Handling the Devastation

Koji Minami became an active Volunteer Minister shortly after the disaster and has been in active duty since. Here is his personal view on the situation.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers have never been needed more than at this moment in Japan, after the most devastating natural disaster in Japanese history. It has left Japan and the world in shock. People are living in anxiety, dread and dismay—information whizzing past, caused by and contributing to the confusion.

But Volunteer Minister technology contains tools to help.

When the earthquake and tsunami hit, people descended into a state of sorrow, and the sorrow spread. I was working as a Volunteer Minister in Tokyo –not close enough to help the way I wanted to. I realized that the Japanese people needed Volunteer Ministers’ solutions to bring order and stability to the disaster zones. I left Tokyo immediately with several other Volunteer Ministers and headed straight for Sendai.

Sendai City was covered with snow and the city was out of commission. The stores were closed and we finally found a restaurant where we warmed up and drank coffee. We told the restaurant owner that we are Scientology Volunteer Ministers, here to help with disaster relief and we asked him if he knew where we could stay. He checked online and gave us a list of hotels, but none of them were open. Fortunately we met a local businessman, who arranged for us to stay in an apartment where we later established the Volunteer Minister’s base in Sendai.

That day, we visited volunteer centers in Sendai and met with the heads of the Miyagi Prefecture Disaster Volunteer Center and the Watari Town Volunteer Center. We gave each of them a Scientology assist.

You may have heard of these assists. They are incredible. They are the simplest and easiest technology we have and yet the help they bring is so powerful. Assist technology was developed by L. Ron Hubbard. It helps the individual overcome the effects of loss, shock and trauma.

Before his assist, the head of the Miyagi Prefecture Disaster Volunteer Center was exhausted from the shock of the disaster. He told us after the assist that his confused thoughts became clearer and his vision improved. He invited the Scientology Volunteer Ministers into the shelters in these areas to deliver assists to the people there.

We began delivering assists in the shelters of Miyagi Prefecture and to volunteer and welfare organizations officials to introduce them to Volunteer Minister technology and ensure they benefited from it as well.

An official from Aichi Prefecture Social Welfare Association was in the shelters to help with disaster relief. He saw the Scientology Volunteer Ministers delivering assists and he approached me and asked if the Scientology Volunteer Ministers would do the same in the Onagawa Town Volunteer Center. Of course we said yes.

The following day, the Volunteer Ministers were divided into two teams; one went to the Onagawa Volunteer Center, and another team to the Watari Town Volunteer Center. We gave assists to the officials there who were very happy with the results. They asked us to go to evacuation centers too. Again, we replied yes.

For the past several weeks, the Volunteer Ministers in volunteer centers and evacuation centers in Sendai City, Onagawa Town, Watari Town, Natori City and Ishinomaki City have delivered more than 9,000 assists. New Volunteer Ministers are also being trained daily. We are making a difference in the lives of many, who request more assists after they receive their first.

The success stories come in, in an avalanche. An old man who could not stand began walking after he received an assist, and another resolved to start his life anew where before he wanted to give up forever. We create little miracles like this on a daily basis.

The General Affairs Department of Miyagi Prefecture Disaster Volunteer Center wrote, “Various volunteers are involved in activities for many reasons, but I would like the Volunteer Ministers to give power and support to victims so that they can gain hope for reconstruction.”

We cheer up elderly people, train young people in Volunteer Minister technology and change the devastation to hope in the most terribly affected areas. Scientology Volunteer Minister activities enable people to dream again—the best thing a person can do. It is wonderful to be a part of it.

Scientology Volunteer Minister activities have changed my life and I’ve seen it change the lives of thousands of others, whether giving or receiving the help it brings. We want to stabilize Japan and create a better world. There are people who need our help and they are right in front of us. So we continue to work.

With love,
Koji Minami
Volunteer Minister