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And with that sort of activity, it’s no wonder our Volunteer Ministers are certified as part of the Los Angeles Community Emergency Response Team, alongside the Sheriff’s and Police Department, recognized as a partner by the Philippines National Red Cross, and, appointed an official “Civil Defense Force” by the Italian Federal Government.
But — even that only speaks to one “chapter” of the story. For once again we return to that “wake-up call.” And if the atrocities ultimately served to pull people together, it also brought to light another lesson. For while we can help in the worst of circumstances — when compassion itself demands each person to help one another — what about those everyday disasters simmering beneath the social structure? The marital difficulties and familial discord that ruins lives each day? The delinquent child and the parent with nowhere to turn for help? Not to mention oppression and depression, which all too often — with no other help in sight — turns to drugs as a last hope to dull the mental pain?
And therein lies the greater story of our VMs and the “Volunteer Minister Cavalcade.” They are seen everywhere, in nations across the globe, bringing effective solutions before it is too late. Constantly visiting new communities to offer help with everything from marital difficulties, to tutoring of children, to providing counseling for the lonely.
And it truly does extend across every continent of Earth.
For as of today, our Cavalcade has traveled through 54 countries: from Copenhagen, to Stockholm, and across England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Mexico, not to mention from coast to coast across the United States and, of course, right here in New York. While in sheer numbers, today our Volunteer Minister corps exceeds thirty thousand and they have further provided almost three million hours of counseling. And that’s how, and why, just since 9/11, our VMs have brought personal aid, one on one, to over 1.7 million people.
So, yes, when it comes to helping those most in need, we not only know we can help, we are DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
And all of that brings us to here and now — and this new Church of Scientology. For if everything I have covered so far is an impressive first response to the “Wake-Up Call,” let’s not forget they are but a first step. Moreover, let’s remember why we work with greater urgency than ever: to halt the societal decline so we yet have time to provide The Bridge that is Dianetics and Scientology, to the full accomplishment of our aims: a world without insanity, without criminals, and without war.
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