As we remember the victims of Hurricane Katrina, let us also remember those who gave of themselves to help the survivors. Nearly 1,000 Volunteer Ministers aided survivors of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, providing, among other things, food and water. Without them, the disaster would have been much, much worse.

As we remember the victims of Hurricane Katrina, let us also remember those who gave of themselves to help the survivors. Nearly 1,000 Volunteer Ministers aided survivors of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, providing, among other things, food and water. Without them, the disaster would have been much, much worse.

“Bringing Effective Help to the Community” is part of an informational brochure series about the Scientology religion and its activities. Published by the Church of Scientology International, here are presented the results of Scientology’s wide-reaching social betterment and reform activities; these are effective solutions at work, based on the technologies developed by L. Ron Hubbard, which, in the hands of Scientologists, are bettering conditions across the continent.
It is these solutions, and the lasting positive results they bring, that have become the hallmark of this, the fastest growing religious movement on Earth.
You can read a copy here.

SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS GOODWILL TOUR
VOLUNTEER MINISTERS IN ACTION IN MOCHUDI, BOTSWANA

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers African Goodwill Tour is providing help to the people of Mochudi, Botswana. With a population of 40,000 people, Mochudi, is about 37 km (23 miles) northeast of Gaborone, the capital of the country.

Hearing about the successes the Volunteer Ministers have had in other towns and villages in the country, Mochudi residents were very interested in the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program.

Pastor Solomon asked the Goodwill Tour to deliver a workshop to the children of the village on the chapter of a Scientology Handbook by L. Ron Hubbard called Study Skills for Life. To deliver the workshop, a course room was set up in a matter of days, and is now open on Saturday and Sundays in the church.

Pastor Solomon and his wife, who have both enrolled on Volunteer Ministers courses, gained a greater understanding of what they are trying to accomplish with their church and how to implement an administrative system to help accomplish their goals.

Pastor Solomon summarized what he’s gained from this in these words:

“I know how to set goals and how to achieve them.... I have learned how to accomplish a goal and make it a reality. I now recommend Scientology Volunteer Ministers courses to any person of higher responsibility who wants to learn more about life so they may be more effective in their jobs. I thank God because this is in alignment with our country’s vision of an informed and educated nation.”

Assists are techniques developed by L. Ron Hubbard. They operate on the principle that one tends to withdraw mentally or spiritually from an injured area. Only by restoring communication with this area can one bring the spiritual element into healing, thereby greatly speeding the healing process. Assists are used to alleviate stress and physical aches and pains, or to orient a confused or distraught individual to his present environment.

Learn on-line how to do Scientology Assists.

In response to the December 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, teams of Volunteer Ministers helped residents recover and rebuild. In January of 2005, the Regional Police Commander of Banda Aceh wrote the following commending the International Scientology Assist Team and urging others to work with them:

"Stating that INTERNATIONAL SCIENTOLOGY ASSIST TEAM, and the holder of this document truly works in assisting the recovery of the mental and psychological (psyche in its original definition) of the people who have been devastated due to the earthquake and tsunami in Banda Aceh in the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

"All the tasks performed of the above mentioned team have been communicated with the officials in Banda Aceh and have been given freedom in performing their tasks. With this, we expect that all terminals involved can assist and ease this team in performing their task and help this team implementing their programs in the field.

"With that in mind, this letter of information is made and to be used correctly and also for all terminals involved, please assist this team maximally."

The Volunteer Minister Trans-Siberian Goodwill Tour made its first stop in the City of Perm!
This Scientology Volunteer Minister tour will travel to 15 towns and cities on the Trans-Siberian Railroad route over the next year, enroute to Vladivostok on the Sea of Japan, some 9,000 km to the east. A team of 20 Scientology Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology of Moscow are traveling on this tour.

The Dianetics Center of Perm staff and parishioners were very involved in assisting in the grand opening and working in the Goodwill Tour tent. Over 800 people attended the tour's grand opening and were extremely interested to hear of the help available to them, from combating marital problems, to overcoming drug problems, learning how to study, how to attain targets and much more. Courses and seminars are being delivered to local public and officials based on the Scientology Handbook by L. Ron Hubbard, and are spreading the word that Something CAN be done about it.

Our most pervasive community program -- addressing every problem faced in society with one-on-one help -- is our international Scientology volunteer Minister's crusade.

Trained in basic Scientology tools that resolve the problems of day-to-day life, Volunteer Ministers bring help whenever it is needed, wherever it is needed.

Their motto is "Something can be done about it."

Churches around the world send out Volunteer Ministers to help their communities with effective solutions to the problems of life.

From personal upsets and troubled relationships to injuries or the loss of a loved one -- the Volunteer Ministers reach into their communities to succor those in need.

No problem is too small, nor too large. To bring that help everywhere, we also launched an international tour to take our solutions to far-flung areas, from remote parts of Brazil to Botswana in Africa and from the Baltic States in Europe to the Indian subcontinent.

