As the UN marked World Humanitarian Day, Volunteer Ministers across six continents continued their service at home and abroad—wherever people need help.

In today’s hectic world of smartphones and social media, people can become more focused on their screens than on the world around them. But, there are those whose work and commitment prove that human connection and kindness are not a thing of the past. 

These are the individuals honored on World Humanitarian Day. They provide help at home and abroad—wherever the need arises. And among them are the Scientology Volunteer Ministers, a  religious social service sponsored by the Church of Scientology International. Volunteer Ministers respond to disasters great and small. And their watchword is “help.”

“Sometimes you just need someone to talk to,” said a woman in Eugowra, Australia, a community devastated last year by one of the worst floods in eastern Australia’s history. “Someone to just say, ‘what do you want us to do now?’ You just need a human touch. And having people like the Volunteer Ministers is almost like having the emergency services come to save you. They saw something that needed doing and did something about it.”

“You brought physical labor and honestly, I can’t say too much about how much work has been done,” said another victim of the flood. “But it’s not just about that. It’s about the joy of meeting you—because I’ve met such diversity and such beautiful human beings that it touches your soul. You realize that even if I never see you again, you are part of the fabric of myself, and you’ll always be there.”

Help is “the woof and warp of association,” wrote Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. “A man is alive so long as he can help things and so long as he, himself, can be helped.” In creating the Volunteer Ministers movement in 1973, he provided tools to empower anyone to “help their fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.” He described the Volunteer Minister as a being who “does not shut his eyes to the pain, evil and injustice of existence. Rather, he is trained to handle these things and help others achieve relief from them and new personal strength as well.”

Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige ensured this technology is broadly available free of charge to anyone wishing to help their families or friends. Volunteer Ministers courses and videos enable anyone to reach out to others in times of personal crisis, or at the scene of natural or man-made disasters, wherever the need arises. Mr. Miscavige saw to the production of a series of introductory videos and 19 free online courses that contain the skills laid out by Mr. Hubbard in the Scientology Handbook, the textbook of the Volunteer Ministers. 

Volunteer Ministers live by the motto, “Something can be done about it.” And these courses provide the technology that makes the accomplishment of the motto possible.

The Scientology Tools for Life are available free of charge in 18 languages through the Scientology website and the Volunteer Ministers website.