound on her breast she was in strong pain. I was giving her a touch assist so until the pain blew and she looked much more relaxed. Then I went onto help her 8 year old daughter to clean, disinfect and cover her wounds and taught her how to do it herself - I had just run in Haitian translator by then. She understood the importance of it.

I tried to keep log for the first 3 or 4 days but afterward all the days started to mush together, We just kept working, kept trying to help as many people as we could. Sometimes I lost track if it was day or night. And the days just after the catastrophe are vital and this is when you have the most confusion.

Then I moved on to the Miami Tent Hospital at the Port-au-Prince airport as they were requesting some more people to help over there. The first day they needed someone to route the visitors and keep security and control in who is coming in the three tents (housing hundreds of patients). Later I moved on to the storage tent and I was helping organize the medical supplies. Once the shelves were built and on their way to us we organized a fork lift to move around the big boxes of supplies and other goods to make space. A group of VMs then could put all the supplies in the shelves and finish organizing up the place in very short time. During the next days at the Miami University Hospital I was receiving new supplies and helped re-stocking the pharmacies at the Wound Care, OR and Pediatrics tent.

One thing that became kind of a motto to the VM Camp was "Do anything and everything needed to get help to the people of Haiti". I remember Elena from the Italian team mention this earlier but I really felt so in my heart and I could see for the actions I saw each VM take, everybody carried that out.

Erika

Michigan Scientology Volunteer Minister opts to help in Haiti instead of vacation

2010-03-16T15:07:00.000-07:00

”I was on vacation, and thought to myself, ‘Doing this is so worthless when so many need help,’” said 18-year-old Echo Brabenec, of Suttons Bay. “I felt like I could do better by doing something to help the people in Haiti.”

The mostly home-schooled teen (she studied at Suttons Bay High School for a year, and graduated a year early from Traverse City West), went to Port-au-Prince, Haiti as one of the volunteer ministers of the Church of Scientology on Feb. 14, and will be there until mid-April.

She and her fiancé, Shane Fasel, a TC West graduate from the Interlochen area, and the church group flew out of Miami on a church-chartered plane packed with donated medical supplies. They are working in tandem with other relief organizations, churches, and military units, operating under the overriding viewpoint of their church that “something can be done about it.”

Echo explained why she felt so compelled to help the people of Haiti, whose country was devastated by a massive earthquake on Jan. 12.

“I’ve been raised with the idea that you take responsibility for the things you see in your life,” she said. “And what I saw was that so many needed help.”

Her parents, Randy Gilmore and Elisa Brabenec of Suttons Bay, said, “Echo has wanted to do this type of work since she was a young child; she was one of the youngest members of the church to complete her volunteer minister training. With each opportunity presented to her, we said, ‘But Echo, you’re only 12′… we always thought she was too young to handle what she was trying to do at the time.”

NBC’s “Today” show reporter Kerry Sanders was in Port-au-Prince, and gave a report on the work of the volunteer ministers.

Sanders stated that groups from the Church of Scientology have helped at the sites of many of the world’s worst disasters, saying, “They were at 9/11, and at Katrina, and now they are here, doing the work that no one else wants to do.”

Welcome reception

Sanders’ report included interviews with members of the group, and with a doctor working in a crowded, makeshift hospital, who said, “I am totally impressed with these young adults from the Scientology Church. They have just been so effective for us.”

A young volunteer named Nicole, who wore the bright yellow T-shirt that identifies the group, said that the Scientologists are not in Haiti to spread their beliefs. “We don’t even mention religion,” she said, adding that the menial work they were doing was unlikely to make people want to join the church.

Sanders reported on the value of a particular type of gentle touch therapy called an “assist,” saying, “In 20 minutes, we watched as Nicole took a pained little girl from frowns to giggles.”

Echo spent a week in a Christian school giving assists for physical pain and emotional stress, and has helped deliver seminars to aid people in refocusing their attention from the trauma of their situation to productive plans and activities. Her group has recently been cleaning a hospital to prepare it for reopening.

“Their work with the Haitians focuses on bringing each individual with whom they work to an improved state of mind, one in which they will be able to look at their situation with hope and certainty of their own individual ability to effect the changes that are needed,” said Echo’s mother, Elisa.

On a typical day in Haiti, Echo and the team get up at 7:30 in the morning and gather for a meeting at 8. The 50 to 60 people, including medical teams, decide where they are most needed that day, and then go out to help and deliver the simple and effective assists; the technique is also easy to teach, and those who learn it can then help others. The team has gone to orphanages and refugee camps, and has also given assists to members of the military and medical teams.

