(Minghui.org) The persecution of Falun Dafa was launched by the former leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Jiang Zemin, on July 20, 1999. The more active practitioners were the first to be persecuted.

Under tremendous pressure, other practitioners stepped up to fill the vacancies and take the lead roles in the effort to stop the persecution.

Exposing the persecution and helping people learn the truth about what the CCP was secretly doing has been taken seriously by Falun Dafa practitioners the world over.

All who remained steadfast through the persecution have experienced hardship and many tests. Cooperation between the hundreds of practitioners where I live has remained strong throughout the 20 years of persecution.

In 2016, practitioners from our area clarified the truth to every household in the county. In the course of our efforts, many police officers also learned the truth about Dafa. The persecution in our area was substantially reduced by these efforts. None of our local practitioners have been sent to prison for believing in Dafa and helping people learn the truth, and the local police ignore calls reporting practitioners.

Cooperating as One-Body

In the summer of 2017, a practitioner was filmed writing “Falun Dafa is good” on a wall and was arrested. He was an immigrant worker and his family lived too far away to come to his rescue.

The coordinators in our area asked practitioners to send forth righteous thoughts for his release. Several of us went to the police station to ask that he be freed, but the head of the State Security Division was new and we hadn’t yet clarified the truth to him. He rushed us out of the office, declaring that he would send the case to the procuratorate and have him tried and sentenced.

Thirty days later, his case was brought to the procuratorate. Several practitioners went there to send forth righteous thoughts and let people know the truth. All of a sudden, the State Security head was removed from his post and the practitioner was set free.

After this experience, we decided to talk to all local officials and help them understand that Dafa is good and that the persecution is baseless.

Practitioners Arrested in a Neighboring County

In 2017, four practitioners in the neighboring county were arrested while distributing truth-clarification materials. I had been working on Dafa projects with two of them for many years.

I went to their area to help rescue them as the local practitioners were at a loss as to what to do or even where they were being held. I teamed up with another practitioner and we went to the police station to ask about the arrested practitioners. As we arrived, we happened to see one of them being led to a police car by more than a dozen plainclothes officers. They drove away with her as we entered the police station.

The next day the police searched the home of one of the arrested practitioners. They confiscated his Falun Dafa books and portraits of the founder of the practice, Master Li Hongzhi.

The practitioners that were arrested had distributed truth-clarification materials village by village. Yet many of the local practitioners felt that those practitioners that were arrested were to blame.

I explained to them that we should take the opportunity to look inside ourselves and find how we can improve as a one-body. Meanwhile, we should take advantage of the situation to clarify the truth to as many people in the security departments as possible. We all agreed to do everything we could to get the practitioners released as soon as possible.

The next day we contacted the families of the practitioners who were arrested and helped them hire a lawyer.

After his visit to the jail, the lawyer reported that the practitioners had been beaten and that one of them was on a hunger strike to protest the abuse.

The Minghui website posted the names and phone numbers of the police officers that had beaten the practitioners and the lawyer filed a lawsuit against them. This intimidated them, because they did not want their crimes to be known to their families or in their communities.

The team grew as more practitioners stepped up to help in the rescue effort. Some practitioners called the police officers involved while others put up posters all over the county with the facts about the arrests. We all sent forth strong righteous thoughts.

With our combined efforts, the practitioner who was on a hunger strike was released. We were very encouraged. The team had improved a lot and the effect was positive.

As word of the success of our efforts spread, practitioners from other counties joined the effort. They clarified the facts to the local police department, the procuratorate, and the court.

A team consisting of the families of those still in custody, a few local practitioners, and the lawyer went to the different security departments and filed complaints about the brutal treatment of their family members.

Two months later when they were about to be tried, another practitioner was released. We all witnessed the magnificent power of Dafa and the benevolent compassion of Master Li.

Overcoming Illness Karma

Meanwhile, a practitioner in my area was suffering from severe illness karma. A doctor told her that she would only live for one or two more days and her family was preparing for her funeral.

Her friends and relatives all came to say farewell, but the local practitioners refused to give up on her.

It was a test of life and death. With the righteous thoughts of the local practitioners and the benevolent compassion of Master Li, the practitioner who had been consigned to death regained her health.

Once again, we witnessed the greatness of Dafa and the power of cooperation.

I came to understand what Master said on a whole new level:

"When disciples have ample righteous thoughtsMaster has the power to turn back the tide"(“The Master-Disciple Bond” in Hong Yin Vol. II)

Thank you, Master. Thank you, fellow practitioners.