(Minghui.org) After a Falun Gong conference was held in my county, the practice gained immense popularity: by 1999, over 5,000 people participated in group exercises in public parks. Having seen their neighbors recover from serious illnesses after practicing Falun Gong, villagers in Dingxing County, Hebei Province stood up for practitioners against the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong.
Stories of Healing
Xiaohua was a farmer's daughter and was sickly since childhood: she developed asthma and rheumatoid arthritis at age ten. In her thirties, she looked like someone in her sixties. When her husband recovered from terminal stage cancer a month after starting to practice Falun Gong, Xiaohua took up the practice herself and regained her health in just a few months. The couple's story spread far and wide, and over 500 people started practicing Falun Gong in her village after learning of her recovery.
In another instance, a girl in second grade was diagnosed with leukemia and could no longer attend school. To pay for treatment, her parents exhausted their savings and had to sell their home. Despite their sacrifices, the girl's life hung by a thread. Having heard other villagers' experiences of healing after practicing Falun Gong, her mother led the entire family to take up the practice in hopes of experiencing a similar miracle. To their great surprise, the girl improved day after day and returned to school as a healthy child six months later.
A third story describes Mr. Wang, who returned his disability certificate to the county government and told the administrator, “Since I'm healthy now and can work to support myself and my family, I want to return this certificate to you. I don't need the subsidy anymore, so give it to those who need it the most.” The administrator exclaimed, “Falun Gong is good! Falun Gong is good!”
Villagers Protect and Defend Practitioners
To generate public hatred to support its persecution of Falun Gong, the Communist Party uses its control over all forms of media to demonize the practice.
However, the message “Falun Gong is good” had already taken root in people's hearts. For example, a village leader told Falun Gong practitioners, “However you need to practice, go ahead. Don't worry. I won't allow anyone to disturb you. You're all good people.” Some villagers offered to shelter practitioners in their homes.
When police officers came to round up anyone practicing Falun Gong, the village government simultaneously sent one party to greet the officers and another to warn the practitioners. The police left empty-handed.
A director of a granary depot said, “I never believed whatever they said on television. People my age know the Communist Party very well. When I was in the military in 1964, everyone had to make an honest statement regarding whether socialism was good. Our commander said something honest: 'It's good, but it won't fill our stomachs.' For that statement, he was sentenced to four years in prison.”
On another occasion, a practitioner from a local factory went to Beijing to petition the government to end the persecution. When he was arrested and escorted back to the village, the factory director demanded his employee's release and said, “What's wrong practicing Falun Gong? It would be great if all my workers practiced Falun Gong!”
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