November 23rd, 2001, an SOS-walk was completed across Ireland. The kindness that the walkers met on their travels was immense. On the first night in Athlone town a landlord of a hotel lowered the price to less than half the original price when he learned the truth of the persecution in China and that the practitioners were walking to make people aware of the situation. In Chinese restaurants generally the reception was very positive with the staff, including the chefs, coming out to hear the truth of Falun Gong.
Local and national government representatives were also very supportive. The Chairman of the Longford County Council said he would pass a resolution supporting practitioners' efforts to secure spiritual freedom for the practitioners in China and for an end to the persecution. One national government minister when he heard the truth immediately sent a letter to the minister for foreign affairs and sent practitioners a copy of a debate in the government buildings discussing Falun Gong. Four local newspapers interviewed the walking practitioners when they heard that they were walking to raise public awareness for the human rights abuses happening daily to practitioners in China.
The local people we met on the way were also very good to the practitioners. One bus driver said he would stop at every small town on the way to our destination to allow us the opportunity to jump off the bus and place leaflets in the shops and hand them to local people. When the people on the bus saw this they all wanted to know about Falun Gong. When practicing in public, people were very curious and came over to ask us many questions about the practice.
This trip revealed to me that there are a lot of good people who may have a predestined relationship with Dafa in this important stage of Fa-Rectification. We must do our best to give everyone in the west a fair opportunity to position themselves. In the next stage it would be very sad if there were a lot of people who say "I never heard of Falun Gong; if someone told me I would have helped". On our travels to many people who have never heard about Falun Gong, we must give all sentient beings a chance to display their xinxing and position themselves well in this important time in history.
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Category: Rallies & Protests
