|
||||||
  
        
|
Volunteer Ministers Update Thursday 6 January 2005 OVERVIEW Volunteer Ministers (VMs) are working with disaster relief services in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India. Indonesia
In Medan, on the northeast coast of Sumatra, a team of VMs is conducting relief activities at local hospitals. They have acquired a reputation for effective help with doctors and nurses permitting them to enter the hospitals in order to minister what are called “assists.” Assists operate on the principle that one tends to withdraw mentally or spiritually from an injured area. Only by restoring communication with this area can one bring the spiritual element into healing, thereby greatly speeding the healing process. Assists are used to alleviate stress and physical aches and pains, or to orient a confused or distraught individual to his present environment.
In the intensive care ward at one hospital, a VM gave an assist to a man who had lost the skin off his left arm all the way down to his hand. The following day, the VM returned, to be told by the doctor that the man’s condition was much better, that his abdominal pains had disappeared and that his lungs – he had swallowed a lot of sand and water – were clearing up. He had also regained feeling in one of his fingers. The VM delivered a second assist. Afterwards, the man was noticeably more cheerful and improved. The VM also revisited a young boy who had suffered severe facial injuries when the tsunami came in. The boy’s father was very pleased to see the VM again and said that after the assist of the previous day, his son had slept like a baby. The VM taught the father how to minister an assist himself (it is simple to learn). The father was relieved and grateful to have a tool that he can use to help his son.
It is evident that many of the people in the area are still traumatized and the assists have helped them recover from the shock, “step out of the disaster” for the first time in days and finally get some sleep. As a result of the VMs’ success, many doctors and nurses on-site as well as residents have requested training in how to do assists. The VMs have given workshops to teams of medical students as well as parents, relatives and friends of disaster victims, the latter at the invitation of the a senior doctor at the local hospital. In each case, those newly trained immediately go out and start putting into practice what they have learned After receiving his second assist, one man stated that he felt much better and encouraged the entire hospital ward to learn how to do what he called “this magic.” The responsible VM immediately taught the entire ward how to do it. Thailand In Thailand, many of the VMs are working with forensic experts to help identify bodies. The Yan Yao Temple, well known in the area, has been designated the Disaster Victim Identification area. They are also working with 200-300 soldiers organizing and directing the rescue and assistance operations, packing and dispatching supplies to the survivors. However, the VMs continue to deliver assists to army staff, rescue workers and grieving families, they have become known for the effectiveness of this “spiritual first-aid.” After the VMs’ phone number was given to media, calls started pouring in. By the end of the second day, close to 150 calls had been received from people wanting to be taught how to minister assists. If you can help with donations or wish to volunteer time, call (323) 960-1949 or 1-800-435-7498 or e-mail vm@volunteerministers.org For more information: Scientology Volunteer Ministers News
|
