JOHANNESBURG, South Africa /ScoopCloud/ -- Growing up in Mitchel Plain wasn't easy, according to Luce-Lynn Fondling, a life skills coach and Scientology Volunteer Minister who works with community leaders, educators and both bullies and victims in schools. Drug dealers dominate her neighborhood. "There is violence everywhere," she says.
Mitchel Plain was built in the 1970s for people forcibly removed by the apartheid South African government from areas set aside for "whites only." It is notorious for gang violence, substance abuse and poverty.
"I was always fighting," she says in a video on the Volunteer Ministers South Africa YouTube channel. "I was always in fights. I was always, 'you can't tell me anything.'"
Then she met a Scientology volunteer and what the volunteer told Luce seemed to make sense.
"How do you know all these things?" Luce asked her, and the volunteer introduced her to the Tools for Life-a series of 19 free online courses.
"When I did the courses, I become a different person," says Luce. "I know that I've changed because when people attack me, I'm like 'Hold on. I'm not that Luce anymore.' And then they will approach me and say, 'Look here, what happened to you? Why are you so changed?' And then I share the 19 Tools."
Working in coordination with Scientology Volunteer Ministers African headquarters at Castle Kyalami in Johannesburg, Luce delivers seminars to community leaders to empower them so they know what to do.
A community activist who took part in the training says Luce's Tools for Life seminars are "equipping those in my community so we can create a positive ripple effect. The goal is to break the cycle of poverty."
"Sometimes children are acting out, but you don't know why they are acting out," says the principal of an early childhood development center who attended Luce's seminar. "Their parents might be on drugs or they're using alcohol .... The Tools show us how to deal with these people."
"It was a blessing for me to be part of this," says an intern assistant at the same center.
"For me, change is possible," says a ward committee member who completed the 19 courses. "It just depends on what I utilize [from these courses]."
Luce says, "these Tools for Life really changed my life because I am now able to create the change I want to see around me without waiting for anyone. I can see it made a difference in my life. And I'm sure it's going to make a difference in everybody's life."
Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard developed the Tools for Life for the training of Scientology Volunteer Ministers, which is a religious social service sponsored by the Church of Scientology International.
Mr. Hubbard described the Volunteer Minister as "a person who helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others." Their creed: "A Volunteer Minister 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."
Their motto is, no matter the circumstances, "Something can be done about it."
Castle Kyalami serves as a home for the community and a nexus for all who share the goal of bettering the lives of individuals and strengthening communities across the region, nation, and all of Africa. Mr. David Miscavige, ecclesiastical leader of the Scientology religion, dedicated Castle Kyalami on New Year's Day 2019, reaffirming the vision of Mr. Hubbard that "from Southern Africa will spring the next great civilization on this planet."
For more information on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers of South Africa, visit the Scientology website.
LEARN MORE:
https://www.scientologynews.org/press-releases/
https://www.scientology.tv/films/scientology-principles/tools-for-life.html
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VIDEO: https://youtu.be/S5gGNaNHubw
Growing up in Mitchel Plain wasn't easy, according to Luce-Lynn Fondling, a life skills coach and Scientology Volunteer Minister who works with community leaders, educators and both bullies and victims in schools. Drug dealers dominate her neighborhood. "There is violence everywhere," she says.
Related link: https://www.scientology.org/
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