(Minghui.org) Northern China’s winters are exceptionally cold. Around Chinese New Year, snow and wind make it extra chilly. My local group of practitioners wants to save more people and the cold weather does not intimidate us. We spare no effort doing truth-clarification in the rural villages.
Lost on Treacherous Road in High Mountains, Young Children Come to Assist
One day during the 2015 Chinese New Year, eight of us practitioners drove to a village far from town. After letting the older practitioners off at a village with an easier terrain, a young practitioner and I continued on to a small village near the boundary of our county. We heard that the village on the other side of the mountain was the hometown of Zhang Guolao, one of the Eight Deities mentioned in Zhuan Falun.
The road got narrower and steeper as we entered the village. The snow had turned to ice. A single mistake by the driver and the car would end up down in the ravine. The driver practitioner was very skilled and reassured us. “Our car is a divine vehicle. No need to fear anything. Master is looking after us.”
We arrived safely and then noticed that all the houses were built on a steep hillside at different levels. As we worried about how to get up there, we saw two children by the roadside. We talked with them about Falun Dafa. They both agreed to quit the Young Pioneers and then showed us the way into the village.
They led us to each house and told us which families had dogs and in which homes there were older people who could not answer the door. With their help, we covered the whole village, and 19 people agreed to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The children then sent us off safely out of the village. The other practitioner said to me, “Master arranged for the two children to lead the way for us.”
Getting back in the car, the driver said, “There's another village beyond the hilltop with a few dozen houses. I have scouted the village. It's not too late. Why don't we cover that village, too? Otherwise, we will have to come again next time.”
We got going without thinking too much about it. Although the road was slippery and narrow, barely wide enough for our car, we arrived without a problem after driving over ten kilometers. We noticed three children playing in the snow at the village entrance. We again talked to them and helped them quit the Young Pioneers.
The children led us to a gathering place where villagers were chatting and playing poker. We started to clarify the truth to all of them. Hearing where we came from, one of them shouted at us, “You are pretty brazen as to come here to talk about Falun Dafa.”
We later realized we had crossed the border into another town. Since we were already there, we decided to keep going and continued to talk about Dafa and the persecution. Some turned their backs on us. A middle-aged resident listened for a while and said, “Please give me a book to read.”
Once he stepped forward, others started asking things as well. Some even asked for a copy of each book we had brought. We then went around to all the homes in the village, left a pamphlet and calendar for each, and helped some of the villagers quit the CCP and its associated organizations.
We knew our benevolent Master had already laid the foundation and made all arrangements for us. All we did was travel to places and open our mouths.
A Woman in Red Awaits Our Arrival in the Cold Wind
Heeding Master's requirement “not omitting a single area where there are people” (Let Go of Human Attachments and Save the World’s People, The Essentials of Diligent Progress Vol III), we went to another rural area on the second day of the 2017 Chinese New Year. Most villagers, both those who were employed and college students, had returned home for the holiday from out of town.
This village was even farther and more remote than the last one, and the people there were known to be unreceptive to Dafa. However, I could not give up on the idea as I knew they were not likely to have the opportunity to hear the truth otherwise.
Six of us practitioners arrived at the last village on the road after a long ride. We were told by a villager there that the place we were looking for was actually another couple kilometers up the hill and could be reached only on foot. We assigned two practitioners to the current village while the remaining practitioners and I set out along the trail up the hill.
The trail was almost nonexistent and full of ice and gravel. We helped each other along the way to keep from slipping downhill. When we finally reached the top where the village was located, we were all sweating profusely in spite of the cold wind.
As we considered where to start, an older woman in red happened to pass by. She carried an armful of firewood. The woman put down the firewood and asked what we were there for. “We brought blessings to you,” I said. She then led us to her home.
We met her daughter-in-law, grandchildren, and two visitors. We clarified the truth to everyone, helped them quit the CCP and its associated organizations, and left them some informational materials. One of the visitors then asked us to go to her home. As none of her family was a member of the CCP, we told them to recite “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” so as to be blessed. They thanked us repeatedly.
As we left, the other visitor said to us, “You have not been to my home yet.” We did the same at her home. All along the way, we were accompanied by the older woman who first welcomed us. “There are still a few families you have not visited,” she said. “Let me lead you there.”
When we arrived at the front door of a house, she yelled, “Come out and see who has brought you good fortune!”
Several people came out of the house to greet us. Some were students, others worked at odd jobs out of town. As they realized what we were there for, a middle-aged man said, “I am a CCP member. I don't want this.”