“We’ve been received with open arms here,” she said. “All the people are warm and friendly, and often give us big hugs and kisses. The Haitians are the craziest drivers I’ve has ever seen! But it feels really good when little kids give a huge ‘thumbs up’ when we drive by. The kids we’ve met are smart, and very fast learners.”

Echo described her experience saying, “This is one of the greatest experiences of my life; it’s wonderful to be able to deliver an assist and see the smiles come back on people’s faces!”

In spite of the devastation that surrounds her in Haiti, Echo said, “The people of Haiti really need help to get their homes rebuilt, but people are doing what they can to get back up on their feet and clean up … I feel a sense of hopefulness.”

Echo’s parents reflect the belief of many of those who have gone to Haiti to help in the aftermath of the tragedy: “We believe in people’s inherent ability to create beauty, do good work, and solve the problems that face them. If you relieve the immediate stress and focus them on that ability, they will respond to the challenges of life with renewed vigor.”

_{This article by contributing writer Kristine Morris appeared Monday, March 8, in the Grand Traverse Insider and is reprinted with its permission.}

Scientology Church in Milan and Human Rights Association of Italy Help Build Schools in Ghana

2010-03-03T15:27:00.000-08:00

On January 6, 2010, Annalisa Tissoni, President of the Church of Scientology of Milan, and Fiorella and Gaetano Cerchiara, President and Director respectively of the Association for Human Rights and Tolerance of Italy, presented a special gift to the village of Twewaa—a new school. With the opening of this school, the second sponsored by Italian Scientologists, the children of the village gained an important human right, as stated in Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—”the right to education.”

The Twewaa school opening ceremony included speeches by village Chief Nana Somua Nyampong II, Assembly Member Paul Adarkwah, and Chief Executive of Kwahu South District Assembly, Samuel Asomani.

“We involved the community in every aspect of the planning and construction of the school because it belongs to them,” said Ms. Tissoni. They also hired local companies and artisans and purchased all raw materials for the construction from local merchants, as well as school supplies, clothes and shoes for the children and classroom furniture.

The project began three years ago when an educator in the Ghana capital city of Accra needed additional funds to complete the construction of a school. He invited Ms. Tissoni and Ms. Cerchiara to Ghana, and when they saw the need, they immediately decided to help. With funds raised by the Milan Church of Scientology and the Association for Human Rights and Tolerance, the construction of the Untoma Oxford International School was completed, opening in August 2008 with some 300 children enrolled.

When the Untoma Oxford School was completed, Tissoni and Cerchiara visited outlying villages and chose Twewaa as their next project. With the Twewaa school now opened, they are focusing on their third project, a school in a nearby village in Eastern Ghana, scheduled to open before the end of 2010.

“We have taken on this project because education is a basic human right and a vital component to creating a better world,” said Ms. Tissoni. “Our Church is very much involved in promoting human rights awareness. Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard said ‘Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream.’ By helping to build these schools, we are enabling the children to create a better future for themselves and their communities.”

To learn more about the human rights initiatives of the Church of Scientology, visit the Scientology website at www.scientology.org.

CBS4 Reports: Group Of Doctors, Ministers Takeoff To Help Haiti | Scientology Volunteer Ministers Blog: Haiti Earthquake Disaster Aid & Relief News, International Volunteering Organization

2010-02-15T10:12:00.000-08:00

CBS4 Reports: Group Of Doctors, Ministers Takeoff To Help Haiti | Scientology Volunteer Ministers Blog: Haiti Earthquake Disaster Aid & Relief News, International Volunteering Organization

A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Disaster Relief in Haiti

2010-02-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

Overview

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Corps is a program of the Church of Scientology providing disaster relief and emergency response. Created more than 30 years ago by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, the program has expanded to 203,000 Volunteer Ministers worldwide who have served at 175 worst-case disaster sites, including Ground Zero after 9/11, the Southeast Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake disaster.

Volunteer Ministers have trained and partnered with more than 800 different groups, organizations and agencies including the Red Cross, FEMA, the National Guard, and police and fire departments aand are active members of VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters. The Volunteer Ministers Corps motto is “Something can be done about it.”

In 2001, more than 800 VMs responded to the World Trade Center disaster and provided spiritual and practical aid to emergency workers for many weeks. They have also been an integral part of rescue and salvage efforts at the sites of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and fires.

