(Minghui.org) I was very happy when I heard that we were going to hold a nine-day class in Frankfurt, as I thought this was a sign that the time had come for us to provide more people with the opportunity to practice.
Interference
I immediately agreed when the coordinator asked me to find a venue for the nine-day class because I already had a location in mind, a room in a Protestant parish in the center of Frankfurt that we had previously rented for another project. The coordinator had some concerns about the location because the rent was high and perhaps there were some religious items that might distract the attendees. She told me to find a cheaper room, similar to those practitioners found in Berlin and other cities.
I initially doubted whether this would be possible in Frankfurt, because every city is different and everything is expensive in Frankfurt. But I didn’t want to immediately refuse. I wanted to cooperate. I also felt maybe this was a hint from Master that we should look for a cheaper venue.
I called several organizations that offered inexpensive meeting spaces, including local employee welfare organizations, multi-generational housing, and other municipal facilities, but for various reasons, I could not find a space. So we had to rent from the Protestant parish. Our contact was the pastor’s secretary, who was open and supportive of Falun Dafa. She worked hard to coordinate with other relevant agencies to allocate rooms so that we could use the same room for nine consecutive days. After she succeeded, she and we were very happy. We signed the contract and the pastor also gave us a discount on the rent.
About a week before the class started, the secretary told us the pastor received a complaint email from someone who did not understand why the community provided rooms for Falun Dafa practitioners and the person cited propaganda spread by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). I immediately called the secretary, and she said, “Don’t worry, your nine-day class will not be canceled and will be held as agreed.”
Two days later, the coordinator and I met with the secretary in her office. We explained in detail the persecution of Falun Dafa and the CCP’s slander, and gave her some truth clarification materials. She still supported us very much. She told us that the email was widely circulated, and another female pastor was also affected. We agreed to write a written statement for the pastors. Our conversation was very friendly.
However, two days before the course was to start, I received an email from her, written in a very severe tone, that demanded we urgently respond to the allegations in the complaint email.
We realized that we needed to clarify the truth to a wider audience. We wrote a letter to the parish leaders, fully stating the facts about Falun Dafa and the persecution. We also added links and attachments to more articles. The secretary later told me that she thought our letter was very well written.
Eventually, we were able to hold nine days of classes without interruption in a beautiful room.
Local practitioners talked and decided to look for another venue in Frankfurt to hold a second nine-day class to benefit more people. We realized there were things we could do better and we hoped to improve during the next class. We also believed that if we had the desire to do better, Master would definitely help us.
This was indeed the case. Two days after the first class ended, we received permission from a municipal social organization and were provided with a suitable room free of charge. We are very grateful to Master for giving us the opportunity to hold another nine-day class.
My Experiences During Two Nine Day Classes
We realized that we had some problems after the first nine-day class. The first day didn’t start well. There was a technical problem and it took ten minutes for the TV to begin playing the video. Our preparations were inadequate. Some practitioners were late or could not keep quiet.
We also realized that it would be best if the same two practitioners were in charge of the nine-day class from beginning to end, so that the participants would have the same instructors to communicate with and build trust.
I went on the last day of the first nine-day class and met two students, two ladies in their 70’s, who attended the entire session.
One of them recently joined our group in Hanau. It was through this opportunity that she understood Falun Dafa more deeply. During the nine-day class, she experienced some body cleansing reactions, but she knew very well that this should not stop her from coming to class, so she came anyway.
Another lady, a Vietnamese woman, said her insomnia improved and she could sleep better and longer. She was so impressed by the obvious effect that she decided to continue practicing.
The second nine-day class was conducted by two Chinese practitioners. This allowed them to get to know each participant, what they were able to understand and whether they were making progress. They established a relationship with the participants, and the atmosphere during the nine-day class was very peaceful.
I attended the last discussion on the last evening, and I felt the friendly atmosphere as soon as I walked in. All ten participants greeted me and everyone sat around and talked freely about their feelings for nine days. I heard some amazing things. Here are a few examples.
A gentleman lives far from the venue, so he had to leave home at four o’clock in the afternoon every day and he returned home at half past eleven each night. He was always very tired on the road, but said as soon as he got there, the fatigue disappeared. He felt that everything he heard during the nine days was true. Falun Dafa was helping him change, and he wished to change himself. He believed Falun Dafa would help him take a big step forward. He said he had become much calmer during the classes and his headaches disappeared.
Another gentleman listened to a radio program about Falun Dafa the day before the class started. He was very interested, so he called the Falun Dafa contact person in Frankfurt. He was told that a nine-day class would start the next day, so he signed up immediately. After he began attending, he was especially interested in Falun Dafa’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, so he persisted until the end. He said he gained a lot and would continue practicing and read Zhuan Falun. He also wanted to join the next class and would come to the park to do the exercises on Sunday.
A young man said he was looking for a way to improve his spirit. He was very grateful to be there and meet so many excellent people. He experienced an extraordinary thing: because he suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), he is usually absent-minded and restless. But he sat very quietly during the classes. He realized that some changes had taken place in himself, and he wished to continue practicing.
These are just a few examples that I wrote down.
I was deeply impressed by how people had these insights in such a short time. In my opinion, they have a predestined relationship with Dafa and with each other. They set up a chat group and plan to stay in touch through this group.
The second class showed how well our team worked together. We learned from the first class and worked hard to ensure that there was no interference that might have a negative impact on the participants.
One participant said that he gained a lot. We also gained a lot from the successful nine-day class. We are grateful to Master.
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