SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS
Whether serving in their own communities or attending to a disaster site on the other side of the world, the Volunteer Minister’s motto is Something Can Be Done About It.
VMs partner with local community groups and interfaith organizations to uplift individuals and neighborhoods. They have helped hundreds of thousands learn a wide range of skills, employing Scientology fundamentals to bring relief from physical, mental or spiritual suffering where they live and work.
Many VMs also participate in the Volunteer Minister disaster relief program, responding on a moment’s notice to bring assistance whenever and wherever needed.
The Volunteer Ministers have responded to every major natural disaster since 9/11, serving in more than 2,500 locations, and bringing their help to millions in need.
To uplift spiritual values in an often cynical and hopeless world, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers reach far and wide at the grassroots and community level.
LRH said this of VMs: “A Volunteer Minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.”
IAS-sponsored VM Cavalcades bring Scientology’s message of hope to all corners of the world. The Extreme Pioneer Goodwill Tour takes LRH technology to indigenous communities in the Amazon basin—distant from orgs and missions. Another VM team journeys along Russia’s Volga River, and Australian VMs bring effective solutions all across the Outback.
Then there are the Org and Continental VM Cavalcades traveling throughout their local areas—everywhere we have orgs—from New York to London and Berlin to Kaohsiung.
Our VMs travel hundreds of thousands of miles a year, training tens of thousands in lifesaving Scientology technology.
To broadly share the gift of LRH technology with those committed to helping others, IAS-sponsored information kits are sent to volunteer organizations, ministers and pastors, and emergency response organizations around the world, thereby igniting a global movement armed with VM technology.
For anyone still not reached by VM activities, a VM website is ever-present, answering the demand everywhere else. It offers training from all 19 chapters of The Scientology Handbook—complete with video chapters from the Tools for Life films.
For all that the Volunteer Ministers now represent, nowhere is their service more pronounced and acclaimed than in times of catastrophe. Every year, natural disasters adversely impact an estimated 90 million people, and cause an average of $170 billion dollars in damage. In response, Volunteer Ministers form one of the largest independent relief forces on Earth, providing the succor of LRH Tech wherever and whenever needed.
Since 9/11, the VMs have provided unconditional help to victims of every major natural disaster on Earth—including Hurricane Katrina, the Tsunami in Southeast Asia, and earthquakes in Haiti and Japan. When a magnitude 7.8 earthquake devastated Nepal, Volunteer Ministers delivered more than 420,000 hours of selfless service and aid to more than two million Nepalese at their time of greatest need.
It’s all in the name of demonstrating—without any doubt—LRH’s VM motto: Something Can Be Done About It.
I have never worked with such a group as the VMs. They are very kind and cooperative. I feel very proud to work with this group. My heart was purified as I saw the people who suffered being helped. Nepal will rise again.
We greatly admire the work the Scientology Volunteer Ministers are doing. We greatly appreciate them, so we are thankful. I cannot say how much, but it’s really so much more than I can actually put into words.
I was a student of engineering who was almost destroyed by the earthquake in Haiti. Thanks to the Volunteer Ministers I can now walk again. They are doing a great job—not only in Haiti but all over the world. I would like to tell the supporters of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers to continue, to keep going. This is going to improve human life on Earth.
Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that swept my city away, my wife was looking for her father. Your members, the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, were there clearing away the debris from our collapsed house and searching for her father. We were so impacted by their sincere attitude—removing debris one piece at a time so the whole pile wouldn’t fall down. There you were, working in a disaster area to which you had no personal obligations. That’s when I discovered the bold spirit of the Volunteer Ministers, and the bold spirit of the Scientologist. I treasure my experiences with Scientologists.
I am a New York City firefighter. I wanted to go to Haiti to help and I had family members that I was looking for. The Volunteer Ministers had a chartered plane and that’s how I was able to get to Haiti. And the Haitian kids, whenever they would see the yellow shirts, you would see this big smile on their faces. They just automatically associated the Volunteer Ministers with help. Thank you to Volunteer Ministers for all your work. It really means a lot.
I want to thank the IAS, and in particular the VM program for giving us the opportunity to give our knowledge and provide humanitarian help to our brothers in Nepal. There is always a light of hope—and with no doubt, this is the Volunteer Ministers and their International Disaster Response Team that gives [people in disasters] another opportunity to live.
What a Scientology Volunteer Minister is doing is helping another human being. It’s one of the most excellent programs that anyone could bring about. It brings strength because it enables you to move forward in whatever you do. Not only to have the strength, but to have the spirit. It’s the inner spirit that L. Ron Hubbard brings forth to everyone. Although people are suffering, they realize the assistance they’re being given by the Scientology Volunteer Ministers helps them want to survive. The Volunteer Ministers are making a big difference and helping the country recover from this devastation.
