OPERATION: DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
THE STORY OF THE PLANET’S GREATEST GLOBAL VOLUNTEER RESPONSE
SAFEGUARDING HUMANITY IN THE WAKE OF THE UNIMAGINABLE.
It started with school and office closures and moved quickly to border and government shutdowns. We learned it was a new and contagious virus, an invisible threat that would bring the world to a standstill.
In the face of the uncharted and unknown, the Church of Scientology did not hesitate or wait for instructions.
Here is the untold story of how the world’s youngest major religion harnessed the full power of its facilities, Churches and volunteers to bring help and hope to communities, essential businesses and fellow religions in more than 120 nations.
The documentary unveils the many challenges, pioneering innovations and triumphs that shaped this unprecedented chapter in our shared history. It’s a story of unity, compassion and unbending resilience. It’s a story everyone must see.
Throughout the once-in-a-generation humanitarian crisis, the Church of Scientology reminded the world that our help is unconditional. Our help is yours.
CAPTURING THE CURIOSITY OF MILLIONS.
The word Scientology means knowledge. It’s a religion for a modern-day world, comprised of 11,000 Churches, Missions and Groups in more than 120 countries and territories. The Church’s humanitarian and Social Betterment campaigns have impacted entire nations.
At the heart of this movement is the purpose to bring help, greater freedom and prosperity to every man, woman and child. At the close of 2019, the Church had capped a monumental decade of fulfilling this purpose by providing solutions to improve life for everyone.
ALL REALMS OF SOCIETY UPSIDE DOWN.
March 2020—a new and highly contagious virus imperiled a world with increasing uncertainty and fragility. Amidst the standstill, a young religion would be put to the test. For no single event has impacted more people in less time.
To handle the threat to its international network, the Church needed to safeguard its Churches, parishioners and the surrounding communities—a triage zone that spans tens of millions of people and touches nearly every faith and culture. The scope was almost unimaginable.
A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH. LIKE NO OTHER.
This is what happened when the world’s youngest major religion harnessed its state-of-the-art facilities and rallied its international community to bring real help with the largest humanitarian mobilization in the Church of Scientology’s history.
SAFEGUARDING AGAINST AN INVISIBLE ENEMY.
Humankind has successfully conquered pandemics throughout history. The Church reviewed preventive methods from pandemics of the past and waded through oceans of the latest medical research, reports and studies. Guidelines and protocols were compiled and produced, but there were countless unknowns that needed to be addressed with ways to avoid contacting the virus.
The Church had to move quickly to find a formula that would provide total prevention—from outdoor settings to high-touch surfaces. At 99.9999% effective, there was one product that was safe, powerful and eco-friendly. It’s called Decon7 (D7) and it leveled the battlefield for the Church.
SPIRITUAL FREEDOM IN THE SAFEST PLACE ON EARTH.
Flag is the Church of Scientology’s spiritual headquarters. To Scientologists around the world, it represents the summit of the Scientology religion. There is no place that carries more significance than this campus in Clearwater, Florida.
The goal was to ensure that Flag remained 100% virus-free.
NEXT STOP: EVERYWHERE.
With planning complete and protocols in place, the Church of Scientology launched a campaign for total prevention around the world. All systems recalibrated to accommodate a massive print run of 7.5 million Stay Well booklets that contained the answers to questions people were asking.
For the first time, there was a complete set of guidelines with effective prevention protocols available for anyone, anywhere.
STANDING FIRM AGAINST THE GROUNDSWELL OF UNCERTAINTY.
As the world reeled from shifting mandates and confusing protocols, Scientology Volunteer Ministers deployed in communities around the world, armed with Stay Well booklets.
Amidst the sea of confusion, they brought certainty and clarity to people looking for answers. They created calm wherever they went and demonstrated that, yes, something CAN be done about it.
FILLING THE AIRWAVES WITH VITAL INFORMATION.
While the Volunteer Ministers spread Stay Well guidelines across the world, Scientology Media Productions focused on how to extend these messages across a multiplatform world. They produced 21 PSAs in 21 languages and created a Prevention Resource Center that became the go-to source for concise, clear, effective protocols for prevention.
It was the nerve center to uplift a nervous world.
UPLIFTING SPIRITS WITH
THE POWER OF MUSIC.
To send waves of hope reverberating around the world, Scientology Media Productions rallied an all-star, international lineup of musicians. The collaborative effort produced an upbeat, positive and fun “Spread a Smile” music video, which would go on to be a social media sensation spanning more than 100 nations.