More than 500 VMs from 11 nations served in relief efforts in Southeast Asia, India and Sri Lanka in 2004 after the Tsunami. Their work was reported on by international media including CNN, The Economist, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

The service of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers has been recognized by politicians, police, military, other relief agencies and civic authorities. A mayor in Louisiana whose city had been hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 said, “I was very happy when more than 900 of your Church Volunteer Ministers arrived in my city from all over the world and became a major force in bringing physical and spiritual help to those in need.”

Scientology Volunteer Ministers are organized in Churches of Scientology Disaster Response (CSDR) teams. These teams, wearing their signature yellow shirts, arrive on a scene shortly after the first responders. They meet with local emergency managers and law enforcement officials to coordinate their actions and provide any immediate assistance needed, such as organizing a confused area, supplying food and water, manning PODs (points of distribution) and offering volunteers to assist with needed projects. As soon as possible they begin providing ‘Assists’ (an action taken to help a person confront physical difficulties and alleviate a present time discomfort, pain or trauma) to survivors, first responders and care-givers as needed.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers have extensive ministerial training in dealing with people experiencing stress, loss, grief, pain and/or shock as well as organizational skills.

Haiti Disaster Response

In the first week following the Haiti earthquake the Church of Scientology Volunteer Minister corps has mobilized and safely transported more than 350 rescue and medical professionals and Volunteer Ministers to Haiti. Donations for about 40 tons of food and medicine were raised and the supplies were brought into Haiti for distribution, in coordination with the United Nations. Within ten days over 100 Volunteer Ministers were working in Haiti.

The Volunteer Ministers units in Haiti have set up tents close to the airport. Another camp is being set up by Scientology Volunteer Ministers in the Dominican Republic, close to the Haitian border, to help refugees who are crossing the border and to arrange logistics for food and supplies to go into Haiti. Throughout the day, Scientology Volunteer Ministers are helping injured and distressed Haitians to cope with their injuries and losses and giving them hope. Scientology Volunteer Ministers are also assisting medical professionals, in the operating rooms; delivering babies; organizing medical supplies or the transport, care or feeding of patients.

By the end of the second week after the disaster hit Haiti, they had established themselves as a stable source of help at the General Hospital of Port-au-Prince and the University of Miami tent hospital and in the many make-shift hospitals around the city. One Volunteer Minister team helped a Haitian aid organization to re-built an orphanage that could take in and feed about 80 orphans to date. Others have teamed up with military or aid organization units and are organizing the distribution of food and medical supplies across the western part of Haiti. In the past days the Volunteer Ministers expanded their organizational and logistics support to refugee camps outside Port au Prince.

Summary

Two weeks after the disaster hit Haiti over 120 Scientology Volunteer Ministers are active in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and:

helped over 37,000 people, including hundreds of orphans
arranged and delivered over 38,600 tons of food and medical supplies
served more than 3,150 meals

(Updated: 31 Januar 2010)

Help Haiti

2010-01-15T15:59:00.000-08:00

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Coordinator has put out a call for Volunteer Ministers to travel to Haiti, in response to the January 12, 2010, magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive estimates the death toll from the earthquake, which destroyed most of the Capital City of Port-au-Prince, could reach hundreds of thousands. Lack of resources and decimated infrastructure in Haiti, the least-developed country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world according to the US State Department, is severely hampering the search and rescue operation and care for the survivors.

For information on how to join the Volunteer Ministers team in Haiti or to sponsor a volunteer to go contact the Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Coordinator at vm@volunteerministers.org

Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Australia Outback Goodwill Tour

2009-11-18T10:22:00.000-08:00

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Outback Goodwill Tour—Traveling through the Australia outback helping one person at a time

Scientology Volunteer Ministers, traveling through the Australia Northern Territory, are bringing help on a one-on-one basis, where help is needed.

Australian Aboriginal culture may well be the oldest continuous living culture on Earth, beginning an estimated 40,000 to 60,000 years ago. But over the past two centuries the culture and rights of the indigenous people have taken a tremendous toll.

Last year, the Australian government formally apologized for the past wrongs caused by successive governments to the indigenous Aboriginal population, acknowledging its laws and policies had “inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss”. And the government’s formal support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples last April was acknowledged by the Australian Human Rights Commission, as a “giant step,” toward “embracing the fundamental guiding principles of mutual respect and partnership.”

