(Minghui.org) I grew up in a remote rural area in Heilongjiang Province. In the spring of 1996, Falun Dafa was introduced to our village. After my mother started practicing, she experienced significant changes physically and mentally. All her illnesses were gone, and the villagers said she looked twenty years younger. Despite never having attended school, my mother could read the main text of Falun Dafa, Zhuan Falun. I also began practicing, and my cirrhosis was gone. Many villagers witnessed the beauty of Falun Dafa firsthand and supported Falun Dafa.
On the occasion of the 25th World Falun Dafa Day and Master Li’s birthday, I would like to share stories of how our fellow villagers were blessed after they understood the facts about Falun Dafa.
In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Dafa, starting with slanderous propaganda through state-controlled media, and spreading lies that poisoned people worldwide. However, our villagers could clearly distinguish between right and wrong. Whenever the television broadcast defamatory reports about Dafa, they were very displeased and would tell the Dafa practitioners: “The TV is spreading lies and deceiving people again.”
Before the persecution began, many people in our village had already read Dafa books; some even practiced Falun Dafa for a while. They knew what Dafa teaches, and some personally witnessed its miraculous effects and the good deeds of Dafa practitioners.
For instance, after they started practicing Falun Dafa, some people returned the extra land they had taken; others returned items they’d taken from others and apologized. There were many instances of practitioners helping others. After one doctor began practicing, he responded to any call for medical help, regardless of the time or weather, and he treated villagers who were in need or lacked money just the same as more well off villagers. In winter, practitioners voluntarily cleared the roads; when the old bridge collapsed, practitioners spent their own money and repaired it.
Our village chief and Party secretary publicly announced over the loudspeaker, “What about Communist Party members? They’re not as good as those who practice Falun Gong.” When county and township police came to our village to harass practitioners, some villagers informed practitioners in advance and helped them hide. Some villagers even confronted the police and said, “Why don’t you arrest the bad people instead of the good ones?” The police were left speechless.
Once, the police arrested a few practitioners who were distributing truth-clarification materials. A villager took it upon himself to demand their release, going from the local police station to the county’s 610 Office.
The people at the 610 Office said, “You are very bold to come here and speak up for Falun Dafa.”
He replied, “Practitioners are good people and have done nothing wrong. Why wouldn’t I?”
The 610 staff said, “You sound like a Falun Dafa practitioner.”
He answered, “You flatter me. Practitioners don’t smoke or drink, but I do. They don’t fight back or talk back, which I can’t do, and I doubt you can either. I know Falun Dafa is good because my wife practices it. Before practicing, she was known in the village for being fierce. If someone provoked her, she would scare them off with a kitchen knife. If she hadn’t practiced Falun Dafa, my family would have fallen apart long ago.”
When practitioners collected signatures to rescue their fellow practitioners from detention, over 90% of the villagers signed the petition. They testified that the arrested practitioners were good people and demanded their unconditional release.
After the petition was exposed online, the county’s 610 Office sent police to the village to investigate. Regardless of how the police intimidated them, every villager they questioned boldly stated, “I signed voluntarily, and everything in the petition is true.” The investigators left in defeat.
The village committee members even took the initiative to report the hardships of Falun Dafa practitioners to the township, requesting a government allowance for them.
During the Chinese New Year, practitioners distributed truth-clarification couplets to the villagers. The villagers proudly displayed them. Some said, “Evil spirits can’t enter my house now.” When the pandemic broke out, many villagers remarked, “Look how accurate the practitioners were. They said those who persecuted Falun Gong would not do well, and indeed, within a few years, the officials who persecuted Falun Dafa became ill.”
Many villagers took pride in treating Falun Dafa practitioners well. When the pandemic emerged, those who had hesitated to quit the Party also withdrew from the CCP and its affiliated organizations.
Over the years, our village has not experienced any severe disasters. Even during the worst drought years, we always received a few timely rains that alleviated the drought. For more than twenty years, our village has enjoyed favorable weather. Especially during the three years of the pandemic, among the thousand or so villagers, no one died from COVID.
The Party Secretary in our village initially knew that Falun Dafa was good. However, driven by fame and money, he persecuted practitioners and tore up truth-clarification materials.
At first, practitioners in the village frequently talked to him about it, but he didn’t accept it. When I explained the truth to him, he agreed, but continued doing bad things. At one point, I thought: Maybe this person is beyond redemption.
One night, I dreamed of a flood. In the dream, I hurried outside and saw the secretary still inside his house, with water already up to his waist. I anxiously shouted to him, “Get out! Get out! There’s a flood!” Upon waking, I realized it was a hint from Master that I should still try to save him. After discussing this with fellow practitioners, everyone agreed to give him another chance.
The secretary’s brother-in-law was a large landowner in the village. Whenever a family moved out of the village, his brother-in-law would take over their land and farm it. That year, the township required each town to verify its population and reclaim land from those not living in the village. The secretary’s brother-in-law refused to give up the land he was farming, which put the secretary in a difficult position. So, he forcibly reclaimed his brother-in-law’s land. As a result, that autumn, his brother-in-law harvested over ten hectares of the secretary’s ripe crops. The secretary was so mad that he even sharpened knives daily, planning to kill his brother-in-law and his family.
When I heard about this, I called the secretary and talked to him for over two hours. I explained the karmic relationships between people, telling him that these things are predestined. I said, “If you owe him from a past life, you have to repay it. He will give you virtue if you don’t owe him. If you kill them, won’t you have to pay with your life? After death, you’ll go to hell.”
This time, he listened and agreed wholeheartedly. His brother-in-law later thanked me.
I returned to the village and heard that the secretary was still defacing truth-clarification stickers put up by Dafa practitioners. I went to his house, but he was busy getting votes in the village election. When he saw me, he seemed to know why I was there and said, “I’m busy with the election.” I told him, “You’re busy trying to become an official and make money, but I’m here to save your life. If you lose your life, what’s the use of money?
He said, “I’m just doing my job. What should I do when they come for inspection?” I said, “Do you want your whole family to be dragged down by you? I say, better quit this job and think about your and your family’s future.”
Perhaps because I genuinely wished him well this time, he listened attentively. His expression showed he took it to heart. Later, he did give up the election. When I saw him again, he regretted his past attitude towards practitioners. He even wrote a solemn declaration for me to send to the Minghui website.
After quitting his position as Party secretary, he went to work in another city. He later told me that while carrying rice seedlings from a greenhouse to a paddy field, he outperformed other younger, stronger coworkers by reciting, “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” Amazed by the power of these auspicious phrases, he brought a gift of fruit to my home in gratitude, acknowledging Falun Dafa’s blessings.
This year, he called from his worksite to tell me how well he was doing. He was making money and not compromising his conscience, which was much better than being the village Party secretary.
He also shared a miraculous story of Dafa’s protection. He said, “Before the New Year, a louvered window fell from over ten stories high and hit my head, causing a big gash that required four stitches. Luckily, I recite ‘Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good’ every day. Master protected me. Everyone at the site said anyone else would have died from such an impact.”
I am happy that this soul has chosen the path of light.
(Selected submission in celebration of World Falun Dafa Day on Minghui.org)