Proving music is the universal language to touch and enrich people’s lives, more than 50 music icons opened their homes and studios to perform at the Stay Well Concert—a genre-crossing mega event that included soulful acoustic ballads, rocking rhythms and everything in between.
FEEDING HOPE. FILLING HEARTS.
With global economies in flux, it fell to local community members to care for each other. Once again, Volunteer Ministers stepped into the breach in cities around the world.
In Kansas City, for example, they partnered with local community centers to distribute food from the local food banks and pantries. After several months, the Volunteer Ministers and their community partners had distributed more than 3 million pounds of food to those in need.
A SYMBOL OF GRATITUDE,
HONOR AND RESPECT.
Why did law enforcement bestow challenge coins—a rare civilian honor—on the Volunteer Ministers?
They equipped more than 80 police stations with kits of D7. They trained over 150 officers how to decontaminate their stations and vehicles. They decontaminated more than 1,300 vehicles, distributed more than 25,000 Stay Well booklets and sanitized more than 700,000 square feet of emergency service facilities. But above all, they gave officers a way to help themselves and their communities.
“ANGELS FROM HEAVEN” FOR THE COMMON GOOD.
Volunteer Ministers have as one of their basic purposes to restore spiritual values to their fellows. With international shutdowns around the world, helping houses of worship reopen became a primary objective.
Volunteer Ministers equipped religious facilities of many faiths with the tools they needed to reopen and welcome their congregations back to the fold.
PORT OF CALL: SAFEGUARD HUMANITY.
She is helmed by the most experienced crew on all the seven seas and the first-ever civilian ship appointed as an official training platform by the International Maritime Organization of the United Nations. On March 16, 2020, when borders closed, the Freewinds was the only ship allowed to dock in Aruba’s port.
This is an island that relies on open trade routes for its supplies and travel for its survival. Closed borders could be catastrophic. The Volunteer Ministers disembarked to work alongside first responders. With permits from the prime minister, they helped to reopen Aruba and to restore the island’s economy.
HOW A CHURCH BECAME A COMMAND POST. OVERNIGHT.
It stands at the highest point in the Midrand region with vistas that stretch for miles. It is known throughout Johannesburg as Castle Kyalami. In Zulu, khaya lami means “my home,” and for Scientologists it serves as both an advanced-level Church and a religious retreat.
But when the pandemic was declared and lockdowns began, Castle Kyalami shifted to become the Volunteer Minister disaster response headquarters. Equipped with tens of thousands of gallons of D7, Volunteer Ministers set out to bring critical functions back to the nation’s infrastructure.
On the front lines, they sanitized police and fire stations and decontaminated first responder vehicles. They also ensured essential workers could get where they were going in virus-free transportation.
And across the nation, Volunteer Ministers helped the country’s most vulnerable avoid contact with the virus through education and sanitization. With the people protected, the next focus became all the places where they live, work and worship.
VIOLENCE AND LOOTING ERUPT.
South Africa was not immune to the riots and protests spreading across the world. In the township of Alexandra, riots brought down one of its largest shopping centers.
But Volunteer Ministers were on the scene to clean up and bring order to the chaos. Their shoulder-to-shoulder effort inspired the community to unite, including the city’s highest officials, who personally worked alongside VMs to sanitize the entire structure. And in no time at all, this and other newly restored facilities were ready to reopen.
THE TOOLS FOR LIFE.
While Volunteer Ministers have been on-site providing support at every major disaster since 9/11, they are trained in an exact technology to help overcome life’s difficulties. Scientology Tools for Life courses—both online and in person—provide procedures to better handle problems and improve one’s life and the lives around them. Based on principles from The Scientology Handbook, there are 19 courses dedicated to common problems people face in their everyday lives. In the wake of the pandemic, Volunteer Ministers shared the Tools for Life with tens of thousands of people around the world who were ready for change.
IT’S MORE THAN A YELLOW JACKET. IT’S A RAY OF HOPE.
Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard created the Volunteer Minister Program in 1973. Today, it is one of the largest nongovernmental relief forces in the world.
As the pandemic came to a close, the world had changed forever. We had all proven that we can care more, help more, do more and be more. That resolution burns brighter than ever. For the sun never sets on Scientology.
OUR HELP IS YOURS.
To improve any aspect of life, including the most common difficulties and challenges, start one of the free online Tools for Life courses. There are 19 courses and films in 21 languages. All free of charge.
