On Jan. 30, 2002, Toronto Falun Gong practitioners successfully hosted a Lunar New Year celebration event attended by over 1,200 people from all walks of life. The assembly hall where the celebration was held looked neat and orderly. Practitioners prepared over a hundred dishes and put on artistic performances for the guests. Most of the people who attended were Chinese. After the event, many of them were deeply touched by our practitioners' selfless devotion and high morality. From then on, they completely changed their misunderstandings about Falun Gong that had been caused by the evil propaganda, and some of them even started to clarify the truth to their Chinese friends.
For stories about the Toronto Lunar New Year Celebration Event (part 1), please refer to
http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2002/2/5/24386.html
During the event, there were a lot of interesting stories we would like to share with you:
Story one: "Falun Dafa is good"
A practitioner invited over 30 colleagues to attend the celebration. Many of them were immigrants from Mainland China. Feeling the truthful hearts of Falun Gong practitioners, they completely changed their attitude towards Dafa after attending the event. The practitioner's Chinese colleagues couldn't help but say "Falun Dafa is good" loudly to her when she went back to work. In the week after the event, her western colleagues kept thanking her for inviting them to the celebration. Falun Dafa has been deeply rooted in their memories forever.
Story two: Canadian MPs send letters of congratulation for the event
As Secretary of State-Finance, MP Jim Peterson was the first one among all Canadian ministers who supported Falun Dafa. He attended the 2001 Toronto Lunar New Year celebration in person. Since he had to go to Ottawa to attend a Congress Meeting at the time of the event, he could not attend this celebration. Instead, he wrote a congratulatory letter for the New Year Celebration. In the letter, he wrote:
"Thank you for inviting me to attend the New Year celebration hosted by Falun Dafa Association. I am afraid that I can't make it to the event. However, I would be very glad to greet all attendees. I sincerely wish the event a great success and hope you have a good time together."
In addition, we also received a letter of congratulations from Dalton McGuinty, the leader of the Ontario Opposition Party. Quite a few MPs and MPPs also sent us letters expressing their regret that they could not attend the celebration event but offered their good wishes for its success.
Story Three: "Why didn't you let me know about the event?"
One Dafa practitioner invited many colleagues to attend the event. They spread the news to everyone that Falun Gong is good after they returned to work after the event. They still mentioned it when they saw the practitioner even after a week had gone by. One of the colleagues did not attend the celebration and said to the practitioner, "Why didn't you let me know about such a good event? Don't forget me next time!"
Story Four: "We will lend you the assembly hall next time you need it."
St. Lawrence Market Complex is one of the biggest indoor assembly halls owned by the Toronto municipal government. The persistent effort Dafa practitioners have made in clarifying the truth to Toronto city council in the past two years has earned their trust. As soon as they heard about us hosting this big New Year celebration event, the municipal government immediately provided us, free of charge, with this assembly hall that can accommodate a thousand people. Normally, only non-profit charities that greatly
benefit society and are widely accepted by society may enjoy this special privilege from the municipal government.
Seeing that practitioners can host an event with a thousand people in such an orderly manner and leaving no garbage behind afterwards, and then seeing that some practitioners tried their best in taking down all the spring festival scrolls and decorations, government staff were greatly touched. They told our practitioners, "We will lend you the assembly hall next time you need it."
Story Five: "Where can I learn Falun Dafa?"
A practitioner invited a director of a large company to the event. He was greatly impressed by seeing so many people support Falun Dafa. He also enjoyed watching many artistic performances by Dafa practitioners. In the past, he only heard news about Falun Gong from the media, but never had a chance to be with Falun Gong practitioners. This experience touched his heart. He wrote an email to the practitioner who invited him to the event inquiring about practice site. He wanted to attend the nine-day lecture and practice Falun Gong.
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Category: Parades & Other Community Events
