Melody Chansa
23 June 2008
"DO not always feel low or negative about yourself just because you are going through a certain situation. Remember, something can be done about it," says the scientology volunteer ministers currently conducting training and various workshops in Zambia.
This is a team currently comprising three volunteer ministers from South Africa who feel something could be done about any situation, no matter how serious.
The team led by Philippa Sondergaard who is director of the volunteer ministers for Africa, is confident that the technology of scientology which they have brought with them, will help restore purpose in those that feel the situations they are going through have no solution.
The three volunteer ministers are imparting practical skills aimed at improving people's lives and are helping restore truth and spiritual values and personal strength.
The team has been in Zambia for the past four months and is currently in Kitwe after spending two months in Lusaka.
Ms Sondergaard said the Scientology Volunteer Ministers' Southern Africa Goodwill Tour had seen thousands of teachers, students and pupils trained on technologies of study and have also worked with the Red Cross and St John's Ambulance in Lusaka, nurses and student nurses.
She said the scientology volunteer ministers programme was founded by author and humanitarian L Ron Hubbard (the late) in mid 1970s, in response to rising crime and violence in society, in order to provide society with tools for helping and practical solutions based on understanding and compassion.
The Volunteer Ministers' Southern Africa Goodwill Tour launched in June 2005, has since travelled through Botswana and Namibia and is currently in Zambia where it is carrying out training for various organisations, which also include university students and lecturers.
"The volunteer ministers help in all areas of living. Family and children, marriage, communication learning and education, workplace relationships, worries and upsets, attaining goals in life, honesty and integrity, overcoming suppression, getting along with others, drugs education and many more," she said.
She said the volunteer ministers were conducting workshops free of charge with the aim of reaching as many people as possible.
"Scientology is an applied religious philosophy. Applied because one does scientology. Religious because it addresses one as a spiritual being and enhances one's abilities in dealing with life thus making them more able in life. They are able to control life rather than feel life is controlling them.
"One does not convert to scientology but uses it within one's own belief system hence will find christians, jews, muslims, hindus and people of various religions within scientology as well. Scientologists recognise and respect the religious beliefs of others as one has the right to his or her own religion.
"In simple words, scientology means the study of knowledge or knowing how to know, it deals with life and provides simple usable tools to handle the everyday problems which most people face," she said.
Ms Sondergaard said L Ron Hubbard researched man in order to find ways to solve problems that plague his existence and what brought man to a point of unhappiness and a feeling that there was no other way but simply to endure the bad.
The scientology volunteer ministers are a worldwide organisation with more than 100,000 volunteers working around the world where they are involved in emergency services dealing with disaster response training, conducting training meetings with youths in institutions of learning where they are discouraging drug abuse.
They also undertake teaching youths effective study methods and acquisition of effective communication skills as well as working within their communities helping their families and friends when needed.
Volunteer ministers have helped at the Twin Tower disaster in New York, the tsunami in the East, fires in Cape Town, Floods in Europe and in Uganda and Mozambique and are currently on the ground in China aiding the victims of the recent earthquake.
Mayors, government ministers, relief organisation leaders, church ministers and various other organisations have acknowledged the work of the scientology volunteer ministers in their areas with letters.
The volunteer ministers programme has the aim to reach all countries in Africa. To help achieve this, at this time, there are two Volunteer Minister Goodwill Tours currently going on with the other one travelling through West Africa.
Other tours are going on in Australia, Europe, India and South America.
The training they have so far conducted in Zambia have been well received and have been described as useful by the organisations whose officers have been trained.
From Kitwe, the team will return to Lusaka and will be travelling to Eastern Province before proceeding to Malawi and Mozambique.
"A volunteer minister does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather he or she is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well," says L Ron Hubbard, founder of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers programme.
And so, people should realise that there is no problem which cannot be solved and please take advantage of the volunteer ministers' presence and get your problems solved.
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Please do not be fooled by the apparent goodwill of the Scientology cult's "Volunteer Ministers." The only goal these "Ministers" have in mind is the recruitment of more Scientology members. Rich or poor, it doesn't matter. The Scientology cult has been thrown out of several European countries (e.g. Greece, Italy) and is on the verge of being completely outlawed in several others (e.g. Germany, Belgium, Norway). You simply cannot trust a thing that they say or do. Also, despite what they may say, Scientology is completely incompatible with Christianity or Islam. Please do some serious research on this cult by visiting http://www.xenu.net and http://www.youfoundthecard.com. Also, everyone should be aware that Scientology's founder, the science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, strongly favored the apartheid system when he lived in South Africa in the 1960s, and had some horrific things to say about African people. Essentially, he said that African people were psychotic by nature, and that they were too stupid to accomplish anything significant. Please, please, please avoid Scientology and its "Volunteer Ministers." The human rights community calls them "Vulture Ministers" for the way they descend upon disasters, emergencies and other perilous situations. Please learn more: http://www.xenu.net
I wonder when we'll see the reality of these "thousands" having had the scientology study tech in Africa. The cult is extremely small anywhere in Africa, and since African countries are mostly very poor, or mainly muslim, how could it be possible for a dictator pseudo-religion to establish its profit making centers and get so many members? Go to www.holysmoke.org factnet.net or xenu.net!!
