Scientology Volunteer Ministers

There is something pretty amazing about people who are oriented so thoroughly to helping people. Not for any personal reason - just to help them.

One reason the Scientology Volunteer Minsiters are so active in disasters is that they know they can help. It makes a world of difference, when you are confident in your abilities and you know how much better you can make it for someone in need of help.

Scientology Berlin

There's been a lot of talk about the new Church of Scientology of Berlin, I guess what I like best about it is the new public information panels. Anyone can just walk in and take their own time to find out what Scientology is really all about.

One of my favorite blogs described it this way:

Explained at a Scientology event by Mr. David Miscavige — Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center, which is the holder of the Scientology & Dianetics trademarks — this organization includes panels that literally let anyone walk in, touch a screen, and then by themselves — with no input from others or person trying to explain anything — get a full explanation of the various facets and practices of Scientology.

Mr. David Miscavige exemplifies a true humanitarian - driving forward actions that effectively help people on a factually worldwide scale. His dedication to this can be seen in an interview that was done on him by the St. Petersburg Times, which can be found at www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/102598/scientologypart1.html

David Miscavige going to Berlin?

Do you think David Miscavige will be attending the grand opening of the Church of Scientology of Berlin this weekend?

This is going to be such an exciting event!

Random Acts of Kindness

You know the fish story? The one about - if you give a person a fish it can feed him and his family for one day. But if you TEACH him to fish it can feed him, his family, friends and community for the rest of their lives?

That's why I put my volunteer time into Scientology project like the Scientology Volunteer Ministers -- because I know that by giving people tools to help themselves and their families I am really making a difference.

Kofi Annan Completes 10-Year Term as UN Secretery General

Annan's 10 years at the head of the UN are described in a story in the LA Times today, including:

"Annan, the son of a chieftain from Ghana, was christened 'Anthony' but was known by the name Kofi, which means 'born on Friday.' He joined the bottom ranks of the U.N. in 1962 and didn't plan to stay longer than four years, he said. But he quietly rose through the institution to head the peacekeeping department. In December 1996, the Clinton administration pushed him as its candidate to replace Boutros-Boutros Ghali, the outspoken Egyptian secretary-general it deemed a liability to U.S. interests.

"Annan was chosen because he was an African who knew the U.N. system, and had proved that he was pragmatic and effective and could work with the United States when he oversaw peacekeepers in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Haiti. But most important, he did not have a political agenda or an overweening ego that could put him in conflict with the U.S. By the end of Annan's decade, however, he grew to be a quiet but compelling challenger to Washington."

The article goes on to say:

"In 2002, President Bush challenged the Security Council to confront Iraq or stand aside, and while the U.S. attempted for six months to gain the U.N.'s stamp of legitimacy for its long-planned invasion, it ended up going into Iraq without it.

nnan cited the failure to stop the Iraq war as the worst moment of his career.

"'I really did everything I could to try to see if we could stop it,' he said, including desperate rounds of phone calls and meetings with every leader he could reach, with every proposal he could think of. In April 2003, weeks after the invasion began, Annan literally lost his voice.

"He seemed to lose his nerve as well, taking weeks off with what was described as 'a very bad cold,' but what aides described later as a sort of depression or 'paralysis of despair. ' He returned, somewhat diminished but determined to make the U.N. the kind of institution that the U.S., or any other country, would find indispensable.

"Washington went into Iraq without the U.N.'s blessing, but it also had to do without significant U.N. help in rebuilding the country, an essential piece of postwar planning that the administration had assumed the world body would take on. Annan did send a team of his best and brightest, including his close friend and diplomatic icon, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Another one of the most painful moments of his career came in August 2003, when the bombing of the U.N.'s headquarters in Baghdad killed 22 people — many of whom he had personally asked to go. De Mello was among those slain.

"Those deaths 'hit me as much as the loss of my twin sister,' Annan said this month. His sister, Efua, died in 1991 after an illness.">>>

Despite the violence of a general strike Scientology Volunteer Ministers set up their tent in the heart of Kolkata on International Volunteer Day and helped nearly a thousand people just that afternoon — one person at a time.

Here are some people who are spending their Christmas holiday in the service of people who really need help: (from the Scientology Press Office)




An experienced team of Australian Scientology Volunteer Ministers, who led the disaster relief effort last summer after the Yogyakarta earthquake, are on the ground in the Philippines, helping in the aftermath of Typhoon Durian.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers are known for their motto: Something can be done about it.
The effective help they bring to people all over the world is beyond comparison. They get RESULTS. Here is a video of them in action.

