(Clearwisdom.net) The Festival for the Eno [River] is a large annual outdoor event in North Carolina. During the long weekend of the Independence Day holiday, a celebration event was held for three consecutive days, and attracted 25,000 visitors each day. It is the fifth year that Falun Dafa practitioners in North Carolina have participated in this event. The event coordinators have seen the beauty of Falun Dafa, and have made friends with Falun Gong practitioners. This year they invited Falun Dafa practitioners again to the Eno Festival.
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|   Falun Gong's booth |
|   Visitors signing the petition calling for an end of the persecution against Falun Gong |
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|   Visitors stop and read the posters |
|   Learning the exercises |
|   Learning the exercises |
This year, the Falun Gong practitioner's booth was made up of four parts: Exercise demonstration, crafts, poster displays and persecution facts. The lotus flowers and windmills handmade by practitioners were very popular. While teaching the children how to make those crafts, practitioners clarified the truth to their parents thoroughly.
Practitioners' peaceful exercise demonstration gave the visitors a chance to relax. Many visitors stopped to watch. Although it was very hot, practitioners persisted in demonstrating the exercises again and again. Many visitors asked about where to learn and some of them learned the exercises there.
People could see the wonderfulness of Dafa from the large photos of Dafa's spreading throughout the world. Many visitors stopped and looked at each photo carefully. On the other side of the booth, people were shocked to see the brutal scenes of torture and violence that Falun Gong practitioners have suffered. Many signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution against Falun Gong. From the signatures, we discovered that there were visitors from Boston, New York, Georgia and even Canada, besides local areas.
Through practitioners' years of efforts, many people have come to know about Falun Gong. Many visitors came to the Falun Gong booth with their whole family and signed the petition. They told us that they had received Falun Gong materials before at this festival. A visitor who has been attending the Eno Festival for four years in a row told practitioners excitedly, "This is the fourth year I've come here. Every year I see you demonstrating the exercises and calling for public support. Your persistence is really great!" An American girl who used to teach English in Sichuan Province in China also walked over and signed our petition. She said emotionally, "I know the persecution is very severe in China because I was there for two years."
A junior high school student signed the petition conscientiously after reading almost all the information at the booth. When he learned that exercise instruction was available, he wanted to try it immediately. He learned the exercises very carefully. Three lovely girls around ten years old asked what was the age limit to sign the petition, when they were told they could sign, they all signed the petition happily and took truth-clarification materials.
Two young ladies were very interested in knowing if practitioners' efforts have received positive responses from the United States government, and if Jiang's regime has lessoned the persecution as a result. Practitioners told them that great support was received from the United States Congress, which has passed a few resolutions to condemn the persecution. We told them that the Chinese government was very fearful, and tried very hard to cover up the persecution. They were very glad that the appeals could have such good results. After signing their names, they added a comment to Senator Edwards of North Carolina, "Dear Senator Edwards, we hope you will speak out against this persecution..."
A lady has been looking for the true meaning of life but she found it very hard to find a land of purity in today's religions. When she saw practitioners doing the exercises peacefully in such hot weather, she was touched deeply. After talking with a western practitioner, she wanted to start practicing Falun Dafa, and learned the exercises right away.
There are many other stories to be shared. We have witnessed that, through practitioners' efforts, more and more people have come to know the truth and are getting closer and closer to Dafa.