To make a real difference at grassroots level, the issues that impact the lives of indigenous Australians need to be addressed. A team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers, traveling through the outback, are bringing help to the Aboriginal community, one person at a time.

They help people where they work and live, visiting them in their homes, on the streets and in the camps. They provide seminars in skills such as conflict resolution, communication and the basics of organization. They tackle literacy problems by training parents, teachers and civic leaders on the technology of study developed by Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard.

Addiction and substance abuse, particularly alcohol and inhalants, are serious problems in the community and the volunteers use technology from the Scientology Handbook to help people withdraw from drugs and alcohol. They accompany this with Scientology assists to overcome the pain and discomfort associated with withdrawal. Scientology assists are procedures that greatly increase the speed of healing by addressing the emotional and spiritual factors in illness and injuries.

“I have experienced a reinvigoration in my faith in humanity and my will to live,” wrote one man who was helped by the Tour. “I can now expand and achieve my intention in life,” he went on to say. “Being associated with you and the materials has given me a glow in life—it’s come back. I feel good. … I’m happy and grateful. There is nobody else in Alice Springs like you people.”

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Outback Goodwill Tour has taken to heart the spirit in which Mr. Hubbard created the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program: “If one is going to find fault with something, it implies that he wishes to do something about it and would if he could. If one does not like the crime, cruelty, injustice and violence of this society, he can do something about it. He can become a Volunteer Minister and help civilize it, bring it conscience and kindness and love and freedom from travail by instilling into it trust, decency, honesty and tolerance.”

Scientology Volunteers Help Victims of Sumatra Earthquake

2009-11-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

Australian Scientology Volunteer Ministers bring spiritual first-aide to survivors of devastation in southern Sumatra.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers arrived in Indonesia the day after the September 30 earthquake left more than 1,000 dead and half a million homeless.

The Australian Scientology Volunteer Ministers who traveled to Padang, 28 miles from the epicenter of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake, are no strangers to disaster. They are veterans of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2007 Yogyakarta tornado and the 2007 Java quake. But even they were challenged by the enormity of the devastation they encountered.

Here is an account of their first day:

In Padang, 28 miles from the epicenter of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake, they started in Chinatown, left in shambles by the disaster. There, in a medical tent, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers showed the doctors and nurses how to provide Scientology Assists and gave them copies of an instruction booklet. Assists are procedures developed by L. Ron Hubbard that provide relief by addressing the emotional and spiritual factors in stress, trauma, illness and injuries.

A nurse said “So, you can give relief using no drugs and no medicine? This is really needed. We all need to know this!”

On to a Chinese temple serving as a shelter for those whose homes were destroyed. The volunteers met the head of the medical clinic who had relocated his operation to the temple’s basketball court when the earthquake destroyed his offices. He could not keep up with the flood of people who had come to the temple for help so the Volunteer Ministers went to work. They set up tables to provide Scientology Assists and chairs where others could sit while they waited their turns.

As lines of people received Assists and word of the physical and emotional relief spread, and the lines grew longer, the volunteers decided to train those waiting how to give Assists to each other. Their mission accomplished at that location, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers took their leave and moved on to a hospital where they could give assistance.

As they drove on through the city, they saw the eerie capriciousness of the earthquake. A three-story building leaned precariously over its neighbor’s home. Another building looked untouched until they saw that one wall was missing entirely. One house stood with every room exposed to view, a snapshot of a family no longer there.

The first hospital they found was completely destroyed. The next, a private hospital, was still operating despite damage. There, on the steps, a woman holding a baby was crying uncontrollably—her brother was inside dying because she didn’t have the 125,000 rupiah to buy what he needed from the blood bank. The Volunteer Ministers paid for the blood—$15 to save a life.

The volunteers moved into the wards and started giving Scientology Assists to injured patients while others explained the procedure to the nurses and taught them how to give Assists.

One man whose leg was completely numb received an Assist. When it was over, not only was the feeling in his leg restored, but his huge smile attested to the fact that the pain that had wracked the rest of his body was gone as well.

Concrete had crushed another man’s leg, breaking it in dozens of places from knee down to foot. The doctors had inserted metal rods into his leg. Blood was seeping out into the freshly bandaged wounds and he was writhing in pain. By the time his Assist was done he was calm and relaxed, and he smiled when he said, “I feel good… I feel good!”

Another man, whose entire body had been injured, was traumatized to the point of complete unresponsiveness—it appeared he could not hear or speak at all. The Scientology Volunteer Minister explained what she was doing with impromptu sign language and began the Assist. At first he didn’t appear to notice anything, but gradually he began to respond and in the end he was smiling.