After he spoke, a few other young men followed suit and refused to listen to us. The older woman who was our companion urged the middle-aged man to listen: “They took such pains to reach us in our rural village. You should at least listen to what she has to say.”
I started to talk about Dafa and answered his questions. Eventually, he understood the real situation behind the persecution and agreed to quit the CCP. Later, others accepted our materials and four quit the CCP.
The older woman then took us to a few more homes. As we were about to leave, she offered to have us stay at her home for the night. We held her hands and told her gratefully, “We need to leave for now. We will surely come back to see you once we get a chance.” Tears welled up in her eyes.
As we started walking down the hill, she stood at the village entrance to see us off. The howling wind slammed into the trees and hurled gravel and sand around us. After we had walked a long way, I glanced back and saw her, a distant figure in red, still standing in the bitter wind waving goodbye to us. I was so touched by what I saw that I recalled Master's words, “No matter who you are, no matter where you are, the Creator is calling for you.” (Hong Yin IV, unofficial translation)
Master would not leave behind a single person with a predestined relationship and had arranged for us to spread Dafa's blessing to this isolated village. That kind-hearted woman was saved; others in the village were saved, too. When we reached the other practitioners who waited for us in the car, we learned that they did well that day and helped over 20 people quit the CCP. We sang Dafa songs on our way home.
Only His Mushrooms Made a Profit
One day our driver practitioner said, “How about we go to my village to clarify the truth today? The people in my village are being forced by the CCP government to give up their land and relocate. Everyone is condemning the CCP.”
We agreed, and about 12 of us went to his village. We divided up the village, and another practitioner and I were assigned to an area with many mushroom greenhouses. We visited them one by one. When we talked about the forced relocation, everyone was indignant.
We entered one greenhouse with a woman in her 70s and started talking to her about Falun Dafa. “I know what you are talking about because there's a Dafa practitioner in our village (who was, in fact, our driver). He goes out every day doing Dafa activities. Yet, after a whole year like that, his greenhouse is the only one in our whole village that made a profit. The quality of the mushrooms in other greenhouses is simply not as good,” she said. “His mushrooms sell at nearly four times what others get. Don't you think that is strange?”
“It is not unexpected at all,” I said. “It is because he practices Falun Dafa and is blessed.” I told her that Dafa teaches people to be kind and that the officials who persecute practitioners will incur retribution for what they do.
As I spoke, other villagers gathered around and listened. They were more than willing to accept our materials and quit the CCP. “Remember to say ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ and ‘Falun Dafa is good’ as often as you can so you will have good fortune,” I said to them.
When I left the greenhouse, I was moved to tears when I realized how much time and effort the driver practitioner had devoted to truth-clarification and saving people. He had been validating the Fa with his deeds in his daily life.
One day I asked him, “How many days a year are we out and about doing Dafa activities?”
“It's been more than 300 days,” he said.
For more than 300 days, he rose before 3 o'clock in the morning to care for his mushroom greenhouse. He skipped breakfast so he could drive practitioners to each and every village all across our county and also bordering villages in five nearby counties. No village was missed. He did not have much time to spend on his mushrooms, yet he made a profit. It's really extraordinary!
Our Fate Rests in Master's Hands
One day we came across a village with over 100 homes. A practitioner told us that the village CCP branch secretary used to be her classmate and he was very negative about Dafa. We decided to make an effort to reach him and the village.
He was not at home, so we talked to his mother while others spread out in the village. As we were about to leave, we heard some commotion outside the front door. A man, who turned out to be the secretary, was pulling along a practitioner while making a phone call.
Another practitioner said, “He is calling the local police station. Let's find a place to send righteous thoughts.” We gathered on a small hill not too far away from the captive practitioner and started sending righteous thoughts.
Soon we heard the secretary on the phone, “When are you guys coming? Hurry up. I have caught a Falun Dafa practitioner here.” The practitioner the secretary was holding was not afraid and kept talking to him about Dafa. Time passed and still the police did not come because they were caught in a traffic jam.
The secretary got angry. Bystanders were surprised. One of them approached the practitioner and said, “Why don't you plead with him, so he will let you go?”
The practitioner said, “No one can determine my fate. It is in my Master's hands.”
More time passed and the police still did not show up. Frustrated, the secretary said, “Just go.” With many villagers watching, he was humiliated.
When we got back home, we reflected on this incident and searched within. We realized that we did not do well enough. There were many people like him who were still under the evil influence of the CCP's lies and propaganda. We are determined to follow Master's teachings to seize every second and do the three things well as we near the end of the Fa-rectification period.
