(Minghui.org) I am a 68-year-old who started practicing Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) in February 1996. Before then, I suffered from cervical spondylosis, back pain, and other illnesses. In my misery, I lost hope in escaping the suffering before I died.
My husband also had myocarditis and kidney disease. When he was stricken with illness, he couldn't do farm work. Our medical costs were the main expenses for my family, and our daily life was hard.
My husband and I both started practicing Falun Dafa in February 1996. After studying the Dafa books and doing the exercises for a while, we recovered from our illnesses. I left the physical pain behind and was freed from all worries, financial or otherwise. We lived a harmonious life.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began its persecution of Falun Dafa on July 20, 1999. Since my family members refused to renounce their faith, many of them were severely persecuted. My elder son was illegally detained for 38 days. My second son was detained several times and sentenced to imprisonment for one year. My third son was detained for 70 days and fined 6,000 yuan. My younger daughter was put in a forced labor camp for one year.
The CCP also arranged for my neighbors to monitor my home. One of them was an elderly Korean War veteran. Blinded by the CCP’s indoctrination and tempted by financial gain, his entire family, including his three granddaughters, monitored my family.
In studying the Dafa teachings, I realized that they were also victims of the persecution and that I shouldn't hate them. Instead, I should awaken their consciences. So, I talked to them about Falun Dafa and the persecution. However, the indoctrination was hard to break through, and his daughter-in-law even said, “I don't believe anything you say. I'll do anything as long as I get money!”
Her attitude did not anger me. I often sent forth righteous thoughts toward their family. To strengthen my cultivation state, I held myself to the standards of Dafa and did not hate them.
When their chicken laid eggs at my house, I returned the eggs to their house. This small thing made a positive impact. One villager said bluntly to the old veteran, “I see Falun Gong practitioners are good people. The media talks nonsense and frames Falun Gong!”
One day, the veteran met up with me and said, “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” I told his family more about the persecution. Except for his second granddaughter and his second daughter-in-law, who did not join any of the CCP's organizations, all the others quit the Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers. They no longer participated in the persecution.
We often encounter people who don’t know the actual situation of Falun Dafa. They not only refuse to listen but also shout at us. We send righteous thoughts and face them calmly during those times.
We went to a village in July 2017. We stopped at a home where a father and son were out in the yard. We tried to talk to them about Dafa, but they did not want to hear anything and asked us to leave. They were extremely emotional and said a lot of disrespectful things against Dafa. When they decided to report us to the police, I sent a strong thought: “I eliminate all the factors that persecute Dafa practitioners.” At the same time, I sent a thought to disable their mobile phone. We then left without any problems.
We went to another village to talk to people. There were Dafa practitioners in that village, but because of the persecution, the villagers were very scared and didn't dare to read the Dafa brochures or listen to the practitioners in the village.
Another practitioner and I visited one home after another and talked to the villagers in every home. On the second street, we met a group of people chatting. We told them about Dafa, but they refused to listen and repeated the lies that the CCP had instilled in them. We did not argue with them and continued to the next home.
An elderly man soon warned us as someone had called the police on us. We remained calm. Ai, the practitioner with me, went into another home to talk about Dafa while I sent forth righteous thoughts at the door. I asked Master to reinforce us. When we came to the last home, the police arrived. The yard was filled with onlookers.
Because other practitioners had worked hard to help the police gain a clearer picture of Falun Gong, some officers already understood what we were doing and were supportive. One officer got out of the police car, checked our raincoat pockets, and said we should go home. We took a taxi home, and the police drove off. Because of Master's protection, something that seemed to be bad had turned into a good thing.