Scientology Volunteer Ministers: Organizations

Anniversary of Scientology Motor Vessel Freewinds

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:51:03 GMT

Today is the anniversary of the Maiden Voyage of the Freewinds - the Scientology motor vessel on which the highest levels of Scientology services are delivered. This is an anniversary celebrated each year by Scientologists with a series of "Maiden Voyage" events. The year is generally recapped at such events, and parishioners are briefed on new properties, organizations and expansion happening around the world.

This particular Maiden Voyage event seems like it's going to be a special one. Usually held on board the Freewinds (which for events, doesn't hold more than a few hundred parishioners), the Scientology events site is now promoting that the event will be held ashore, at the Clearwater Performing Arts center in Clearwater, FL. So, I guess its' going to be big.

Scientology in Sri Lanka and South India

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:53:55 GMT

Here's an outstanding photo I just came across on Thorsten Overgaard's After the Tsunami site, detailing the work of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers after the Indian Ocean Tsunami in December 2004.

Mr. Jagdish Singh from Kolkata reading Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard at the Kolkata Book Fair. Mr. Overgaard is an outstanding photographer, IMHO. His site has a ton of other good works of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of the area.

As he posted on his site,

"They appreciated our help - many people we met on the streets stopped us to thank us for being there and for our efforts - but they resent western, often materialistic, people coming to their country and try to run things, tell them to change their religion, eat pills to be happier about the tsunami, paint their houses in some trendy colors and what have you. What they wanted was help and support to help themselves come back to the life they have been living for thousands of years in harmony with nature and their soul."

The Scientology religion doesn't espouse any particular explanation or description of God. Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhist or anybody are welcome to use Scientology to become better Muslims, Jews or whatever. The purpose for going to Sri Lanka was to help: Therefore the word "minister" and the Scientology cross were omitted on the shirts worn by the volunteers working in Sri Lanka to avoid any confusion as to what their intentions were.

Numerous people and organizations have helped and are still helping in Asia. In Sri Lanka for example 2,500 US Marines cleared roads and rebuilt bridges for two months. I saw UN cars in Colombo and Galle and US AID t-shirts on 100 locals who were cleaning up bricks in Galle.

Ironically, one also occasionally sees a full blown, Madison Avenue advertising film crew replete with klieg lights, Panavision movie camaras, directors chairs, assistants, and French chefs working the catering wagon while dozens of people are standing around wearing sunglasses -- right next door to acres of tents packed with tsunami survivors. Let's hope the commercial being filmed raises lots of aid money.

Help come in many forms.

One of my reasons for going was, as I said, to help in any way I could. But I also wanted to learn for myself what was really going on. On one hand the Red Cross announced that they didn't need more people in the affected areas. Yet the Scientology Volunteers on the ground reported that they could use all the help that could get there. Contrary information that just didn't add up. I wanted to find out what was going on for myself and I wanted to let others know. I wanted to document and report things as they were - especially the good things, because the bad things had been reported so extensively, we all felt we could be hit by a tsunami any moment.

References:

Scientology Church in Sydney Empowering Youth to Say No to Drugs

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 02:05:36 GMT

What do you do when you know drugs are a one-way street down, and yourfriends are taking them? That was the dilemma facing Rama, a teenagerfrom Sydney. "All drugs lead to one place. Nowhere," said Rama, who hadalready been through it — ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana — all before hewas 18 years old.

Rama counts himself as one of the lucky ones. Because he got help when he needed it.

Things were going downhill at breakneckspeed when a friend of his, a Scientologist, saw Rama was in trouble.His friend told Rama about a program sponsored by the Church of Scientology of Sydney,called the Drug Free Ambassadors and handed him a set of booklets aboutdrugs. The Drug Free Ambassadors and their American counterpart, theDrug Free Marshals, created by the Church of Scientology International13 years ago, have chapters throughout Australia and New Zealand andaround the world.