Whether from local churches or our traveling cavalcades, in 2005 over 60,000 Volunteer Ministers devoted their time across more than 1,500 towns and cities to help those in need.

But, there was something else memorable about 2005. Unfortunately it was also a record setting year for disasters.

And VM's answered the call each and every time.

In fact, our Volunteer Ministers served in fourteen "full-blown" disaster zones.

In that regard, the work of Tampa Bay VMs has been recognized by the Governor with the "Points of Light" Award and "Florida Emergency Operations Center" counts on the VMs as a vital part of the state disaster response team. In September, they were front and center in Dade County to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma.

They handled logistics for FEMA, overseeing distribution of food, water and ice to about 100,000 citizens.

They have become so well known that the Miami Herald noted that volunteers from the Church of Scientology are quote "ubiquitous at every disaster" unquote.

Then again, when Hurricane Stan hit Guatemala, the Volunteer Ministers took charge of supply lines. And following the London terrorist bombings, the Volunteer Ministers provided personal assistance to those directly affected and logistical support to both the Transport Police and Scotland Yard.

While as for riot-torn streets in Paris, again our Volunteer Ministers provided a moral compass to both sides in the outraged neighborhoods, until it was safe again.

Even out across the Indian ocean, in the wake of tsunamis that devastated the coasts of 4 nations, 600 VMs moved into action organizing and running refugee centers, manning the supply lines, but most of all providing personal "assists" to those afflicted.

From the worst hit areas of Indonesia and Thailand to the coastal towns and cities of Sri Lanka and southern India, the VM's provided personal and group counseling to more than 300,000 and trained more than 50,000 to extend their help even further. In October, it was the earthquake in Pakistan.

With the entire region virtually leveled, the VMs first priority was distributing food and water. They then moved in with "assists" for the injured and shocked -- providing one-on-one help to over 7,000 while training 3,000 more. And the meaning of what those volunteer Ministers brought was made clear in the words of one of the Islamic Relief workers when he said:

"Allah has answered Pakistan's prayer and sent forth his Angels."

Yet, when it comes to the effective help of VM's at the forefront of disasters, it was Katrina that summed it all up.

Hundreds of Scientology Volunteer Ministers mobilized throughout the area working together with relief and rescue agencies, law enforcement and the military.

Arriving on the scene within hours, once again they delivered badly needed equipment and supplies, manned three key evacuee shelters and organized communication systems.

To assist emergency personnel, Volunteer Ministers who are also trained medics and nurses provided much-needed tetanus shots, while wellcknown artists lent their names and gave their time to personally assist those in need, bringing in and distributing relief supplies. But standing behind them were more than 900 volunteers working across three states to help 70,000 victims of Katrina.

In total, in 2005, Volunteer Ministers on every continent devoted more than 2.8 million hours to help over 1.6 million people.

So when it comes to assisting those in need, we are doing something about it any time and anywhere.

For several weeks, a team of Volunteer Ministers from Tel Aviv have been handing out copies of L. Ron Hubbard's The Way to Happiness in Hebrew and Arabic to help restore calm to the region. Here is the complete story.

Here is a picture of one of our Volunteer Minister tents in a remote corner of India. We were invited there in February of 2005 to a festival.

The people we met were very spiritual and were extremely interested in learing about the Volunteer Ministers.

It was an unforgettable experience.

Why do you help

Do you do volunteer work? Why do you help? Do you feel you get anything back from doing this?

Bad Year for Disasters

There is no shortage of disasters this year.

aljazeera.net reports: China has mobilised thousands of soldiers and police to help relief efforts after Typhoon Saomai killed at least 104 people.

Typhoon Saomai - the strongest storm to hit the country for 50 years – had wrecked more than 50,000 homes by Saturday morning and caused blackouts in several cities.

More than 190 people were still missing after the storm struck on Friday.

Saomai weakened to a tropical depression as it hit the southeast but torrential rains are forecast over the weekend in China's south stretching from coastal Zhejiang and Fujian inland to the poor rural provinces of Jiangxi and Anhui.

Wenzhou was hardest hit, at least 81 people were killed and 11 missing, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The storm caused 4.5 billion yuan ($560 million) in damage in the coastal city, 18,000 houses were flattened.

I really enjoy being a Scientology Volunteer Ministers. It's really terrific to be able to help people. And knowing some basic information about Scientology really makes that possible.

Scientology Disaster Relief Teams Now Part of NVOAD

I was really happy and proud to see that the National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters has recognized the Scientology Disaster Relief Team a National member of their organization.

Freedom Magazine has a story about the work of 4 different groups of these dedicated Scientologists.

They were also featured in an international Scientology event last month -- a speech by Mr. David Miscavige that included a presentation of the highlights their work over the past few months.