(Minghui.org) The 62nd Greentree Festival was held in Kirkwood Park in Kirkwood, Missouri, U.S.A., on September 16 and 17, 2023. The festivities included a parade, dance and musical performances on stage, pet displays, a children’s playground, and booths selling paintings, handicrafts, and clothing. Beer and food were also on offer. There were many tourists.

Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) practitioners set up a booth at the event to introduce Falun Dafa and raise awareness of the ongoing Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution.　

Visitors learn about Falun Gong at the Kirkwood Greentree Festival in Missouri.

Many visitors noticed the Falun Gong banner and stopped to find out more about it. When they learned that Falun Dafa’s principles are Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, they said that society needs these values and how wonderful it would be if everyone followed them in their daily lives. Many people asked how to do the exercises. Those who were interested were told about the group practice sites that are located in several major parks throughout the city. Every weekend, Falun Gong practitioners do the exercises and offer free instruction. Some of the visitors said that they would go to the practice sites to learn.

A man who taught himself Falun Gong, John Daniel, introduced himself to the practitioners. More than 20 years ago, in order to solve his health problems, he found Falun Gong online and learned the exercises by himself by following along with the video of Master Li teaching them. After doing the exercises, his stooped back slowly straightened. He is retired now but still looks younger than his age.

Visitors who saw the brochures about protesting the CCP’s forced live organ harvesting asked if it was true. They were stunned to learn that the CCP has been persecuting Falun Gong for more than 20 years. They were told that the ongoing persecution includes torture, killing, and harvesting organs from living practitioners. This crime has been perpetrated by the Chinese regime for more than 20 years. One person said, “It is unbelievable that such a horrific crime can actually be happening in this world under the control of a government. The CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong is simply unreasonable.”