The booklets Rama read are very special.They were created by the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, and they arewritten for young people giving them the truth about the most commonlyabused street and prescription drugs. What makes these booklets uniqueand effective is that they are easy to understand and they're factual.With peer pressure pushing kids to take drugs, these booklets arm kidsagainst the false propaganda, giving them information they need to makeeducated and responsible choices about drugs.

Once he decided to quit taking drugs,Rama wanted to get through to his friends who were still using them.And he wanted to reach out to kids throughout Sydney to help them avoidgetting into drugs in the first place.

Cyrus Brooks, the spokesman for theDrug-Free Ambassadors of Sydney, was full of praise for the teenager."Rama is very gung-ho. And he knows what he's talking about," saidBrooks. "He wants to make sure other kids don't fall into the same traphe was in."

For more information:

Scientology Disaster Team in the Philippines

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 02:46:23 GMT

The Scientology Disaster Relief Team traveling between villages in Albay Province in the Philippines.

Since early December, the Scientology Disaster Relief Team has been working one-on-one with those who survived Typhoon Durian, which killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

With seminars and workshops based on the Scientology Handbook and the book Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health by L. Ron Hubbard, they are giving men, women and even children tools by which they can put these painful experiences behind them.

I was writing about this incessantly in my blog, trying to get enough people informed about what was going on so we could have some people get down there and start helping out.

Well, now the Scientologists who went to the Phillipines to help, have now also been getting natives trained up on what to do, and they're now all over the place in canoes and catamarans, going village to village to help people out.

Resources:

"Miracle" Stories from Scientology Volunteers in Philippines

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 18:49:31 GMT

Scientology Assist technology can produce products routinely that many might consider "miracles". To the average Scientology Volunteer Minister though, this is all part of the normal day's work.

Two Scientology Volunteer Ministers giving assists to children in the evacuation center.

There have been so many miracle stories that have come in from the Scientology Volunteer Minister activities in the Philippines.

Two young girls they helped were devastated. Having lost both parents in the typhoon, they were overwhelmed with grief. They calmed down, stopped crying and both of them experienced some relief. Nothing the Volunteer Minister could do would bring their parents back, but at least they could now get on with their own lives, and start caring for themselves and each other.

In another room the volunteers helped a whole family that seemed to have given up after their home was destroyed. It started with an assist to a woman who was clearly very sad. She was lying listlessly on a mattress on the floor, and told the volunteer she felt very lonely. After her assist she got off the floor and started watching the volunteer as he gave an assist to a little girl nearby. She was so interested that he asked her if she wanted to learn how to do this too. She was very emphatic when she said she did, because the child the volunteer had just helped was now giggling and smiling. And that child was her daughter. The volunteer then taught the mother and daughter how to use this technique and the daughter gave an assist to her father. When she began the assist, her father was lying down and said he couldn't move. But after his assist he felt much more energetic and he got up to prove it!

Scientology Volunteer Minister Relief Corps
Scientology
Scientology Handbook (training for anyone on how to be a Volunteer Minister)
Scientology in Australia
Scientology in New Zealand
David Miscavige on Scientology Volunteer Ministers
How to do Scientology Assists

Volunteers Needed to Assist with Typhoon Durian Relief

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 01:54:15 GMT

Typhoon Durian hits the Philippines on Yahoo! News Photos

The Red Cross has already recorded a death toll of at least 406, with 398 others missing, based on figures provided by mayors of devastated towns in the eastern Philippines. No survivors are reported on farmland buried by volcanic mud, debris and boulders and hopes for finding any have virtually vanished. Other reports are varying depending on which news source you consult.

The typhoon was the fourth big storm to hit the islands in four months. It buffeted the Mayon volcano with winds of up to 165 mph (265 km/h), causing ash and boulders to cascade down in walls of black
mud that swamped villages.

Most of the deaths were in Albay province, where 52 tonnes of relief goods, including medicines and body bags, have been flown in. Bodies were buried in mass graves over the weekend. (AP)

Scientology Volunteer Ministers are needed in the Phillipines, after a Typhoon Durian recently struck the area leaving thousands homeless. Contact the Scientology Volunteer Ministers international hotline to find out how you can help.