Volunteer Ministers with Seattle’s Church of Scientology reached out to their community with tools for life during World Humanitarian Day.

With their bright yellow tent in Seattle’s Gasworks Park overlooking the iconic Space Needle, Volunteer Ministers brought relief to public visiting their tent through techniques called “assists” that address physical difficulties. Assists are for illnesses or injuries and help put an individual into better communication with his or her body. They are used extensively by Volunteer Ministers, particularly in their disaster response work all over the world.

The textbook for the training of Volunteer Ministers is The Scientology Handbook, compiled from the works of author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard.

In a world where the individual is increasingly beset by economic, political and social forces that can seem overwhelming, Mr. Hubbard directed the publication of the book to make Scientology technology readily available to anyone to help themselves and others.

“The Volunteer Minister program is a broad initiative bringing effective physical and spiritual assistance to anyone, anywhere,” said the coordinator of the Volunteer Minister corps in Seattle. “It’s a privilege to be able to raise people’s awareness about World Humanitarian Day and its 2016 theme, ‘One Humanity,’ and honor volunteers around the world who bring relief to people in difficult and life-changing situations.”

“World Humanitarian Day is an annual reminder of the need to act to alleviate the suffering. It is also an occasion to honour the humanitarian workers and volunteers toiling on the frontlines of crises. I pay tribute to these dedicated women and men who brave danger to help others at far greater risk.”—UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

For many years, Churches of Scientology Disaster Response, comprised of a strong Volunteer Minister corps, has been a member of Washington Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (WAVOAD), the umbrella group that coordinates disaster response activities for the state. Volunteer Ministers from Church of Scientology headquarters in Seattle have participated in WAVOAD’s leadership team and worked side-by-side with other member organizations to alleviate the suffering of Washington communities affected by disaster.