(Minghui.org) Editor's notes: Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Ma Yanping is from Heilongjiang Province, China. After practicing Falun Gong, all of her diseases disappeared, and in a few years she built a very successful business. However, soon after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting practitioners of Falun Gong, Ms. Ma was arrested and the police extorted money from her three times after she refused to give up practicing and telling people that Falun Gong is good. As a result of the persecution, Ms. Ma went bankrupt, she was forced to close her restaurant, her husband divorced her, and her children had to drop out of school.

The following is Ms. Ma's personal account of what she has had to endure.

Living a Life of Desperation

I was beautiful and healthy as a young girl. However, after being married for more than ten years, my health began to decline when I was in my 30s. Having developed all kinds of ailments, I was in such severe distress that I wanted to commit suicide.

One year, doctors made an erroneous diagnosis and I lost my eight-month-old son. I felt defeated by his death. I was in tears every day and mentally unstable. My health gradually worsened, and I was on the verge of a breakdown. I had severe pain in my chest and back every day, and my shoulders were sore, as if I was carrying two heavy weights. I also often had migraines accompanied by an ache in my eyes. My back was sore and felt as if I had an metal plate in it.

During this time, toothaches and mouth ulcers were normal for me. During my menstrual cycle, I would become pale and get a bad stomachache whether I was sitting or standing. My heartbeat was often irregular, and my pulse was slow and weak. My arms were too weak to do anything, and I had numbness from my elbows to my fingertips. I could not sleep at night and was always upset. My memory was getting much worse, and I lost my bicycle many times.

The most embarrassing thing was that I was always afraid. For example, I personally knew the neighbors behind us, but if one of them even coughed loudly, I would get frightened and burst into tears. The pain in my whole body persisted for a long time, and, as a result, wrinkles and dark spots started to show up my face; I was aging very fast. During this time, I would have chosen death over life, and I often wanted to commit suicide.

I often went to the hospital for examinations, but the results always revealed that I was normal and free of illness. The hospital eventually created a new term, sub-health(1), from which I suffered for more than a decade. Since doctors were unable to diagnose what was wrong with me, I began to search for witch doctors that could cure me. I tried all kinds of witchcraft, but they all proved useless.

Born Anew from Practicing Falun Gong

When it seemed that there was no hope, my younger sister told me that her illnesses were cured after practicing Falun Gong. Listening to what she told me, I realized that this was my only chance, and I immediately said I wanted to learn it. At that time, I did not understand the meaning of cultivation, but I knew I wanted to practice Falun Gong as long as it could cure my illnesses without pain. I began to practice Falun Gong in March of 1999, and soon all of my sicknesses and uncomfortable feelings disappeared completely. I could eat, sleep well, and do the housework. My relationship with my husband became harmonious, and our children obedient. I was always in a good mood and no longer had any thoughts of suicide. Everything changed so quickly that it was hard believe. I truly experienced the wonderfulness of obtaining Dafa. No wonder there are more than one hundred million Dafa practitioners in the world!

Starting a Successful Business

Since I was in good health and good spirits, my husband and I opened a small, five-table diner in June of 1999. I was very busy attending to customers, bringing out meals, cleaning up tables, doing sanitation work, and running the cash register. I was able to handle everything very well.

I managed the diner in accordance with the diligent standards of a cultivator. The food was prepared very carefully. I only chose the best ingredients to provide the best dishes. I always followed what Teacher tells us: "… you should trade fairly and maintain a righteous mind." (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun) Sometimes customers would give me counterfeit money, but I did not mind and just burned it to keep it from being circulated into other people’s hands and bringing them harm. I kept busy day and night at the diner, which had become popular in just six months. There were more and more customers, and some of them had to leave when there was nowhere to sit.

In order to take care of our guests, we doubled the dining space and hired more employees. During this time, both our customer flow and our sales volume increased steadily. In 2002, my husband and I decided to borrow money to buy a larger space—500 square meters (about 5,400 sq. ft.)—in the downtown area. To better manage the restaurant in the future, we each applied for and received a certificate of restaurant management. After the opening, in the ordinary course of business I always treated customers and employees by the principle Teacher taught us: “You should always be benevolent and kind to others, and consider others when doing anything.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun) The business became very successful, and the daily sales volume reached more than 10,000 yuan.

In daily life, I took very good care of my husband. His wants in everything, such as food, other basic items, and clothing, were first priority. I also let him manage the financial affairs of our businesses. Everyone praised me as a dutiful wife and a loving mother. Even his friends said that it was a good thing to marry someone who practiced Falun Gong since she would ask for nothing and not care about money. I also treated my husband’s family very well. I gave my mother-in-law and father-in-law my pension and benefits from my early retirement (before we opened the restaurant), and I bought all their daily groceries for them. I also paid my mother-in-law's medical expenses until her death. All of our friends and relatives praised me for being a good daughter-in-law.

Arrested Three Times

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started persecuting Falun Gong just four months after I began practicing. Being a beneficiary of Falun Gong, I sincerely knew the wonderfulness of Dafa, and I knew that Dafa was being treated unjustly. To clarify the truth, I decided to tell others about my personal experiences of practicing. However, the evil CCP was afraid of others finding out the truth and arrested me three times.

On the afternoon of July 16, 2004, with the hope that all the residents in my hometown could have the same good health, illness-free body, and good fortune as myself, I stood at the intersection of Changsheng Road in Jia Dong City, explained the facts about Falun Gong, and distributed truth-clarification materials to the vegetable vendors. However, someone who was deceived by the CCP's propaganda reported me. The police arrested me and took me to the Fendou Police Station, where I was searched, and all of my truth-clarifying materials were taken away. Then another group of policemen came in with very nasty attitudes and screamed, ordering me to disclose my name and address and demanding to know where I had obtained the materials. They also took pictures of me and the materials. At that time, my family was very anxious and requested help from anyone who could get me out of the police station. The deputy director of the police station extorted 2,000 yuan from my family before releasing me.

On the afternoon of May 27, 2005, I distributed informational materials in another community. Someone who did not know the truth about Dafa reported me, and two policemen arrested me and dragged me to the Baowei Police Station. In the station, groups of officers searched me and clothes. They put all the materials on a table and took pictures. They also snatched 380 yuan from my pocket. Around 6:00 p.m., about seven officers barged into my restaurant, pried open the door to my office, ransacked it, and turned it upside down.

Knowing that I owned a restaurant, heads of the city 610 Office Chen Wanyou, Cui Jianguo, and Liu Yan thought that it was a good opportunity to make money off of a restaurant owner and created all sorts of obstacles for my family, who were trying to get me released. They extorted more than 70,000 yuan from my family, and from then on my restaurant’s profit margin plummeted. In the end, we had to sell it in order to pay back the loan. We were bankrupt and lost the restaurant.

On the afternoon of February 27, 2011, I was arrested again for clarifying the truth after someone reported me. This time, I was taken to the Jianguo Road Police Station. My younger sister had 20,000 yuan extorted from her to secure my release.

Since July 1999, the CCP has been persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Take me as an example: my husband divorced me, my children had to drop out of school, I lost my restaurant and went bankrupt, and the police extorted nearly 100,000 yuan from my family. I am but one of the many practitioners who have been persecuted by the CCP.

Note:
(1) Sub-health - a condition that refers to a state in which a patient experiences a decline in health although there is no known cause.