SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS WELCOMED BY TRIBAL LEADERS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Paramount King Molefe of South Africa introduced Scientology Volunteer Ministers and their program to more than 100 tribal kings and chiefs on Mampuru Day, an annual celebration of freedom.

Paramount King Molefe, traditional king of the Batlokwa Nation, introduced the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program to scores of chiefs and kings and some 5,000 tribal members from across South Africa at this year’s Mampuru Day celebration in the village of Mamone, in Limpopo, the northernmost province of the country. Dubbed the country’s first freedom fighter by Nelson Mandela, King Mampuru refused to submit his people to virtual slavery in British and Boer mines and farms and was hanged by the colonial South African government in 1883.

In his speech to those gathered, Paramount King Molefe likened the legacy of King Mampuru to the opportunities now available through the Volunteer Ministers movement: a new route to freedom that can be traveled in today’s world—a route based on knowledge. He encouraged the traditional leaders to empower their people with the effective life skills provided through Volunteer Minister seminars and workshops.

King Molefe learned of the program while visiting the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg last year and arranged for himself, his staff and his people to be trained in the full array of Scientology Volunteer Minister technology including communication skills, conflict resolution, personal integrity, literacy and parenting.

Mampuru Day holds great significance to the people of this nation, as described by South Africa President Jacob Zuma at an earlier Mampuru Day celebration: “Our history of struggle is enriched by tales of heroic traditional leaders who refused to be cowed by colonial regimes. They fought with everything in their possession to protect their land and people from systematic repression spanning centuries, which stripped the indigenous people of our country of all human dignity, decency, and human rights.”

The South African Scientology Volunteer Ministers were invited to erect their yellow tent on the tribal lands of the Mampuru royalty in the village of Mamone where the annual celebration takes place. Among the honored guests were traditional African royalty and chiefs representing tribes from across southern Africa including the Ba-Pedi, Batlokwas, Xhosas, and Zulus, many of whom watched the proceedings from the Volunteer Ministers tent.

For more information on the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg visitwww.Scientology.org.za. To learn more about the Scientology Volunteer Ministers or to enroll in free online courses in this technology, visit www.VolunteerMinisters.org.

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The Scientology Volunteer Minister program was initiated by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1976. There are now hundreds of thousands of people across 185 nations trained in the skills of a Volunteer Minister.

Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe.~~L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology religion

Scientology Volunteer Ministers Help Philippines Recover from Crushing Typhoon Season

Scientology Volunteer Ministers bring spiritual first-aid to Filipinos devastated by this year’s typhoons that left tens of thousands homeless.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers from the Church of Scientology Mission of Manila responded with help throughout this year’s devastating typhoon season. Four deadly typhoons in a two-month period, the last hitting only last week, have caused damage to the sum of nearly 40 billion Philippine pesos (almost $900 million U.S. dollars), killed 961 and left tens of thousands stranded or living in shelters.

As soon as the first typhoon hit in late September, the staff and parishioners of the Mission of Manila donned their yellow shirts and moved out into the streets and shelters to bring spiritual first-aid in the form of Scientology Assists to those in need. Scientology Assists are techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that address the emotional and spiritual factors in stress, trauma, illness and injury.

Philippines President Gloria Arroyo declared a “state of calamity.” The need for effective, fast disaster relief was immediate and immense. To answer these needs the Scientology Volunteer Ministers not only helped on a one-on-one basis, they also trained other volunteers and those stranded in shelters in simple techniques covered in the Scientology Handbook that enable people to overcome seemingly insurmountable barriers and get on with their lives.

“Scientology Assists are very easy to learn,” said Ms. Maria Rehyer, Scientology Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Director. “In half an hour a person can learn enough to help family and friends recover from trauma, shock or injury.” Ms. Rehyer encourages anyone wishing to join the ranks of the 203,000 Scientology Volunteer Ministers to visit http://www.volunteerministers.org/#/courses, where they can enroll on free online courses to learn these techniques.

For more information e-mail the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Disaster Response Director at vm@volunteerministers.org or visit the Scientology Volunteer Ministers web site at www.volunteerministers.org.

Cool Story on Scientololgy Volunteer Ministers in India

Scientology Volunteer Ministers, Nick and Erin, traveled to Kolkata, India in an effort to make a difference.

Every year, 26 million children reach school age in India. With this, the problem of education in a severely overcrowded school system becomes even more unmanageable. Despite increased school enrollment, some estimate that as many as 50% of India’s children do not attend school. That’s more than 150 million kids.

Time to bring out the Volunteer Ministers! As Church of Scientology leader, David Miscavige, described the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program: “The final word, as regards our front-line work bringing our help wherever and whenever needed is our corps of Scientology Volunteer Ministers — on call, 24 hours a day in scores of nations.”

“Slumdog Millionaire opened our eyes to the horrible conditions in India. We decided to go there and volunteer in the slums and we funded it ourselves,” said Erin.

“We thought if we could bring help there to some of the children who had no formal education and no real hope in life, at least that would be doing something about it,” said Nick.

While in India, Nick and Erin documented their work in the slums to communicate an accurate view of living conditions in India. “We wanted to let people back home know what it’s REALLY like living here, and through raising awareness get more help to the people here, especially the children,” reflected Nick.

These two young Scientology Volunteer Ministers helped teach English and mathematics to the slum children. They used study technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard to helping the kids improve their learning.

“Mr. Hubbard discovered that the first barrier to study is not having the real thing there that you are studying about. The real things or the object that you study are called mass,” said Erin “So, for example, we made sure the kids had things they could actually count with, 5 little wooden blocks lets say that represented the number 5, so they didn’t have to do it all in their heads. They liked that!”

“Conditions here are the worst of the worst,” they wrote to their friends. “It’s been just a continual amazement to both of us that there have been such magical moments, and bright smiling faces in amongst everything else. With all that’s going on in the world it can be very easy to get wrapped up in one’s own problems,” they continued. “The truth is that there are so many people in need of help and with far worse conditions than most can possible imagine. We decided to turn our efforts toward others for a few months and make a difference.”

For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program visit their web site at www.volunteerministers.org or the Scientology Video Channel.