(Minghui.org) I am an elderly Falun Dafa disciple from a poor family. My parents did not allow my sisters and me to attend school. Before marriage I worked as a housekeeper. I have a son and two daughters and our family of five depended on the farming that my husband and I did.
I am the kind of farmer Teacher described as “...work both hard and painstakingly in the field everyday under the baking sun.” (Lecture Four, Zhuan Falun) In order for my children to live a comfortable life, I worked extremely hard and also had a lot of debt. Two of my children had undergraduate degrees and one was a graduate student. They all worked in the city, and my son was married. Sadly, my husband died and I mourned his loss and often missed him.
In 1996, I followed my mother and became a Christian. I became quite influential in the church. Families among the church community often came to me for help. After my son married, I went to the city to help take care of my grandchild. Because I was living in a new environment and busy with my grandchild, I didn’t go to worship on Sundays, and this worried me.
My in-law is a Falun Dafa disciple and she often told me things about the practice. She talked about the goodness of Dafa, the benefits of the practice and about why Dafa practitioners clarify the truth despite facing persecution. She also told me how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecutes Dafa disciples. My in-law experienced the persecution firsthand and was illegally detained in labor camps. I listened attentively and remained observant. As I was poisoned by the Chinese regime’s lies and propaganda against Dafa, and moreover, because of the religion I believed in, thinking that Jesus was the only God, I listened to her stories with reservations. But the woman in front of me was indeed kind, well-educated and had a good upbringing. She conducted herself according to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Later, I discovered that whenever other Dafa practitioners came to my son’s house they always smiled and never swore. I heard them talking about their cultivation stories. One talked about her relationship with her mother-in-law. Another talked about what she did after discovering that her husband had a mistress. A woman told us how she was cheated out of her money, yet she dealt with the matter peacefully, with no resentment and no hatred. Another practitioner said she was hit by a car but didn’t ask for money; instead she told the person who hit her not to be afraid.
What a group of people! Obviously, they had much better character than me, a long-time believer of Christianity. When I was very anxious I would even swear! None of them behaved like the Chinese media portrayed Falun Dafa practitioners.
The first incident that occurred was when my relative fractured her wrist while heading home after a truth-clarification activity with other practitioners. I was shocked to see the bones of her wrist protruding and her forearm badly swollen. I gave her a bowl of rice and thought it was probably so painful that she couldn’t eat it. But she ate it all. We suggested that she go to the hospital because otherwise it would be difficult to realign the bones. She said, “No need. I have Master Li Hongzhi [the founder of Falun Dafa]! Don’t worry. Please leave me alone for a few days. Don’t come to see me or phone me. I will be better soon.” She was talking like she was in a dream!
After a few days, I told my son and daughter-in-law to go see her. They didn’t go, and said she would feel better by continuing to study the Fa and by performing the exercises. Her husband’s colleague was the director of orthopedics in the hospital. He told her not to be superstitious, and suggested that she hurry to the hospital to have a cast put on her arm.
She said jokingly, “I’ll challenge this director of orthopedics! I won’t need to go to the hospital and my wrist will be fine. Falun Dafa is not superstition; it’s an extraordinary science and a higher science.”
By the sixth day, because the community where my in-law lived had water control, she had to carry a big pot of water from the reservoir to her home. She did it! Her wrist was completely healed! This incident really shocked me. Falun Dafa was real! That was for sure! Otherwise, how could my in-law be healed like this?!
Then there was a second incident. My in-law suggested my son withdraw from the CCP and gave him a keepsake to remind him of Falun Dafa. But he didn’t take it, as he was afraid that this would get him into trouble at work.
Then something happened that made the whole family very scared. One day, my son attended a banquet with a colleague. His colleague wanted to leave to attend another banquet and wanted my son to go along with him. All of a sudden, my son had a stomachache and started feeling dizzy. His colleague decided to leave without him. After the banquet, my son drove home but lost consciousness on his front lawn and was discovered by his wife when she arrived home from work. Late at night his manager called my son to find out if he was home, and that was when they found out that his colleague had a car accident that night and lost his life.
My son was so scared. He asked my in-law, “Did Master Li protect me?” My in-law said, “My Master was giving me some hints when I sat for meditation. The hints were to go save so-and-so, meaning you. I think it’s Master who separated you from your colleague and made you dizzy; otherwise, you would have gone with your colleague.”
Our whole family was very thankful to Teacher. From then on our attitudes toward Falun Dafa completely changed.
The third incident happened in 2008. I had a hysterectomy for my uterine fibroids. Because my family had a history of diabetes, the doctor said it would be difficult for me to heal after the surgery. He said it would take at least ten days before the stitches could be removed. My in-law told me to sincerely repeat the words “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” She said a miracle could happen.
I had the surgery and in the subsequent days, I kept saying “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good” in my mind. It only took one week for the doctor to be able to remove the stitches. The doctor said the healing went extremely well.
After I was discharged from the hospital, I felt a lot of stomach discomfort. My in-law suggested that I do the exercises with her. My stomach no longer felt sick by the time I started the third set of exercises. Falun Dafa is indeed amazing! After this, I took up the cultivation practice of Falun Dafa.
Looking back at my experiences as a Christian and as a Dafa disciple, I went through struggles especially at the beginning. I was afraid that if I betrayed Jesus, I would be punished. Then one day I watched a cartoon about a small bird who liked to join all kinds of bird meetings, but none of the bird families let him stay. I enlightened that perhaps it reminded me that if I wanted to cultivate, I could only join one way.
Both my sister and my mother are Christian and they objected to me practicing Falun Dafa. When I returned home, the members of the Christian community also criticized me for betraying the church and my children. I went through lots of thinking and observation for a long time.
When I compared my character with my in-law’s, and the character of the members of the Christian community with that of the Falun Dafa practitioners’, indeed, I felt that Falun Dafa practitioners have a better character.
Once I said to my in-law that I could tell that Falun Dafa is a genuine practice and is righteous. She said, “Then, when Falun Dafa practitioners advise those who joined the Communist Party, the Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers to withdraw from them, that is to prevent them from being controlled by the CCP. Isn’t this saving them? Isn’t this the manifestation of compassion?”
Her words helped me understand. I thought of those people in my former religion. Most of them have the same thoughts as I did. They are inevitably following the Communist Party; they not only stand on the opposite side of Falun Dafa but also betray the will of Jesus.
During all these years of cultivation practice I felt the immense compassion of Falun Dafa. I hope that all Christians will stand beside their God and eliminate the misunderstandings that they may have about Falun Dafa. Knowing that “Falun Dafa Is Good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Is Good” will certainly enable everyone to have a bright future.