(Minghui.org) Greetings, Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I am a Falun Dafa practitioner in North Rhine-Westphalia who began practicing Falun Dafa in 2001. I’ve come this far thanks to Master’s compassionate protection and guidance. Today I would like to share how I clarified the facts to the general public and parliament members amidst the pandemic.
The pandemic quickly spread globally because of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In March 2020, Germany began to impose pandemic restrictions. One day after work I went to a business street in the city center. Shops on both sides of the street were all closed with dark windows. The usual crowd was gone and there were only two or three pedestrians on the broad street. I was saddened by this scene.
I went there again that Saturday and walked around. The situation was similar to what I saw on the weekday. Practitioners in my Fa-study group each usually have their own projects. Information day events on weekends are a major way for us to work as a group spreading information about Falun Dafa and exposing the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa. There was now hardly anyone on the streets and we could not hold events. But what could we do since there were still so many people waiting to be saved?
We soon printed a special edition of the Epoch Times, exposing how disinformation and deceit by the CCP allowed the virus to spread freely across countries for two months, which caused almost all countries to miss the best time to prevent and control the virus infection. But with no events to hold, how could we distribute the materials? After discussing among practitioners, we took actions similar to other cities. Since the pandemic restrictions only allowed up to two people to walk together, we did that and delivered the special edition to city government, government offices, mail boxes at clinics, and the city center as well. But few people dared to accept the materials. Plus, there were no masks available to purchase at the time, so people had to keep a distance from each other. Germans knew their lives were messed up because of the CCP. Upon seeing us giving out materials, some would way “Haha, Chinese!” and turned away. One time several middle school students yelled at me, “China Virus! China Virus!” The CCP has harmed everyone in the world, Chinese and Westerners.
Some restrictions were lifted in late April 2020 and weekend events were allowed. But the pandemic did not slow down. After submitting an application for an event permit, I received a phone call from police the next morning. The officer asked about all the details, such as how to disinfect the pens that would be used for the signature drive, and how to hand out flyers to people at a two-meter distance. I said I had over 100 pens to give out. And we also prepared disinfectant, and each pen would be cleaned right after use. When distributing flyers, we would wear masks and rubber gloves. Hearing our procedure, the officer said it made sense and agreed.
Nonetheless he reminded us to be careful. For the following information day events in three cities, police officers always said the same thing. They came to observe our events and then agreed that we could continue. Other than masks and disinfectant, our activities during the past year were no different from those in the pre-pandemic days.
These information day activities after the lifting of restrictions were all successful. Several weeks later we realized that our weekend events could only reach nearby residents or people in senior centers. Because the traffic was still light, very few people from other areas came to the city center. As a result, we found ourselves over-staffed at such events, requiring only one or two practitioners distributing flyers and the rest of us only demonstrating the exercises. Some practitioners had to do the exercises over and over again since there were too few people stopping by our booth. Many of those who did stop were familiar faces. Quite a few people said they had received flyers or signed petitions already.
Master said,
“And today I am delivering it right to your door.” (The First Talk, Zhuan Falun)
If Master is “delivering it right to your door,” we could also do the same and deliver truth-clarification materials to people. The pandemic continued and restrictions were still in effect. Since no gathering or travel was allowed, most people simply stayed at home, whether they were working or out of work. Even parties could only be held at home. When I discussed this with other practitioners, they also agreed to do both the information day events and distribution of materials.
We first went to wealthy areas where we used to deliver Shen Yun promotional materials. With the the 2020 pandemic, there were no Shen Yun performances. Those who had bought the tickets must have been very sad. So handing out materials to them would be helpful. In the beginning, we had one car and four or five practitioners helping. Several weeks later, we had two vehicles. One couple has a store, which was forced to remain closed due to the pandemic. But they did not just stay at home. Just like going to work, they helped distribute materials every day. With these two vehicles, we covered two cities here and a few cities where Shen Yun had performed previously. In fact, practitioners in other areas have also done the same.
After that we had a discussion about how to continue. We live in the largest province in Germany. It has a population of 18 million (or one quarter of the entire German population). But there are less than ten practitioners across two cities in the province. These two cities have no tourist attractions, so there are few visitors. From my city to the Dutch border, there are about 40 small cities and towns along the route. Most of the residents are native Germans, wealthy and holding traditional values. But no practitioners live there.
Based on this situation, we decided to distribute materials in those areas as well. We have covered over 20 towns since last autumn. Communities there are clean and decent. People are also nice and greet each other. When there were people outside the house, we delivered the materials to them and said a few words. They thanked us for the efforts.
Every time after handing out materials, practitioners felt happy as if their bodies had been cleansed. Because family gatherings could not exceed five people from two families, we could not study the Fa together face to face. But on the way back from materials distribution was a natural opportunity for experience sharing. We felt we had all improved a lot. Even online Fa study improved. In the beginning, only two to four practitioners attended, but now almost all the practitioners have joined the online Fa study. This helps a lot for us to clarify the facts well to save people.
