As this year's summer holiday finished, another practitioner and I were invited by a Canary Islands TV station to host a special Falun Gong program together with the TV station's director. The director is very interested in Oriental culture. Not long ago, he also started to learn Falun Gong. He initiated and wrote this program about Falun Gong.

We started the program with an introduction, explaining that Falun Gong is an ancient cultivation method from China. We talked about how people can achieve the effect of improving their health and purifying their minds through practicing the Falun Gong exercises and studying the teachings of Falun Gong.

Another practitioner then talked about his own experience of practice. He said that his health improved considerably only a few months after he started to practice Falun Gong. He used to have a bad stomach, back problems and always felt tired. Now these problems have all disappeared and he has a peaceful, happy mind with lots of energy. He finished talking about his experiences by recommending all the viewers to try Falun Gong for themselves.

The program then moved on to focus on the campaign of persecution that has been waged against Falun Gong practitioners in China for the past six years. At least 2,780 deaths through police abuse and torture have been confirmed, with government sources inside China indicating that the actual number could be has high as 7,000 or more. The program displayed pictures of some of the persecution cases from China and also exposed the self-immolation incident that the Chinese Communist Party staged on Tiananmen Square and then blamed on Falun Gong practitioners.

Presenting this program was an important experience for me. For the first time, I took part in and hosted a TV program in front of all the Canary Islands inhabitants, and the first task for me was to overcome my fear. In the beginning, like most people, I was nervous and my heart beat fast. But gradually I became comfortable with what I was doing. I knew that what I was doing could help more people understand the goodness of Falun Gong and become concerned about the innocent practitioners who are suffering such brutal persecution in China. I told the viewers about my personal story of practicing Falun Gong and the huge positive changes it brought to my body and mind.

Through this experience, I learned more about the power of Falun Gong and I got rid of some of my fears at the same time. Now I know that I can narrate well and feel confident in talking to people about the persecution.

Later on, as I watched the special program on Falun Gong, I saw the words on my Falun Gong shirt glitter with a shining golden light.

From the 2nd to the 15th of November 2005, the Dutch Falun Gong Association organised a two-week long "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" Art Exhibition in the City Hall of Amsterdam. Among the visitors were city hall office staff, government officials who came to the city hall for meetings, ordinary citizens, people who specifically came to see the exhibition after reading advertisements, as well as relatives and friends of Falun Gong practitioners.

Peter Houben, Chairperson of the Dutch Falun Gong Association, said at the opening ceremony: "The purpose of holding the "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" Art Exhibition is to use the beautiful art to show the Falun Gong practitioners' uncompromising courage and commitment to the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" in the face of relentless persecution by the Chinese Communist regime."

Paintings that depicted Falun Gong practitioners being tortured shocked every visitor. People learned about the brutality and covert nature of the Chinese Communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Artworks showing the heavens and human beings in harmony helped people to see the beauty and peaceful nature of Falun Gong.

Among the artworks there is a painting depicting a scene in which Falun Gong practitioners were making banners. The guide told visitors that in Mainland China, people who try to display a banner or distribute a leaflet in public would face the danger of being caught and tortured. Some visitors asked, "Why do Falun Gong practitioners do that? Why don't they just stay at home?" The guide replied, "Falun Gong practitioners carry out these actions because they couldn't bear to see their fellow practitioners being tortured to death in prisons and they couldn't bear to see that people are confused by the Chinese Communist regime's lies. The purpose of their coming out is to reduce the severity of the persecution and to stop the persecution." Upon hearing this, visitors expressed their admiration for the practitioners' courage.q2q

After viewing the art exhibition, visitors were quite moved. When Falun Gong practitioners asked if they wanted to sign the petition calling for the immediate end to the persecution and for bringing the prime culprit of the persecution Jiang Zemin to justice, many of them did so without any hesitation.

In the signature book, people expressed their deep fondness of the artwork, their support for the immediate end to the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China and their hope that the truth would be widely spread. The following are a few typical messages:

"It is so sad to see that such beautiful artworks are linked with such terrible events. I hope the Chinese government will stop the torture and persecution soon."

"From the beginning, what moved me is the beauty of the art, then its meanings, and finally the tragedy occurring in China. It is terrible. However this art exhibition is to wake up the whole world. Thank you for the great strength and courage."

"I have never heard of these things. I am deeply shocked. I shall inform everyone who is interested in this topic."