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New OT VIII – Truth Revealed
After four years of intensive work locating, purchasing and refitting, the Sea Organization motor vessel was christened the Freewinds. Setting sail on June 6, 1988, she was not only the first Sea Organization vessel to see service in thirteen years, but she is the only place where Scientologists can take the highest available step on the Bridge: New OT VIII, Truth Revealed.
The unveiling of two new facilities was further cause for celebration among Scientologists in 1989. The first was the twelve-story, 110,000 square-foot Hollywood Guaranty Building, which was to serve as the home of international Church management. The second was the Saint Hill Castle, a building modeled after a medieval English castle, that Mr. Hubbard originally conceived and designed in 1965. It now offered advanced Scientology services and the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course. Three more new churches opened in 1989: one in Atlanta, Georgia; another in Hanover, Germany; and the third in Stuttgart.
These three churches brought the total number of Scientology organizations, missions and field groups up to 830, with some 10,000 staff members ministering to more than 200,000 students and preclears for a grand total of 1.4 million auditing hours per year. That same year also saw the technology moving into society with 251 social reform groups and 164 social betterment groups supported by Scientologists.
While the demand for Dianetics and Scientology in China was growing, another Asian nation was responding in a significant way to Mr. Hubbard’s technology: Japan. In a matter of months, the first Scientology church in Tokyo was offering courses and auditing to scores of Japanese citizens.
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