(Clearwisdom.net)

Mr. Zhang, a pleasant man with a scholarly demeanor, comes from a city along the "Silk Route" in China. He has given his lifelong talent and ambition to the cause of education in China.

Three years ago his wife was detained after she went to Beijing to appeal against the persecution of Falun Gong. Even though she was later released, she remained under 24-hour surveillance by the police and administrators from his school. After much effort, the couple finally secured the necessary documentation and immigrated to Canada.

Although Mr. Zhang himself is not a Dafa practitioner, he has been very supportive of his wife participating in Falun Gong activities. He has taken on many chores to free up his wife's time, so that she can do well in studying the Falun Dafa teachings, clarifying the truth, and sending righteous thoughts. Sometimes he goes along with his wife to Falun Gong events and activities. Furthermore, last year he went back to China, and explained the facts about Falun Gong to his relatives and friends, and he gave Falun Gong fliers to those predestined people.

The persecution of Falun Gong instigated by the Jiang regime has continued for five years, and it is still going on today. Many people dare not speak out for Falun Gong out of fear, even though they are angry about the persecution. Some people are still misled by the slanderous propaganda such that they do not even dare approach Falun Gong practitioners.

Under such difficult circumstances, Mr. Zhang was very aware of the plight of Falun Gong practitioners, and resolutely supported Falun Gong. He provided firm support to a Falun Gong practitioner.

What is Mr. Zhang's rationale for his actions? I interviewed Mr. Zhang on the eve of the five-year anniversary of July 20, 1999, when the persecution first began.

Mr. Zhang said, "My wife has been practicing Falun Gong since 1996. I actually helped her along in the practice of Falun Gong since I went with her to find the practice site. Since around 1993, my wife fell sick often, suffering most from pulmonary emphysema. She would cough and gasp for breath to the point where she had trouble sleeping for a good portion of the night. Often she just sat on the bed because she simply could not lie down. If she caught some illness, her symptoms would worsen and she would really suffer. Each year she was hospitalized up to three times, and my work unit would have to spend several thousand Yuan on her medical expenses. All the family members suffered along with her. One year, my younger son's fiancée took two weeks off to spend some time with him at our place. In the end they spent the whole time taking care of my wife in the hospital. My elder daughter-in-law went through the same ordeal. She would go to the hospital to take care of my wife whenever she had a day off from work. That was what I meant by 'when my wife suffered, we all suffered.'"

"In April 1996 my wife was hospitalized again. The doctor told her when she was discharged, 'I will be honest with you. We have no cure for your illness. After you get out, perhaps you should find some Qigong healing exercises.'"

"So we went straight to Binhe Park to investigate. At the time all sorts of Qigong's were practiced in this large park. After looking into all of them, my wife chose Falun Gong, because Falun Gong is based on the principles of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.' I agreed with her choice because I also believe in 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.' If everybody truly adhered to these principles, then all of our social issues would be taken care of."

"Since then, she went to the park every morning to practice the exercises. Her physical condition improved significantly after just one month, and she appeared to be even healthier than I was. Her health especially improved after she went through three severe periods of karma cleansing, during which a lot of bad stuff was thoroughly purged by Master Li. All her illness symptoms disappeared. She naturally became a local teaching assistant after she gradually developed a better understanding of the Falun Gong principles. She would bring along the cassette player, make copies of the tape for other practitioners, as well as study the Falun Gong teachings and practice the exercises with the group."

"Before the suppression of Falun Gong began, everyone in our family supported her practice because we were all very happy for her improved health after practicing Falun Gong."

"People bow to reality. Ever since the suppression began, all sorts of opinions surfaced. My children declared, 'If the government has prohibited Falun Gong, then don't practice anymore.' My school administrators also told us so. One day, my wife told me, 'I just have to go to Tiananmen.' I did not stop her. I pretended to my children that I did not know that she had left. I figured that if Dafa gave her good health and a good life, then she was a beneficiary. What she did was something she felt she should do. After she was abducted and detained, the conflicts in our home became tense."

"My school leaders had some serious discussions with my wife and me. They also signed an agreement with the local police to conduct 24-hour around-the-clock surveillance on my wife. My children also were under a lot of pressure at their workplaces. I was no exception, either. Whenever I was on official business, I could hear someone pointing to me from behind, 'He is the husband of that Falun Gong practitioner at the XX Middle School.'"

"My elder daughter also practices Falun Gong. She was the assistant director at a kindergarten, and she was also the leader for advanced teaching and research. The faculty members and parents praised her as a model teacher. She was arrested twice after the persecution of Falun Gong started. She was discharged from her position and her Party membership. Yet she has not budged, she rigorously adheres to the principles of 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.' She works hard, and willingly endures the burdens placed on her in the office. She goes out of her way to help others in need. She works even harder and has accomplished more than when she was the assistant director. At the annual evaluation assessment she was consistently rated number one out of the whole kindergarten. Whenever higher authorities tried to single her out, administrators and colleagues would speak out for her and protect her."

