(Clearwisdom.net, May 7, 2004) I have practiced Falun Gong for 2 years and have been the only practitioner in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. It has been quite hard for me to organize an event to introduce Falun Gong to the public, and during the application process to the Lincoln International Festival, there was also some interference.
The Festival started on April 30, and many Falun Gong practitioners from nearby regions came to help me. We decorated our table with two cloth strips with the characters for "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" printed on them. We displayed Falun Dafa books, bookmarkers, truth-clarifying materials, and carefully made paper lotus flowers. We also prepared many "Stop the Persecution of Falun Gong in China" postcards for people to sign, and we planned to send them to the Chinese Embassy in the U.S.
Soon after we had the booth set up, a photographer from the largest local newspaper came to take pictures. He took a lot of pictures of practitioners doing Falun Gong exercises. The following day, the newspaper published an article about Falun Gong with a picture of a practitioner doing the exercises as the highlight of its front page.
In the afternoon, we went onto the stage to demonstrate Falun Gong for the spectators. The performance was broadcast live by a local radio station. Our introduction said: "Falun Dafa, an ancient Chinese Qigong system, a unique performance." While practitioners were demonstrating the exercises, we also talked about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. Though we didn't apply for the next day's performance beforehand, the organizers approved our request.
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More people came to the festival in the afternoon. A small girl came to our booth many times. She laughed and said, "I just like to stay close to the booth." Many people were very curious when they saw practitioners motionlessly doing exercises. We then took the opportunity to introduce Falun Dafa to them.
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People were very curious about Falun Dafa and many of them, including a girl scout, a representative from a church, a reporter, and a professor at the University of Nebraska invited me to give Falun Dafa classes.
When we were about to leave in the evening, a couple came to our booth. The husband took a Falun Gong flier and laughed, "Everything is free, how do they make a profit?" I told him, "I have a job and asked for one day off to participate in this festival. All the other practitioners' situation is the same. I used my own money to buy these materials and distribute them free. I also teach Falun Gong exercises, and I don't charge anyone for it. We are doing things that we think are right." The wife smiled and said, "I can sense your spirit."
Saturday (May 1) was a sunny day, and many people came to the festival in succession. All the fliers and CDs we had were passed out quickly. We ran to a copy shop a few times to make more.
Many people started to read and listen to our introduction after they took fliers from us, and many took our practice site information and said that they were interested in learning. Throughout the day our booth was always crowded.
I noticed an elderly lady was watching us for a long time. Her face was filled with surprise and joy, and she was murmuring, "Falun Gong? Is this Falun Gong? Lincoln also has Falun Gong!" I felt a bit sad, as she seemed to have been waiting for a long time. I quickly gave her my contact information.
In the afternoon, a local TV station came to interview us, and their report was broadcast at 10 p.m. A few minutes later, I got a phone call from a mother who said that she and her son came to our booth in the afternoon. She said, "My son insists on learning Falun Gong from you. Can children practice?" I told her, "Yes." She said that she felt a mighty energy around our booth. She used "sacred" to describe her feeling.
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Around 7 p.m. on Saturday, we got another chance to demonstrate Falun Gong on stage because of an absence of performers. I knew this was the result of our righteous thoughts. When we were demonstrating on the stage, many people off-stage started to learn from us.
Throughout the event, at least 20 people, including many children, learned the Falun Gong exercises at the booth. When the event concluded at 10:30 p.m., there were still 4 boys who wanted to learn Falun Gong and wouldn't allow us to leave. Their mother came to look for them and saw us. She said: "Can you come to my home everyday? I have never seen them be so quiet."
About a dozen people who met us in the festival came to our Sunday class. A practitioner said that he could feel a mighty energy while he felt surprisingly calm and was not nervous at all.
This event was very successful, as the people of Lincoln welcomed Falun Gong wholeheartedly.
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