(Clearwisdom.net)
In the Spring of 2002 I was being illegally held at a forced labor camp. While I was there, the labor camp imposed a very tight news blockade on all Falun Dafa practitioners. Even their families were not allowed to visit them. After repeated hunger strikes to protest the restrictions, the labor camp finally allowed the families of the Falun Dafa practitioners to send in some food and clothing on visiting days. On one visiting day I came across a copy of a Minghui newspaper that had been used as wrapping paper and thrown into a pile of trash. In the newspaper there was a photo of 36 Westerners that had gone to Tiananmen Square to validate the Fa [law and principles]. I was really very excited about my discovery at that moment.
I went to a corner and carefully read every word. The feelings of goodwill and finding a priceless treasure at the same time can't be described in mere words. It was like someone lost in a desert for a long time finding sweet spring water. This was because the Falun Dafa practitioners at our labor camp had not had any news from outside for about a year; so getting the Minghui newspaper was even more astounding. I read the paper in great eagerness and after finishing it, I dragged a fellow practitioner aside and showed it to him. When he saw the headline, his eyes became shiny and then he asked me in happy astonishment, "Where did you get such a good newspaper from?" I said, "Please don't ask, just finish reading it and pass it on to other practitioners."
In this way, all 23 practitioners held in the labor camp read the newspaper. Can anyone imagine what spiritual encouragement we gained from reading a Minghui newspaper under those adverse circumstances?
After some deliberation, we decided to let a practitioner who suffered from the worst scabies keep that precious newspaper. Lying in bed, he would read the newspaper every day, and sometimes read to other practitioners whenever he was able to. For practitioners that were either low in spirits or were experiencing some problems, other practitioners would borrow the newspaper for them to read. As a matter of fact, the newspaper had become an heirloom for the Falun Dafa practitioners in the labor camp. Speaking of the newspaper, I think it was truly miraculous. It was passed around from one person to another and circulated to dozens of people; however, after several months it did not show any signs of wear, and the prison guards never found it.
With encouragement from reading the newspaper, all the Falun Dafa practitioners in our team began a hunger strike to protest our illegal detention and harsh conditions. When the hunger strike entered the fifth day, the labor camp guards used dirty tricks to dissolve our team and all the team members were scattered among other teams. However, the guards did not expect that not only would we continue our hunger strikes but also our actions would encourage other imprisoned Dafa practitioners to join in. A few days later, several Dafa practitioners were released. When the guards decided to dissolve our team, none of the Falun Dafa practitioners in the team were cooperating, and so we were moved to other teams one by one. As a result, we lost track of the precious Minghui newspaper.
About two years have elapsed and I still haven't forgotten that precious Minghui newspaper.
PS: I hope that the Falun Dafa practitioners behind prison walls can get more help so that they can break through the evil persecution and return to the mighty current of Fa rectification to save more sentient beings.