Last year Mr. Zhang went back to China. He brought with him truth-clarifying materials and VCDs, and he also visited family after family of relatives, friends, past colleagues and his wife's fellow practitioners back in China to personally show them the VCDs. Mr. Zhang told them about the spreading of Falun Gong overseas and the facts of the persecution. Mr. Zhang even visited relatives away from his hometown so that he could show them the VCDs and tell them the facts.

I asked Mr. Zhang if he was scared while he was doing all this, and what was he thinking. Mr. Zhang replied, "Even though I am not a Falun Gong practitioner, I still read Master Li's book, Zhuan Falun, from cover to cover. I read each new article from Master Li without exception. I also read the fliers and visit Falun Gong websites often, so I know the facts about Falun Gong. I know that Falun Gong is good, and the persecution is wrong."

"I did not think about fear when I told the truth to people in China. I just wanted more people to know the truth. The more people that know the truth, the earlier the persecution will end. This is also validating Dafa."

"Many of them liked what they saw in the VCD, some would also say, 'We already know what is going on.' The activities of Dafa practitioners overseas touched many local Chinese practitioners. I showed them the VCD about the around-the-clock peaceful appeal in front the Chinese Consulate in Vancouver. When they learned that the appeal had persisted for more than 1,000 days, learned that my wife was in good health, and heard about what overseas practitioners were doing to help practitioners in China, they were very encouraged."

"When I bid them farewell, I told them to remember that Falun Dafa is good!"

In Canada, Mr. Zhang did his best to take advantage his own unique position to clarify the true situation of Falun Gong. Mr. Zhang likes to practice Taichi, and his graceful movements demonstrate that he is a veteran Taichi practitioner. There is a group of people learning Taichi from him. Many of them who came from China inevitably were influenced by the propaganda from Jiang's regime. They had a lot of misunderstandings about Falun Gong. Mr. Zhang used a lot of true stories that he knew to explain to them the truth.

Mr. Zhang used one case to illustrate his point: Does Falun Gong receive financial backing from the U.S. government? This is one of the major suspicions among many Chinese. Mr. Zhang told his friends that money supporting Falun Gong activities here in Vancouver all came from Falun Gong practitioners' own pockets, thus clearing up their suspicions.

Both Mr. Zhang and his wife are in their 70s. Although they have quite a few house chores to take care of, Mr. Zhang's wife has even more Dafa related activities to attend to. One day each week she stays overnight in front of the Chinese Consulate, twice a week she goes to Chinatown to promote Falun Gong, and she is also involved in the waist drum performances, all whilst eagerly participating in numerous large-scale Falun Gong activities. On top of her own efforts, Mr. Zhang's support has been indispensable, too.

In view of this, Mr. Zhang mentioned that the environment in Canada is so much better than that in China. When Mr. Zhang was playing the truth-clarification VCDs for people in China, they had to pull down the blinds and keep the volume low. Even though they watched the VCD and knew that Dafa is good, they were still very cautious, afraid of being found out by others. The terror in people's minds reflects the severity of the environment in China.

Mr. Zhang feels that with such good circumstances in Canada, we should be even more diligent. He said, "Therefore I must be more supportive of my wife by doing more house chores so that she can have more time to study the Fa, practice the exercise and participating in Falun Gong activities. I must try my best to support her whenever she needs to go out of town to attend Falun Gong conferences."

Mr. Zhang himself has done a lot for Falun Gong, such as helping his wife to proofread articles, delivering newspapers, making paper lotus flowers, etc. Early on their daughter could not understand why her mother was so involved with Falun Gong activities, but now she understands. Sometimes she also helps to deliver the newspapers, as well as supporting her mother by bringing her own children to the Minghui School and other Falun Gong activities.

When Mr. Zhang was asked how he viewed the persecution of Falun Gong and what lies ahead, Mr. Zhang said, "Falun Dafa is offering salvation to the whole world. Master Li said that 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance' is the character of the universe. It has been imparted for 12 years, and to over sixty countries. More and more people are becoming aware of Dafa. Even though the persecution of Falun Gong has been ongoing for five years and the evil still exists, the overall situation has changed greatly. Overseas Falun Gong practitioners taking Jiang to court has also made a significant difference. The evil influence will not last for long.

Jiang still tries to export his state-sponsored terrorism overseas, for example by bribing local Chinese people such as Liang Guanjun (who beat Falun Gong practitioners in NY), and organizing the South Africa shooting incident. But this only demonstrates their desperation in the final moments. It shows that they are just empty shells, out of ideas and totally irrational.

I think the current situation is becoming more favorable to Falun Gong. The persecution will not persist for long."

So why has Mr. Zhang not become a Falun Gong practitioner himself, even though he appears to have such a righteous understanding? When asked, Mr. Zhang replied, "Most people started practicing because they wanted to improve their health. I have always enjoyed good health so I did not get involved because of that. Later when the persecution started, I figured that if they abducted my wife at least I could try to rescue her from outside. If both of us were practitioners and got detained, then there would be no one to rescue us, so I delayed my decision. Perhaps the predestined time has not come yet. But I am compassionate and I support Falun Gong. I believe there will be an opportunity in the future for me to become a Dafa practitioner."