We have always considered areas with no practitioners, and it is our mission to cover those areas. We made efforts so that materials could cover every town and village.
After Shen Yun toured my state in April 2019, we heard that the city I lived in had signed a 5G contract with a Chinese company. We felt it was necessary to contact the state parliament members. After some discussions, I wrote a draft, and another practitioner polished it even including punctuation marks. I put much effort into preparing letters, and sent them to eight parliament members from different parties in my city.
I received a phone call from the state parliament on September 26 that year. A staffer said that my letters had been received and parliament members wanted to invite me for a face to face discussion on the persecution of Falun Gong, as well as human rights abuse in China. I could bring three or four others with me. Later that day, I received an official invitation sent from a parliament member from the Social Democratic Party, the second largest party in Germany. I discussed with other practitioners and we finalized the date, time, and personnel.
Five of us went there on the morning of October 9, including two practitioners who had been detained many times at labor camps in China. Upon arriving we first sent forth righteous thoughts asking Master for help. There are four parliament members from Social Democratic Party in my city, and two of them were scheduled to meet with us. The third left a note for us and apologized for being unable to attend. To our surprise, the fourth parliament member came with his assistant.
The five of us practitioners worked well with each other. During the one hour meeting, these elected officials listened attentively. They asked questions and agreed with what we said. The assistant took notes of the discussion and accepted the materials we brought. After the meeting, a group photo was taken with us. They later also helped us with other types of activities. We were happy for them and were grateful to Master for his support.
I sent an announcement to several state parliament members in June 2020, for a rally on July 20 to oppose the persecution in China. I also sent the notice to two federal level parliament members. Because of pandemic restrictions, I did not send official invitations. I received a phone call in late June from a parliament member, saying that he could attend the event. I could not remember his name at the time. Nonetheless, I thanked him and asked him to send me an email so that I could follow up with his staff members. He agreed. Putting down the phone, I was very thankful to Master for the help. At that time, I had just changed jobs and had to learn many new skills. Because of this, my mind was initially blank when receiving the phone call.
After receiving the email, I learned that this parliament member would also come on behalf of three other parliament members in the region. I was happy and yet a little stressed. For many years, we had not been able to successfully invite elected officials to attend our events and give speeches condemning the persecution. We had only met that parliament member once in the past for less than two hours, so I wasn’t sure how much he would support Dafa. As a result, I had many negative thoughts. What if he promised to come but could not make it? What if what he says was not appropriate?
In the 20 days leading up to the rally, I relied on Dafa to eliminate those bad thoughts. Master said,
“...just by having your heart unaffected you will be able to handle all situations.” (“Eliminate Your Last Attachment(s),” Essentials for Further Advancement II)
I also sent forth righteous thoughts. I also sent more information about the background and significance of the rally to that parliament member. After these back and forth communications, he showed up at 12 p.m. at our event.
Under the scorching sun, he did not leave right away after giving his speech. Instead, he talked with the hosting practitioner briefly from time to time to support the activity. After the first round of speeches finished in one hour, I noted that he was sweating. I asked him if he could stay for a coffee because I had some questions for him, and the news media had not interviewed him yet. When we talked about China during a break, he said he knew that he may not be able to go to China again after speaking at our rally, since the CCP government would not issue him a visa. What he said actually answered my first prepared question for him, “Do you know what consequences you may face after this speech?” During our conversation, I learned that he had been supporting human rights all along. He also said that we could contact him whenever we needed help and he would figure out ways to support us, which answered my second prepared question, “How can we keep in touch with you?” His interview with our news media also went well.
As our event continued in the afternoon, this parliament member had posted pictures of this activity on his Facebook page. We were happy to see that more people could hear the facts about Dafa through his social network.
Before the event, I also received a joint congratulatory letter from two federal level parliament members in Berlin. They condemned the human rights violations by the CCP and wished our event a success. This was the first time we received support from six parliament members for an event.
After the restrictions tightened in Germany again this April, the parliament member mentioned above made special efforts to meet us in person. Two coordinating practitioners said that things like this rarely happened. On April 29, these two coordinating practitioners and I were invited to the state parliament again to discuss a new resolution. Two parliament members met us. Recently, we received a file from one of them, saying they are currently working on advancing the resolution.
Looking back on our cultivation path, every step we took, every advancement of the project, and all support from officials, for them to be saved, came from our righteous thoughts and righteous actions. In fact, since we began our cultivation, everything we do, from life, work, to doing the three things, is part of Master’s meticulous arrangements.
Master said,
“The self-cultivation that Dafa disciples do is not merely for their own spiritual perfection, but also to help me save all lives. You have a mission to fulfill, and that is why you had the opportunity to become disciples of Dafa.” (“Greetings to the Dafa Disciples Attending the Fa Conference of Europe”)
Compared to diligent practitioners, I have a long way to go. There are many areas where I have done poorly, including harboring the attachment to comfort. I am trying to change that. I will cherish the opportunity as a Fa-rectification Period Dafa disciple and fulfill my mission of assisting Master with saving sentient beings.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!