As Day One in Padang drew to a close, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers met a team from the Indonesian Red Cross who had booked an extra hotel room where a bucket served as shower at the end of a long, hot and dirty day they will never forget.

Scouts and Scientology Volunteer Ministers Partner to Help the People of the Amazon

2009-10-24T12:39:00.000-07:00

Scientology Volunteer Ministers and Cuauhtémoc scout leaders team up to bring help to the indigenous people of the Amazon.

As the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Amazon Goodwill Tour pulls up stakes and prepares to head farther downstream, the volunteers look back on the past five months. This is the first in a series of articles that tells their story.

In April 2009, Mexico City, Scientology volunteers were preparing for a Goodwill Tour to help indigenous people of the Amazon improve their lives through simple technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard.

The leader of Troop 333 of the Cuauhtémoc Scouts heard about the Amazon Tour. The skill and compassion of the Volunteer Ministers confirmed his impression of Mr. Hubbard, creator of the program, whom he first encountered through the pages of Dianetics in 1975.

The troop leader devised a plan to combine forces—Scouting and Volunteer Ministers—as he saw in the Volunteer Ministers program a technology to better enable the scouts to fulfill their oath: “to help other people at all times.”

His idea was to invite a team of his most trusted scouts to join the Goodwill Tour, learn the technology and gain practical experience in using it under the guidance of experienced Volunteer Ministers.

As the Scouts loved the idea, the Scout leader proposed it to the Scientology Goodwill Tour and selected three candidates from among his best group leaders to form this unique partnership.

Nasxihly, 22, a nurse and Scouting group leader of children ages 6 to 10, brought enthusiasm and compassion to the Volunteer Ministers team, and her nursing skill was invaluable in areas where illness is rampant and hygiene often lacking.

Ivan, 23, a marketing student and Scouting group leader of youth ages 11 to 15, contributed his professional talents to reach out to people through TV and radio interviews.

Manuel, 20, a university student and Scouting group leader of teens and young adults ages 18 to 22, took care of the many details in moving the tour from place to place and documented the Tour’s work through photos and video.

The three new Goodwill Tour members learned the skills that make the Scientology Volunteer Ministers so effective, through courses based on the Scientology Handbook.

In a moving ceremony on April 30, 2009, the Cuauhtémoc Scout Leader presented the entire team with the flags of Mexico and Scouting. The Scouts and the Scientology Volunteer Ministers joined hands as the leader called on them to “work very hard and achieve the purpose of bettering the lives of the people of the Amazon.” Expecting the best from them all, he said, “This is a great responsibility and we know that you will do excellent work.”

With that, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Amazon Goodwill Tour left for Iquitos, Peru, the largest city in the Peruvian rainforest, and the gateway to the Amazon.

As their story continues in part two of this series, the skills and teamwork of the team are put to the test, as they arrive in Iquitos just as the Amazon River reaches the highest level ever recorded, prompting Peru’s President Garcia to declare a 60-day state of emergency.

For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers visit www.volunteerministers.org.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Help Samoa Recover from Tsunami

2009-10-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

A team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers is helping Samoa recover from the tsunami that hit the island early Tuesday, September 29. The tidal waves carried entire villages out to sea and killed at least 140.

An 8.0 earthquake 120 miles off the coast jolted people awake in Samoa at 6:48 that morning. Ten minutes later the first of four 15- to 20-foot-high waves pounded the shore and surged inland, destroying everything in their path.

Alerted to the disaster, Scientologists from Sydney, Australia, flew to the devastated island. There, they joined a team of Samoans who trained to be Volunteer Ministers in 2008 when the Scientology Volunteer Ministers South Pacific Goodwill Tour was in that country. They are working together to help local officials provide basic services for several thousand survivors living in emergency shelters since the disaster occurred.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers have set up their bright yellow tent as a headquarters for their relief activities. There, at shelters and in villages throughout the island, they provide Scientology Assists—simple procedures developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that help people recover from the emotional and spiritual effects of trauma, illness and injury.

“Our Scientology Assists are the ’spiritual first-aid’ people need in a disaster,” said Mathew Andrews, leader of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers South Pacific Goodwill Tour who is coordinating the Volunteer Ministers disaster relief in Samoa. “People who are grieving, in pain or fixated on the tragedy become extroverted and bright and start planning again for the future. We helped a man who was in pain, struggling to walk. Today we saw him in town. He was smiling and walking easily and came up to me to shake my hand.”