According to a report organized by ‘Citizens’ Initiative for Rights of Children Under Six' and covered in the The Tribune, Chandigarh, India:

"India's children 'is best described as a humanitarian emergency.'

"The survey reveals that approximately half of India's children are undernourished, more then half suffer from anaemia and a similar proportion do not get immunisation.
India has the highest proportion of undernourished children besides Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Nepal. >> continued

I have been following the work of Mohammad Khalil Ullah and the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of West Bengal, covered in the Scientology Press Office. His work to help the children of Kolkata is so important. >> continued

This essay in an online Nepalese journal is quite astute. In honor of this week's Nobel Peace Prize award:

Nobel Peace Prize was founded in 1901.Thereafter, 94 exemplary figures and 19 humanitarian organizations have received the dazzling prize. But ironically, a person whose very life symbolizes peace never got the prized accolade. Isn’t this surprising? But yet, Mahatma Gandhi continues to shine as the beacon of love, peace and non-violent resistance all over the world. Why? Because he was a man, who proved that even the greatest of all conflicts could be resolved by the weapons of non violence and love.

Take for instance, the latest Nepalese peace accord singed by the Maoists and the Government. Who would have in their wildest dreams thought that after years of violent conflict, peace would finally shroud Nepal and that too through round table consensus? But that has happened in Nepal and Nepal has shown the world that conflicts no matter how harsh can be resolved by non violent means – once again Gandhism prevails.>>

Peace - the Message of Christmas

The message of Luke 2:14 is one that resonates in 2006 as much as it has for the past two thousand years.

May we all work together to accomplish it.

This is a great video that shows the impact of the most effective help force on earth - the Scientology Volunteer Ministers. The video is in several languages. This one is in Italian.

Human Rights Day

Human Rights day commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.

Just reading about the atrocities that occured during World War II, I can imagine the shock that must have gone through the world when what was going on in the death camps came to light.

The Universal Declaration had, as one of its purposes, to ensure that such atrocities would never occur again.

Yet 58 years later we can hardly say that it has accompolished that purpose, with civil wars, terrorism, genocide still with us.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights were enforced as law and everyone needs to know what they contain.

Just for example, can you name off all 30 Articles?

If not, how can you really work to defend and protect them?

Get educated at www.youthforhumanrights.org

As a Scientologist I am very proud that the Scientology religion is dedicated to human rights.

Reliefweb

Reliefweb is an excellent resource for information on disasters and how you can help.

Volunteer Day - A Day to Acknowledge All Who Help

On Volunteer Day 2006 I would like to thank everyone who gives of their time to help their fellow man. There are many millions of people who do so, and without them the world would be a much harder, less human, darker place.

Callling for Volunteer Ministers

There is a call out for any Scientology Volunteer Minister who can go to the Philippines, to contact the Volunteer Ministers coordinator at vm@volunteerministers.org. Over 1000 are dead from Typhoon Durian, and help is desperately needed.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Helping Around the World

There's an excellent video on YouTube that shows what the Scientology Volunteer Ministers are doing to help in disasters and just around their own neighborhoods to make a difference in the lives of people.



For more information about Scientology visit the Scientology Press Office

Scientology Event

After the event I attended last weekend for the anniversary of the International Association of Scientologists I decided to get a lot more active as a Scientologist.

I saw what some Scientologists are doing - the guys who won the IAS Freedom Medal. This was so impressive. These are people who literally risked their lives to help people who really needed it.

In case you haven't seen the event I won't blow it for you. But I will tell you this. David Miscavige was in rare form. The talk he gave at the start of the event was the most hard hitting I've heard yet, and the ethical level of our society. Pulled no punches.

And Mr. Miscavige's talk at the end hit me between the eyes in terms of how much I'm doing now and what it is really going to take to turn this planet around.

So I've decided to volunteer every weekend at least one afternoon a week, and I've signed up for a number of activities, including getting the anti-drug booklets the church is sponsoring out into society.

Church of Scientology Mission of Lafayette

This photo, taken last year during the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, is on the new web site of the Church of Scientology Mission of Lafayette, LA.

Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson) and Marie Pace at the Boys and Girls Club Shelter with Francis J. Plaisance, President/Grand Parade Chairman of the Louisiana Cattle Festival and Fair Association.