(Minghui.org) The ancient practice of Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, was warmly received at the first Life Outside festival held at Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park in St. Louis, Missouri on June 11, 2016.
The festival aims to encourage people to try various outdoor activities and be close to nature. The activities included rock climbing, stand up paddle boarding, biking, gardening and many other activities for all ages.
Falun Gong practitioners in Missouri took part in this regional event, introducing the practice and raising awareness about the persecution in China.
Many people stopped at the practitioners' booth to learn the exercises and take informational materials.
Some visitors commented that simply watching the exercise demonstration made them feel more relaxed.
Drawn to Falun Gong
A young man named Bill walked up to the Falun Gong booth. He told the practitioners that he had been exploring various ways to pursue the truth of life. He said he felt particularly at ease as soon as he approached the booth.
Bill said he has great interest in meditation, qigong and Buddha School cultivation. He said his conversation with a practitioner at the booth gave him a better understanding of issues that had long puzzled him. He was glad to know that there is a practice site near his home, and expressed desire to go to learn the practice.
Bill was shocked by the brutality of the persecution in China, especially the forced organ harvesting crimes. He could not understand how such a peaceful practice could suffer such a brutal persecution.
A Message of Hope
A woman listened to a practitioner introducing Falun Gong to her and said, “If everyone in the world would practice Falun Gong, the world would be much better off!”
She added that even though Falun Gong is being suppressed in China, justice will prevail in the end. No matter how the regime persecutes the practice, “coercion cannot change people's hearts,” she said.
