(Clearwisdom.net) Since my mother and I started practicing Falun Dafa, my father has witnessed the power of Dafa in the disappearance of my mother's diseases. He has read almost all the Dafa books including our Teacher's latest articles, and fellow practitioners' cultivation stories. Before July 20, 1999, Dafa practitioners frequently came to my home to watch our Teacher's lecture videos, and my father welcomed them warmly. He also discussed Dafa with us, but he didn't become a practitioner.
On July 20, 1999, my father decided to begin practicing Falun Gong, but the next day, Jiang's regime started the persecution. Right after that, I was arrested for appealing to the government. Those determined to practice Dafa ran the risk of being fired or arrested. My dad said, "All political movements in China are very evil, the government would not treat you within the confines of the law, and they would do everything to you. Now you and your mom are practicing, if I practice also, there would be no one to speak out in our family."
Since I refused to give up the practice of Dafa, my employer treated me very badly. I was forced to find work out of town. My parents place my well being above their own, and they really didn't want me to work out of town.
Before the Chinese New Year, I came back home and stayed with them for a few days, and then I went to Beijing to appeal again. On New Year's Eve, I was detained with many Dafa practitioners in jails in Beijing. We had no food or water, just the cold wind. But we were validating the greatness of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. Joy filled our hearts. Later, I escaped and learned that my family had been worrying about me that night. After I came back home, mom and dad weren't angry, but they warned me to be careful. They didn't want me to be arrested again.
Later I left home to work again in another city. During that period, my mother was arrested several times. The public security bureau extorted almost all of my family's savings. Later, I was arrested and tortured many times. Sometimes I lost contact with Dad for a long time. Since my dad frequently heard the bad news that Dafa practitioners are being tortured to death or injured, he sheds a lot of tears. These years, I have been in and out of jails many times with no steady job, since most of the jobs come from state-run enterprises. Dad said that all of our savings had been extorted; if he were to get sick, he would not be able to pay the medical expenses. But even so, my family is comparably better off financially than many other Dafa practitioners. Some of the practitioners are the only ones supporting their families, and if they were arrested, their families would be hard pressed to survive.
Under such pressure, my dad never opposed mom and I practicing Dafa, but he hoped I would not to go to Beijing or be arrested. Dad witnessed how Dafa practitioners were tortured in the jail when he went to visit my mother there.
In 2000, many Dafa practitioners shared their experiences in my home, and many of them went to Beijing from there. Dad was very warm to all of them. He listened to their experiences and amazing stories.
In my city, almost every Dafa practitioner has been tortured if they were arrested. When my mother was arrested, Dad accompanied her when she was interrogated, so policemen dared not torture her. Dad would bring fruits or food to the detained Dafa practitioners when he went to visit my mom. Sometimes, he brought in the new Dafa articles to them. Dafa practitioners were moved to see that a non-practitioner would run risks to do this.
Once, the police arrested my mom again without reason. Dad stayed in the public security bureau and asked them to release my mom. He said to the police, " I would not let you go if you hurt her; I am almost 60, if you push me too hard, I would not consider the consequences." So they released my mom, because the evil is afraid of a righteous, courageous person. Sometimes when mom and I delivered Dafa materials to fellow practitioners, dad would not allow us to carry the materials. He carried them. He said, "I am not a practitioner, the police cannot do anything to me." Sometimes fellow practitioners from other places came to my home to pick up Dafa materials. My dad would not allow them to carry the materials either. He would carry the materials with him and see them to the railway station.
In China, Dafa practitioners' families are under heavy pressure and suffer greatly. We are not looking for any personal benefits, as it's our duty to safeguard Dafa and no amount of pressure or hardship could change that. We are tempered in the suffering and become stronger and even more determined to Dafa now.
We just want to thank everyone who has helped us and suffered on our behalf.