Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Australia Restore Hope in the Land of Dreams

In a very quiet way, day by day, Scientology Volunteer Ministers of Australia on the Outback Goodwill Tour help people overcome the barriers to their happiness and renew the dreams of the people of dreams—the indigenous people of the Australian Outback.

The plagues that dominate indigenous Australian culture are drug and alcohol abuse and illiteracy. In 2005, the reading levels of less than half of third year Aboriginal students and only 31 percent of fifth year students met national standards. While only 5 percent of Australia’s 10-17-year-olds are Indigenous, they make up 40 percent of all young people in the nation’s juvenile justice system. A report released in June 2009 found that Indigenous Australians are 13 times more likely to end up in jail than the rest of the population. The report found a clear link between drug and alcohol abuse and the high number of incarcerated Indigenous people.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour tackles these problems in villages and camps on a one-on-one basis, using Study Technology, the Answers to Drugs Booklet, and Scientology Assists—”spiritual first aid” that helps establish the person’s communication with his or her body to overcome the pain and discomfort often associated with withdrawal. This spiritual technology, developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, is making a difference in the lives of these people, one person at a time.

Alice Springs is a cultural meeting place for the 60,000 Indigenous Australians of the Northern Territory. An additional 2,000-3,000 Indigenous people pass through 18 outlying town camps and thousands visit the Todd dry riverbed, a sacred site that runs through the town. Volunteer Ministers have introduced hundreds living in the city and camps and those making the spiritual trek to the city to technology to help with drug addiction, literacy, ethics and morality.

An elder from Alice Springs heard about the Volunteer Ministers on the “bush telegraph” (in other words, by word of mouth) and how much their Scientology Assists had helped people. When she encountered the volunteers she had them train her to give Assists and she now uses them regularly with her own friends and family. A Lutheran pastor from Hermannsburg heard about Assists and he too is now delivering them—and has taught 30 others this technology.

With their motto “Something can be done about it,” the Goodwill Tour reaches hundreds of people each month, and through training them in these tools for better living, reach out to an entire culture.

For more information on the Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tours visit the Scientology Volunteer Ministers website at www.volunteerministers.org.

Scientology Seminar Helps Restore Trust in Kenya Village

Volunteer Ministers of the Church of Scientology Mission of Nairobi help Ongata Rongai congregation face marriage and family issues.

Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Nairobi helped the congregation of the Christian Empowerment Ministries of Ongata Rongai, Kenya, concerning a subject of great interest in any culture. Those attending the Volunteer Ministers seminar on September 15 learned how to revive a marriage that has gone stale or bad.

Ongata Rongai is in southern Kenya, 12 miles southwest of Nairobi, near the border of Tanzania. Pastor George Lukoye heard about the Scientology Volunteer Ministers and their offer to provide free seminars to anyone in need of help and asked for their assistance with problems that members of his congregation were experiencing.

Many in Pastor George’s congregation were troubled by marriage and family problems. Knowing how an unhappy marriage can affect all aspects of life, the pastor invited the Volunteer Ministers to help his parishioners with a seminar to address these issues.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers asked those attending to write down the problems they have in their marriages. High on the list were communication difficulties, misunderstandings, unfaithfulness and dishonesty. The seminar then used techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard from the Scientology Handbook and gave them practical tools to overcome these problems.

“I have learned how to communicate with my wife, children, friends and relatives,” said one of the pastors attending the seminar. “I have also learned that I have to keep on creating and building my relationship on a daily basis and to appreciate others.”

“I now have greater insight on how to handle marriage,” said one of the parishioners. “Now I can easily use good communication.”

“I have learned how to keep children happy by appreciating and acknowledging their views,” was the benefit another gained from the seminar. “I have learned how important communication is in our daily life,” said a woman who attended. “Communication plays a vital role in marriage.”

Scientology Volunteer Ministers deliver on-site workshops, seminars and courses that provide simple solutions to such life situations as study problems, relationship or communication difficulties, conflicts and stress. For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program or to arrange a free seminar, contact the Volunteer Ministers Consultant at vm@volunteerministers.org or visit their web site at www.volunteerministers.org

Scientology Volunteers Help Victims of Sumatra Earthquake

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.

Young Scientology Volunteer Ministers in India use Volunteer Minister website to download emergency information

Young Scientology Volunteer Ministers, Nick and Erin, spent several weeks in India this year to help teach kids in the slums of Kolkata. Living right in the heart of the city, Erin came down with a bad stomach bug. Even though it is very common for those traveling in India to get sick, illnesses like this can be severe and Erin was suffering from acute dehydration.

“She couldn’t keep down any food,” said Nick. “We called a doctor first and he gave her the medicine she needed but it wasn’t kicking in. So I knew I had to give her a Scientology Assist.”

Scientology Assists are techniques, developed by L. Ron Hubbard, that give people relief when they are suffering from an illness or injury. Done in conjunction with medical treatment, assists can greatly speed healing and recovery time.

“I couldn’t remember how to do one particular Assist, but fortunately we had Internet access,” said Nick. “India’s bizarre like that, we had no hot water but we had Internet access!” said Erin.

“So I went onto the Scientology Volunteer Ministers web site,” continued Nick, “found the booklet called ‘Assists for Illnesses and Injuries’, and I downloaded it—straight to the desktop on my laptop! I opened it and started the Assist. Erin’s fever dropped, and she stopped throwing up. I did the Assist two more times in the early morning and the next day she was recovering. I had actually forgotten that these booklets were available online, and was cursing myself for not having my own copy with me. Then I remembered the new website!” he said.

The Scientology Volunteer Minister site provides tools for improving conditions. Free courses are also available through the site so you can learn to apply the information to your own life and those around you.

These free Scientology courses provide help with such things as marriage problems, trouble with relationships, raising children, difficulties on the job and overcoming stress, anxiety and depression. These are self-guided courses, meaning people move through them at their own pace. Each course includes practical exercises where students get hands-on experience in applying the data. The courses are supervised by trained extension course supervisors who ensure the students can use the material and provide feedback, guidance and help where needed.

The hallmark of the Scientology Volunteer Minister, as described by Scientology leader, David Miscavige, is his or her “indiscriminate acts of kindness and compassion.” To contact a Scientology Volunteer Minister visit the web site at http://www.volunteerministers.org/#/contact.