For more information or to join the relief effort in Samoa contact the Volunteer Ministers Consultant at vm@volunteerministers.org. To learn more about the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program visit their web site at www.volunteerministers.org or the Scientology site.

California Scientology Churches Back Fire Crews

2009-09-03T23:08:00.000-07:00

Scientologists from throughout Southern California rally to support the firefighters battling blazes that threaten thousands of suburban homes

Acknowledging the many Scientologists volunteering on the LA fire lines, Ms. Eden Stein, President of the Church of Scientology of Pasadena said, “The firefighters are the true heroes. They are out there under the most trying conditions, literally putting their lives on the line. We have the finest fire crews in the world protecting us and they deserve our full support.”

Scientology volunteers are distributing food and water and providing security patrols in addition to giving Scientology assists, simple procedures developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that help relieve the emotional and spiritual aspect of trauma from injury, stress or shock.

“We encourage anyone who wants to help to contact the Church,” said Ms. Stein. “Whether you are trained or not, if you want to assist the fire crews we welcome your contribution.”

The Los Angeles fire killed two firefighters, consumed nearly 20 per cent of the Angeles National Forest, damaged an estimated $13.6 million in property, caused thousands of evacuations and destroyed 50 structures in its first week, prompting Governor Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency for Los Angeles County.

The Church of Scientology of Pasadena is acting headquarters of the activities of the Scientology Disaster Response Team for the greater Los Angeles area during this crisis, coordinating the efforts of Scientologists with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and other civic and volunteer organizations to provide whatever help is needed.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program was created in 1976. Volunteer Ministers have given aid at 126 major disaster sites providing disaster relief services at 42 locations in the past year alone.

To contact the Volunteer Ministers Coordinator at the Church of Scientology of Pasadena, call (626) 792-7533. For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers visit their web site at http://www.volunteerministers.org

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers program was created by L. Ron Hubbard to bring help everywhere. The huge expansion of the program in this past decade was inspired by Scientology ecclesiastical leader David Miscavige in his famous appeal to Scientologists to use 9/11 as a wake-up call and extend their help to their communities and society at a far greater level than ever before.

People Who Inspire the Volunteer Ministers Movement

2009-08-31T18:21:00.000-07:00

Of course, L. Ron Hubbard, who created the movement in 1976, inspired it when he wrote an article called "Religious Influence in Society."

David Miscavige ,Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (RTC), inspires Volunteer Ministers. At least twice yearly he presents an overview of the work of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers in his speeches at the Anniversary of the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) (which funds many of the VM programs) and the mid-year IAS report which he presents on the Freewinds each summer.

And all the individual VMs who put themselves on the line to help, inspire others to do the same.

Scientology Tour Helps Benin Orphans

2009-08-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

Scientology volunteers work with Benin humanitarian group to improve the quality of care for orphans in the City of Djougou

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour, which travels throughout western Africa offering seminars, courses and one-on-one help for people throughout the region, has provided training to orphanage administrators in the city of Djougou, teaching effective solutions to the challenges they face in improving the quality of care in their facilities.

An estimated 340,000 Benin youth are orphans, with no anticipated decrease in the short term. In the first half of this decade the number of AIDS orphans—children who have lost either one or both parents to AIDS—in Benin more than doubled, from an estimated 23,000 in the year 2000 to some 62,000 in 2005, and the prediction is that this will only continue to escalate. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Agency for International Development have predicted that by the end of the decade, 20 million children in Africa will lose one or both parents to AIDS.

To effectively address issues related to parentless children, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers partnered with a non-profit group responsible for 28 orphanages in the City of Djougou. The Volunteer Ministers delivered “The Raising of Children” seminar for orphanage administrators, presenting procedures and practices, developed by humanitarian and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, that can be applied to improve the quality of care of children in these institutions.

The orphan care initiative is just one in Benin, an emerging nation whose Gross Domestic Product ranks 159 of 177 nations. The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour offers seminars and workshops free of charge to any non-profit group or government agency on increasing efficiency, improving communication skills and organizing to increase production.

Scientology volunteers also trained nurses at a local clinic to use Scientology Assists, techniques that provide relief and speed recovery from emotional or physical trauma. They also gave a drug education seminar to a local youth group and a workshop to a women’s association on how to resolve conflicts and save marriages.

