Excerpts from a Canadian's Truth Clarification Journey in Eastern Europe

December 22, 2001

Preparations: packing and rearranging materials for trips to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Ljubljana, Slovenia. Thinking about how our practitioners are doing in China--a solemn day. I made some last minute phone calls to Sarajevo to make arrangements for introductory classes. It's surprising and yet not so surprising that people are just waiting for the Fa [principles of Falun Gong] to come to them. They are waiting so positively.

December 23, 2001

We stayed up until 3 or 4 a.m. preparing and left at 6 a.m. so we could get to the airport on time to meet with a third practitioner. Still, we missed our flight. It could be because we pursued our comfort to stop for coffee. Next time we will focus only on our trip. We took it as an opportunity to give out Chinese books and flyers at the airport. Our Chinese practitioner was so surprised to see all the Chinese at the airport. She taught me to say in Chinese that I am sorry I can't say more but I am thankful for their culture of Falun Dafa.

December 25, 2001

The town center of Ljubljana in Slovenia is like a fairyland. At this time colored Christmas lights decorated the trees in the parks everywhere. We exercised in the center of a cobblestone square in front of a statue. Later we changed locations and exercised on a busy cobblestone walkway, and many people came and took flyers. It was bitterly cold, yet they came to take the information. We searched out the Chinese restaurants. Two were closed. At the third, the lady was very happy to receive a book. She wanted us to stay and talk about China but we had to leave for a meeting elsewhere.

December 26, 2001

We were on our way to Sarajevo, Bosnia. Earlier in our journey we had met an Iranian man who had taken an interest in Falun Gong. The Iranian man said the sun never shines in Sarajevo. I told him that Falun Dafa always brings the sun and yes, there was a brilliant sun shining as we landed in Sarajevo. We went to find another practitioner who had come from Sweden to meet us.

December 27, 2001

Three of us, Chinese, Swedish and Canadian, took a taxi and delivered SOS letters to at least twelve top officials and the Canadian Ambassador in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Our taxi driver stayed with us all morning as we went from address to address. He said that he had read our materials and what we were doing was very good, and he would support us right to the end. We met with an Austrian practitioner and we all walked up and down the streets handing out flyers. It snowed all day. I had left my warm hat and gloves in the taxi. Even though my hands felt frozen now and then I was amazed how little the cold affected me as I watched the happy faces of those who took the flyers.

Everyone in Sarajevo smiled when they saw the Falun Dafa Truth Walk banner. We even took some pictures. As we handed out flyers, everyone first looked at what it was; then their face softened and they took one. A few wanted to take classes right away. We went to a Chinese restaurant for tea. Malaysian people ran it. They were happy to hear about Falun Dafa and took a few flyers for friends.

As we exercised on Friday in a park at a central square in bright sun and deep snow, a squad of four policemen and one serious-looking businessman came and told us we must stop because we needed permission to be there. This spot was under their jurisdiction and there were certain procedures that must be followed. Our compassion was aroused and we felt it was a great opportunity to let the police department know about Falun Dafa. One of the officers behind the counter said that if we could get permission for the four of us to practise he would come and be the fifth to learn the exercises. We were sent from one official to another in different offices and different buildings. Everyone got the chance to learn about how good Falun Dafa is. Then it was time for our Chinese practitioner to go back to Vienna. We went to a Chinese restaurant. The Chinese lady there was so cheerful and kind to us and accepted our Falun Dafa flyers.

That evening nine ladies came to learn the exercises. They practiced with us for three-and-a-half hours. We were so moved by their deep interest. They made plans to come the next morning at 11 a.m. to repeat the class.

December 29, 2001

The man at the hotel where we were staying was shocked to learn of the persecution of Falun Gong. "How come I didn't know about it?" he asked. We replied, "That's why we're here to tell you." He had lived in Sweden and spoke Swedish. The man at the desk had finished reading Falun Gong and had a few questions. The Swedish practitioner answered them all. The man said he had known of the truths in this book for hundreds of years and was very surprised that a Chinese man wrote it because he thought only Westerners could know the information.

Someone said I shouldn't have come there to change their government but should have stayed home to change the Canadian government who still makes war machines and bombs. I smiled and said I was there to offer Falun Dafa's peacefulness to all the people and not to get involved with any government because Falun Dafa is not political.

December 30, 2001

We arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia and the lady that we had met last time was very eager to have us stay with her. She prepared a delicious dinner and her two sons and their friends listened to our stories about the Falun Dafa Truth Walk and immediately wanted to learn the exercises. They learned them with ease. They wouldn't go until every one of them did the double lotus [sitting with one leg on top of the other] for the fifth exercise. Two of them had no problem and the other two just kept trying until they did it too. They liked all the pictures and were disturbed about the torture going on in China. They said they hoped that the Jiang Zemin regime would not kill me. I told them I too hoped that Jiang's regime wouldn't kill me. One of them played guitar and sang for me. It was very touching. They took flyers and pictures home and promised to return for more exercises in the morning.

December 31, 2001

Three practitioners, one from Austria, one from Sweden and one from Canada stayed in a kind lady's apartment in Ljubljana, Slovenia. They woke up early to show the exercises to the young boys from the day before. Then the lady drove us to deliver letters to the President and important members of the church. We planned to give one to the Minister of Foreign affairs the next day.

Source: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/2589.html