Scientology Volunteer Minister Shares Experience Helping Texas after Tragedy

Scientology Volunteer Minister, Jennifer, recently returned home to Nashville after helping the disaster relief efforts in Texas.

“A Volunteer Minister is a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others,” wrote Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard. One such Volunteer Minister, Jennifer, recently recounted her experience helping the disaster relief efforts in Texas from Hurricane Harvey.

“I lived between Austin and San Antonio for 25 years.  When Hurricane Harvey happened I made the decision to go and help right away,” she says.

Jennifer was working with a group of Scientology Volunteer Ministers out of Austin at first, then Houston once roads were clear. Jennifer described her experience on the ground, “We first worked out of a community center, giving out supplies to those with flooded homes. Next, we went out to the houses that had flooded and were now a mess, where mold was growing quickly. Furniture had to be moved out of homes right away. Sheet rock had to be cut out ASAP.  Many elderly folks needed help moving refrigerators, washers and dryers out onto their lawns.”

She also said that she was giving assists on a daily basis to those affected by the hurricane. Assists are techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that help speed healing by addressing the spiritual and emotional factors in stress and trauma.

Jennifer said, “The experience taught me that every little bit helps. Any help is appreciated and everyone can find some way to help. I considered it an honor to be there giving my time and helping to ease another’s load in their time of need... It was a great experience for me and I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

The Church of Scientology’s Volunteer Minister program is a religious social service created in the mid 1970s by L. Ron Hubbard. To make this technology broadly available, the Church provides free online training at the Volunteer Ministers website www.volunteerministers.org. Anyone of any culture or creed may train as a Volunteer Minister and use these tools to help their families and communities.

Tennessee Human Rights Day Planning Committee Calls for Student Participation

The Tennessee Celebration of International Human Rights Day will take place on December 7, 2017 at the John Seigenthaler Center.

For the past decade, Tennessee has held events each year to observe International Human Rights Day, and since 2011, the event has asked for student participation in the form of art. This has included visual art, computer graphics and spoken word presentations. This year, the committee wants students to come together for a theatrical piece to demonstrate freedom of expression.

According to a new page up at nashvillehumanrights.org, “Student actors and performers are being called to participate in the Tennessee Celebration of Human Rights Day by creating a short theatrical presentation to make the audience think.” From there, students are able to submit their name and information for consideration to participate in this way.

“This is a great way to include college age students in human rights day,” says planning committee chair, Rev. Brian Fesler who pastors the Church of Scientology. “We are still asking middle and high school level students to submit visual artistic presentations,” he says, “but wanted to expand student participation this year.”

The Tennessee Celebration of Human Rights Day brings attention and awareness to key topics, and uplifts human rights leaders who deserve recognition for their accomplishments.

Human Rights Day celebrates the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations, originally signed on Dec 10, 1948. It is always an event with a message of hope for the future, respect for the past, and looking at what it will take to change human rights abuses in the present.

“It’s our intention to foster hope for new generations while celebrating the strides we’ve made,” says Rev. Fesler. The celebration is set for December 7, 2017.

For more information on the event or to participate, visit www.nashvillehumanrights.org.

Drug-Free Tennessee Helping Kids Understand the Truth

Drug-Free Tennessee, the local chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World, has been helping students across the state to learn the harmful effects of drugs before they are lured into taking them.

With drug-related crimes being a weekly occurrence, Drug-Free Tennessee (DFT) is working out ways to combat usage rates by spreading truth. “We need to spread a positive drug-free message and educate as many people as possible and as fast as possible,” says Brian Fesler, regional coordinator for Drug-Free Tennessee.

Volunteers have been out in the community, handing out information and giving talks to students in schools. “It works with anyone of any race or creed, as drugs don’t discriminate,” according to Fesler.

Recently, the group visited schools in Davidson and Rutherford Counties where they delivered talks to students, showed educational videos and gave out the Truth About Drugs booklets.

DFT is the local chapter of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World (FDFW), an international organization based in Los Angeles, and has as its mission to educate people about the dangerous effects of drugs so they understand and can make informed choices on the subject. At the heart of the campaign are the Truth About Drugs booklets, 13 fact-filled booklets that, without scare tactics, inform about drugs, empowering young people to make their own decisions to live drug-free.

Fesler says, “There is a need in our communities to educate everyone on drugs—drugs impact all our lives in one way or another. That’s why it is important for all of us to work together to end this epidemic.” For more information on Drug-Free Tennessee, visit drugfreetn.org. 

5 Tips to Overcome Attention Issues at Mental Health Day 'Lunch and Learn'

Mental health watchdog Citizens Commission on Human Rights educated parents on how to help children with attention issues. The presentation was a "lunch and learn" seminar at the Nashville Church of Scientology.

The Nashville chapter of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) held a "lunch and learn" to educate parents on how to help their children overcome "attention deficit" issues without harmful drugs. The seminar was held Oct. 10 in honor of World Mental Health Day.

Dr. David Morris of Magnolia Medical Center gave a presentation titled How to Help Children with Attention Issues. It covered five simple ways a parent can help their child overcome attention issues and achieve better mental health in general:

1) Making sure the child has good nutrition
2) Correcting any vitamin or nutrient deficiencies
3) Discovering and eliminating any food from their diets that they may be sensitive to
4) Seeing that they get proper exercise
5) Getting the help they need to study properly, so their attention isn’t so easily hijacked by other things when they are sitting in class

"I'm not telling you it will be easy to change their diet or make sure they don’t play video games all day, but it’s worth it to help them achieve a better state of mental health," said Dr. Morris. He pointed out that the psychotropic drugs prescribed to children for attention difficulties have very dangerous side effects, so whatever parents can do to get these five points in with their children is very well worth the effort.

"We are proud to host this program to educate our community on these simple actions parents can take to help their children," said Rev. Brian Fesler, pastor of the Nashville Scientology Church. "We want to thank Dr. Morris for sharing this vital information." He also invited those attending to learn the truth about psychotropic drugs by touring the Citizens Commission on Human Rights displays in the Church’s Public Information Center.

Citizens Commission on Human Rights is a nonprofit mental health watchdog, responsible for helping to enact more than 180 laws protecting individuals from abusive or coercive practices. CCHR has long fought to restore basic inalienable human rights to the field of mental health, including but not limited to full informed consent regarding the medical legitimacy of psychiatric diagnosis, the risks of psychiatric treatments, the right to all available medical alternatives and the right to refuse any treatment considered harmful.

CCHR was co-founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry Dr. Thomas Szasz.

Alerted to the brutality of psychiatric treatment by author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard who wrote extensively about the abuses of psychiatric patients, CCHR today stands as a powerful voice of reason for those abused and continues its advocacy for reforms. For more information visit the CCHR website.
For more information, visit the Scientology Newsroom.