In addition to seminars in community locations, the volunteer ministers provided small-group training and one-on-one counseling at their big yellow tent, where visitors could select from 19 courses ranging from “Assists for Illnesses and Injuries” to “Tools for the Workplace.” These free courses are also available online at the Scientology Volunteer Ministers website.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers

2009-08-10T16:47:00.000-07:00

The Church’s 153 regional Volunteer Ministers traveling centers—known for their signature yellow tents—have given aid to 10.8 million people in 116 countries.

Through the last 20 years, Scientology Volunteer Ministers have provided emergency service at 126 worst-case disaster sites. Today, they are among the world's most recognized independent relief organizations.

A Scientology Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. A Scientology Volunteer Minister is a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by helping restore purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.

Volunteer Ministers live by the motto that "Something can be done about it."

Overview of results:

Today there are 196,000 Scientology Volunteer Ministers worldwide, compared to 45,000 in 2005 and 6,000 in 2001.
Volunteer Ministers have helped over 1.4 million people in the last year, a 300 percent increase over the 2004 figure of 550,000 people. Volunteer Ministers have helped 10.8 million people since 9/11.
More than 470,000 Volunteer Ministers information mailings have been sent out over the past two years.
Over 750,000 people have visited the Volunteer Ministers Internet site (www.volunteerministers.org) in the last year alone, with 149,000 people starting free online Volunteer Minister Courses in the last seven months alone.
18 Continental Volunteer Ministers traveling centers have toured through 116 countries covering over 300,000 miles (more than 140,000 miles within the past year).
The 135 regional Volunteer Ministers traveling centers—the signature yellow tents attached to Churches of Scientology in major cultural centers—have toured throughout their cities or towns helping hundreds of thousands yearly.
Volunteer Ministers have been involved in disaster relief efforts in 126 major disaster sites, 42 locations in the last year alone.
Volunteer Ministers have trained and partnered with more than 500 different organizations and agencies including the Red Cross, FEMA, National Guard, and local police and fire departments.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Help Martial Arts Students in Zambia Gain New Skills

2009-06-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

With workshops based on the Scientology Handbook, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers African Goodwill Tour gave martial arts students a new perspective on life.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Africa Goodwill Tour trained students at a national marital arts tournament in Kitwe, Zambia in technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard. As Church of Scientology leader, David Miscavige, described the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program: “The final word, as regards our front-line work bringing our help wherever and whenever needed is our corps of Scientology Volunteer Ministers — on call, 24 hours a day in scores of nations.”

The volunteers usually provide training at the big yellow tent they erect in the towns and villages they visit, but while stationed in Kabwe, in central Zambia, a young man who had trained at their tent invited them to come to the nearby city of Kitwe, to attend a martial arts tournament and hold workshops for students and their guests.

The workshops were based on chapters from the Scientology Handbook, a compilation of technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard to help people cope with the problems they encounter in life and improve conditions for themselves and others.

From the feedback received, the workshops were a great success.

“Doing this course has been a challenge to me,” said a graduate of the communication workshop. ” I will use the knowledge I have acquired from this course to make my world better to live in.”

“Doing this course has really helped me,” a graduate of the Integrity and Honesty workshop said. “I have attained self-worth and integrity and the ability to feel honest with myself and others.” Another young man who completed the same training said, “This course was challenging. I have benefited so much. It has helped me become honest in everything I am doing, which will help my friends and family as well.”

Scientology churches around the world provide workshops and seminars free of charge in these and other subjects. To arrange for a seminar for your own group or organization visit the Scientology Volunteer Ministers web site.

A crime against children

2007-02-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

This is the type of story that rips at the heart -
that this kind of abuse was EVER allowed.

Their spokesman is a hero on my book.

For the full story.

CONDEMNING YOUTH TO A PSYCHIATRIC HELL:
Subjected to a lifetime of brutal psychiatric "treatment" subsidized
by the Quebec government under Maurice Duplessis (above) and
others, the children above are lined up in a "waiting zone" orphanage.
Most will be transferred to Canadian mental hospitals — their only "crime"
a poverty-stricken background or a lack of education.

My team won, Mac!

2007-02-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

THAT means we go to the Freewinds for the convention :)

Many are not so lucky

2007-02-03T21:59:00.000-08:00

Children are taught that slavery was abolished in the US by the Civil War.

But international organizations and NGOs put the estimate of the number of people trafficked each year at 2 million.

Freedom from slavery is covered by Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, illustrated by this short film.

