Taiwan
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Most people have the desire to help. Often, they don’t know how.
How have Volunteer Ministers overcome this? What do they know and what can they do? As L. Ron Hubbard describes them, each is "a person who on a strictly volunteer basis helps out his fellow man by providing simple, basic counselling to people he meets to assist them in overcoming difficulties they may be having in life."
Colombia
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The Scientology Handbook, an 850-page volume based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard, covers the basic skills of a Volunteer Minister. They comprise 19 subject areas taken from his writings, ranging from simple, basic spiritual counselling techniques to organisational methods first developed by Mr. Hubbard in the administration of Scientology churches. Each subject equips the Volunteer Minister with the information and skills most needed in any given non-optimum situation. For example:
"A Volunteer Minister is ... a person who on a strictly volunteer basis helps out his fellow man by providing simple, basic counselling to people he meets to assist them in overcoming difficulties they may be having in life."
— L. Ron Hubbard |
* People can get hurt in the business of living. They can suffer losses and other traumas. The medical profession plays a vital role in the repair of physical injuries and illnesses; the Volunteer Minister is trained to deliver simple spiritual counselling procedures called "assists" to deal with the emotional or spiritual issues that frequently accompany such trauma.
* The day-to-day process of living often gives rise to ethical dilemmas for which there does not seem to be a ready solution. These include problems in interpersonal relations — marriage and the raising of children; how to get along with others; how to communicate to people; how to know whom to trust. Volunteer Ministers help people learn basic approaches to these problems.
* What of the friend or relative hooked on drugs? Volunteer Ministers can help here, too, applying specific methods developed by Mr. Hubbard.
* How about the son or daughter with trouble studying? Many educational "systems" have been developed to teach students the subjects of arithmetic, reading, writing, history and more. Omitted has been a system to teach students how to study. A Volunteer Minister can take a student who has not been taught how to learn and help him or her fully comprehend and apply anything they study. This can make all the difference to the dreams and aspirations of future generations.
"I discovered Scientology a few months ago in Lisbon. I worked in a shop in the city near where the Scientology Volunteer Minister tent was set up. Each day I saw this big yellow tent with ‘Scientology Volunteer Minister’ on it and, while I didn’t understand the meaning of the words, it attracted my attention.
"On the third day, a person invited me into the tent. The moment I walked in I thought, ‘This is what I have been looking for. This is what I want to do.’"
— Deanna Santos, Volunteer Minister
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* Volunteer Ministers know
the fundamental and natural law of human interaction that explains why conflicts between people are so often difficult to unravel and remedy. They apply this law to help individuals, groups or even countries resolve their differences and restore peaceful relations.
* Very often, when a Volunteer Minister team is called in to assist in a disaster or other emergency, the team is asked to provide logistical support to rescue workers. Volunteer Ministers are trained in basic administrative skills: how to organise an activity; the setting and achieving of short, medium and long-range goals; the methods for finding the causes for good or bad situations and how to remedy them. Not only are Volunteer Ministers skilled in these areas, they are equipped to teach these methods to others to help them overcome similar situations in their daily lives.
Scientology Volunteer Ministers open their doors to everyone. The technologies they apply can be learned by all. A command of these tools instills a sense of hope and certainty in individuals that effective solutions do exist, and they can improve their own lives and the lives of others. They then begin to uphold and embody the very motto of the Scientology Volunteer Minister: "Something can be done about it."
