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SCIENTOLOGY VOLUNTEER MINISTERS
Just as the actions of Volunteer Ministers are not confined geographically, neither are they limited to serving others only in times of disaster. You can find them day in and day out, quietly working to make their communities a better place. In Australia, Volunteer Ministers tutor aboriginal youth. In South Africa, they give lectures and classes on communication and how to study to the less privileged, and minister to prisoners.
In Nevada, a Volunteer Minister heard of a young girl who had been badly beaten by her father after he learned that she had stolen from a local store. When the Volunteer Minister contacted the Child Protective Services to offer help, the agency placed the girl in her care. Applying ethics and study technology from The Scientology Handbook, the Volunteer Minister helped the girl take an honest look at her life, work out how to take responsibility for her misdeeds and begin a more ethical life from that point on. This was neither an empty pep talk nor a stern “warning.” The Volunteer Minister and the girl worked together to actually do a worked-out series of steps to improve the girl’s attitude toward, and responsibility for, her own life. When the girl later returned to school, the dean was amazed at the change and began sending other children to the Volunteer Minister. The local juvenile hall and police department also began to refer troubled youth to the Volunteer Minister for help, after observing the effectiveness of her work.
To facilitate such vital activities, churches of Scientology take an active role to encourage Volunteer Ministers and to help them start their ministries. International Hubbard Ecclesiastical League of Pastors (I HELP), takes particular responsibility for ensuring the success of the Volunteer Minister Program and has established a 1-800 number (1-800-HELP-4-YU) to provide instantaneous referrals to Volunteer Ministers in emergencies.
While Scientology churches are an important source of support to many Volunteer Ministers, anyone who wishes to become a Volunteer Minister may do so regardless of religious affiliation. And there are no restrictions on the types of assistance they may provide. All it takes is a desire to help others and the initiative to read The Scientology Handbook or one of its chapters and begin applying its technology.
 
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