Do you like elephants?

2007-01-25T21:39:00.000-08:00

I do, so I donated to the Earth Organization's
project to save elephants in South Africa.

I will never understand why any man would
think slaughtering animals like this is a solution to
anything.

Go here for more info.

OK, Mac, you're on!!!

2007-01-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

If my team wins...
we go to the Convention on the Freewinds.

Right after course in the morning, we have the group over
to our house.

One group on the right in the den

The other group on the left.

A day on

2007-01-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

Dr. Martin Luther King was being celebrated for
his day ON. We should be helping others in the
community daily.

http://www.scientologytoday.org/press/701161047581_scn-local.html

Are you.....

2007-01-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

Worthy of TRUST?

Book recommendation

2007-01-19T22:30:00.000-08:00

I really like the way this is set up.
http://www.authorservices.com/index1.html

Check for one of my favorites FEAR. That will
keep you on the edge of your seat.

He is definitely THE Master story teller for me.

Mr. David Miscavige

2007-01-16T23:44:00.000-08:00

One individual who has been a driving force behind the major expansion of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers help force throughout the world is Mr. David Miscavige. The St. Petersburg Times did a great interview about him a few years ago.

And here is more news about what the VMs are doing around the world.

A Good Way to Disseminate

2007-01-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

This is the one, Carmen.

LRH himself answers the questions your friend asked.

http://www.scientologytoday.org/press/701012300081_scn-int.html

Ok, ladies ... ready?

2007-01-07T07:33:00.000-08:00

Time to go for more sales.

This is almost as much fun as Christmas shopping.

I have a map of the places we need to go to,
so I'll navigate. Carmen wants to drive.

We're leaving my house at 8 am, so we'll be by
to pick you both up shortly thereafter.

Good morning!

2007-01-07T07:31:00.000-08:00

OK ... OK ... OK

YES, I GOT THE PANDA!!!!

Thanks, Mac, I new you were a good guy when we met!

Ok, folks

2007-01-06T21:21:00.000-08:00

I promise I will be better about keeping you
up to date this year.

After putting away all the Christmas decorations,
and retiring the tree (fake, because I hate the
thought of seeing a beautiful pine die before my
very eyes), and getting all the thank you cards
out ... time to get going for the rest of the year.

Noticing the news, this is not a time I would want
to be living in Denver. It's a beautiful area, but
BOY, the snow they've had. News today is an avalanche
on Highway 40. That's a main highway in the Rockies,
and a fantastic drive most
of the time - but not today.

Hope everyone there is doing ok.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-04T06:58:00.000-08:00

Goodness! I didn't realize I got so tied up in the holidays!!!
I haven't said "Hello" from my blog since the 27th. Wow.
Where does the time go?

Well, I hope you all made wonderful resolutions for 2007. I
know it's going to be MY best year. I make the postulate every
year, and sure enough - each year is better.

So my postulate for each of you is that you start each day in 2007 with
The Joy of Creating!

Moving On

2006-12-27T07:34:00.000-08:00

And to all my friends and people I have not met yet,
Happy New Year!

I hope you call go into each new day with this thought!

And for the rest of the Code of Honor - go HERE!

I hope he visits every kid in the world

2006-12-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow afternoon, be sure to put this screen
saver up. He needs a rest.

You can find more like this one at
http://www.osstation.com/Xm/santa_snooze_dsktop.jpg

Merry Christmas to All

2006-12-24T07:16:00.000-08:00

This is such a great tree!

And on this 2006 Christmas Eve I wish to all.

"On the day we can fully trust each other,
there will be peach on Earth."
L. Ron Hubbard

Carina! I found it!!!!

2006-12-21T21:47:00.000-08:00

Here it is! This is the one I was telling you about.

This man has the most intriguing voice -
delightful, happy, fun, - of anyone I've heard in a very
long time.

He had such happy thoughts for the future.

Ok, Mac, that's it!

2006-12-21T06:32:00.000-08:00

Ho, ho, ho! Christmas shopping you go!

Either you get me a panda for Christmas, big boy, or you sleep on the couch! :)

You have two choices.

You can get me one like this ......

Or like this ......

Just a reminder

2006-12-19T21:35:00.000-08:00

If your part of the world is getting colder now,
be sure to remember to bring your friends and their friends inside!

These Kids are aDORable

2006-12-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXmOHRMR9VY

One of my favorites :)

2006-12-18T21:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvTbRrV6B8A