r
Exactly. Clearing the planet? maybe if it was free. And even though, Jason Beghe who has recently blown from the cult after more than 10 years inside says : "show me a m*f* clear"
Africa is a nest for many cults anyway due to their weak economical situation. But i don't think Co$ is going to make money there, for the same argument stated above.
I just hope they won't get too many recruits for their sucky sea org
I could comment on a lot of these postings. But frankly, I have first hand experience on this one and so here we go. 1. You are ignorant of the facts, or 2. You know yourself to tell and spread lies. - In Africa, as well as practically every other continent and country Scientology has study technology groups and centers with the sole purpose of addressing illiteracy. (period). Get that? Your comment of profit-whatever-nonsense, is nonsense. The vast majority of the groups and services I myself have participated in as a volunteer or otherwise been a part of in 5 different countries. Had no fees of any kind and were supported by local Scientologists or non-Scientologists. - Your ignorance on religion and your own obvious lack of financial success is evident as you correlate being Muslim with being poor. As insulting to the religion of Islam as you are to Scientology. - Go get tolerant, get spiritual and believe in something, boy. Grow up. - It is practically certain you have never read a Scientology text. Have never been inside a Church of Scientology. Have never been to one of the various Social Betterment Centers. If you aren't going to do something about your own environment and the world around you, at least do something constructive with your time and get busy. - This is a message to the other posters who have so little direction in life that they take pleasure in writing these stupid, idiotic and self-deprecating posts. -DK
That's nuts! Scientology's "Vulture Ministers," as they are known here in the United States, are a disaster in themselves. The insane Scientology people have repeatedly had to be escorted by police and emergency workers out of disaster areas because Scientology only comes to such incidents to get their photographs taken and for the public relations lies they the cult sells to the public.
http://www.cosvm.org/
That web site covers some of the crimes that Scientology engaged in under the guise of their "Vulture Ministers" PR campaign in the aftermath of the September 11'th terrorist attacks against New York. Scientology crooks had to be repeatedly caught and escorted out of the area by police, medical workers, rescue workers, and fire fighters.
What's worse is that the cult's mailing lists have been heavilly infiltrated and law enforcement, human rights activists, and other critics of Scientology have captured internal emails wherein Scientology describes their efforts to deliberately divert rescue efforts away from victims, in effect assisting the terrorists.
Africa has enough problems without Scientology coming in and making things worse. The truth about Scientology, what it is and what it does -- as well as why it does what it does -- is all over the Internet. There is no excuse to fall for the Scientology scam.
My opinions only and only my opinions.
These "Volunteer Ministers" are opportunists and vultures. Helping the poor or the injured is not the intention here. If they are too poor to pay, they are not too poor to become Sea Org members -- the faux navy of the COS where their members sign a one billion year contract, after being made all kinds of loft promises and then forced into slave labor and concentration camp conditions.
If there is any hope of money as in the case of the 9/11 victims, you can be assured these "Ministers" will be the first to ferret out the information and make it so the money is turned over to their "Church."
These people are not always aware of the underlying intentions of their church and may be there on the best of intentions. It is such a shame that the Church can seize their victims with such ease.
Scientology engages in human trafficking. They will attempt to seduce people to come to America by joining the Scientology Sea Organization and will promise them many things. When they arrive, their passports are taken away from them ("for safekeeping") and their names will be changed (so no one can track them down and find them). They will be cut off from communications with their family and friends back home, and they will be required to work 16 hour days, 7 days a week for so little money that they will not be able to afford the bank fees to send any money back home.
Avoid them at all costs, and send the Scientology "Goodwill Tours" back home.
See all comments (13).
CNN reports how Scientology uses tragedies, such as the shootings at VA Tech University, as recruitment opportunities. Scientology is considered a dangerous cult in many countries around the world that exploits its members through hypnosis and brainwashing, infiltrates governments, and harasses its critics.
See www.xenu.net, www.xenutv.com, or a myriad of other websites for a critical analysis of Scientology's practices.