 Volunteer Ministers have been instrumental in disaster relief efforts across the country, like those shown here in St. Louis, Missouri. The Red Cross was so impressed with their valuable efforts that it requested them to be on call for any and all future projects. |
Scientology is an applied religious philosophy that contains workable answers to the problems people face in their lives. The subject matter of Scientology is all life. It contains practical means through which predictable improvement can be obtained in any area to which it is applied.
L. Ron Hubbard discovered that a person is neither a body nor a mind, but a spiritual being, independent of both. The spiritual being uses the mind and body to interact with the physical environment. These realizations about the human spirit were followed by the development of procedures through which any individual can increase his own understanding of himself as a spirit, as well as gain more ability to improve the conditions of all areas of life.
While the primary activity of Scientology churches is the ministry of religious services to parishioners, one common result of such services is that Scientologists gain a greater recognition of their personal responsibility for a broader environment and the people and communities around them.
As Church members progress in their religion and increase their own understanding and awareness of themselves and their fellow man, it is natural that their attention turns to the world around them and that they assume responsibility for the conditions they find there. Charity and social responsibility are natural outgrowths of their spiritual values.
For this reason Volunteer Ministers have become known the world over for engaging in a wide range of activities to help others in the community, including helping those who most need help in times of disaster.
In the centuries before government welfare programs became the order of the day, churches were the principal caretakers of those in society who needed assistance. In many areas, churches are still looked to for aid, and it is in this tradition that Scientologists actively work in their communities.
The Scientologist’s approach to betterment activities is results-oriented: to handle the immediate human or community need, while addressing its underlying causes so lasting results and long-term improvements are achieved.
Helping those who most need help in times of disaster is a manifestation of this approach, and teaching others to deliver assists is the key to helping large numbers of people with Scientology technology.
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Volunteer Ministers help to solve social problems at their source. Literacy programs led by Volunteer Ministers have touched the lives of millions of children, from Alaska to Africa. |
In the same month Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers went to the aid of the Sakhalin victims, they also served in the aftermath of the huge explosion that rocked Taegu, a large city in southern South Korea. A construction site gas main had blown up, killing and injuring scores of people, including children.
One Scientologist and a student from the university where he teaches English were among the Volunteer Ministers who hurried to the scene of the accident to give assists. Dozens of children who were distraught at the start told the professor and his student after the assists that they were calmer, relieved and no longer afraid.
In September, Volunteer Ministers were flown into St. Thomas and St. Croix in the aftermath of Hurricane Erin. They have delivered hundreds of assists, and brought order to devastated areas.
In June, an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit the town of Egion, 120 miles west of Athens, Greece, bringing down a hotel and apartment building.
Volunteer Ministers from Athens went to the site and after helping put order into the area, gave assists and organized activities for children in the relief camps.
When the floods hit St. Louis, Volunteer Ministers from around the country gave aid and performed disaster relief efforts alongside the Red Cross. The local Disaster Volunteer Officer of the Red Cross said the ministers had functioned in important and essential areas of the relief operation.
After the Oklahoma blast in April, Volunteer Ministers flew in from a dozen states and immediately went to work, literally sweeping the sidewalks and streets and stores near the blast site. Business owners noted that no other group had done this, and that it started the process of restoring calm.
The Ministers then gave assists to the injured, to neighbors and families in shock, and to police officers, firemen and federal rescue personnel affected by the horror of what they had seen. Their effectiveness was commended by individuals and organizations. But just as the actions of Volunteer Ministers are not confined to one geographical area, neither are they limited to serving others only in times of disaster. The skills of a Scientology Volunteer Minister are used daily to aid those who need a boost in some area of life. In Australia, Volunteer Ministers tutor aboriginal and deprived youngsters in L. Ron Hubbard’s Study Technology, a highly effective method by which a person learns how to learn.
And in South Africa, Volunteer Minister Coordinator Liliane Kihm works with 100 Volunteer Ministers on projects which include workshops for the African National Congress Party’s Women’s League, lectures and classes on communication and how to study for prison staff, park clean-ups, hospital work, and literacy workshops in libraries in Johannesburg and townships.
In all corners of the world, Volunteer Ministers apply Scientology technology, bringing relief to the problems of life that people encounter every day.
For more information about the Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers and how they can assist your project or community, contact the Volunteer Ministers Corps, 6331 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 800, Hollywood, CA 90028, or call 1-800-863-6743.
The Church of Scientology Volunteer Ministers Corps is composed of thousands of Scientology parishioners around the world who take time from their work and their own families to assist others. In 1994, in the aftermath of the Los Angeles earthquake, Volunteer Ministers put in 10,000 hours, some of it alongside Red Cross teams, to provide comfort and assistance. So clearly effective was the work of the Volunteer Ministers, dozens of them have completed Red Cross training programs to enable the two organizations to work together even more closely. “A Scientology Volunteer Minister, armed with the spiritual technology of Mr. Hubbard and the first aid technology of the Red Cross, will be a complete asset in any situation,” said Rita Schwarzgruber, director of the international Volunteer Ministers Corps and herself a graduate of the Red Cross course. “A Scientologist can help with organizing people and materials, the immediate clean-up of the area, and supplying food and clothing. “But the Scientologist’s specialty is his ability to help someone burdened by the loss of a loved one or cherished possession, or to bring relief to a person wracked by physical pain — all without using drugs.” |
