(Clearwisdom.net) On July 15, 2006, practitioners went to Parliament Hill in Ottawa to talk to people about the persecution that is still happening in China. July 20 marks the seventh anniversary of when the persecution of Falun Gong began. We were collecting signatures condemning the persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese communist regime, and appealing to the Canadian government to oppose the persecution and to investigate the crime of organ harvesting of Falun Gong practitioners.
Thousands of Christians were also meeting in front of the Parliament Hill, many of whom had an opportunity to look at our display board. I would like to share with you some of the events that happened while I was clarifying the truth to them.
1. "I am sorry. Lord. I did not represent you well."
I found many kind-hearted people in the group of Christians I met. For example, several high school students were looking at the display board. They took my fliers and listened to the truth. Then they all signed the petition. One girl, while she was signing, was scanning the pictures of practitioners being tortured. She kept saying, "This is wrong." Two males did not even ask me about the truth. They just signed. One said, "I have been to China. I saw a senior lady meditating at Tiananmen Square being removed by the police. She must have been a Falun Gong practitioner." There was no shortage of examples like this.
Some Christians had misunderstandings about us. They wanted to argue with us about who is the real God. They even displayed very radical behavior. One day, we were handing out fliers to people walking by. One young male was standing by, looking quite upset. When a Christian took my flier, he took it away from him and tore it up. He then said to him, "You don't need this."
I had to do something about this. I said to him, "Why did you do that? You don't like it, but it does not mean that other people don't want it? Even if you do not want him to read it, you could have given it back to me. Is this what Jesus taught you to do?"
He was shocked. Although loud music was being played, my voice came through strong and clear. Not only did the few Christians behind him listen to me, but also passersby. Several people were also listening behind me.
I went on to say, "I have read the Bible. Jesus said that you should love people and solve your problem with love. I respect Jesus a lot. You may believe that the only path to heaven is through believing in God. If you are really kind to other people, you should not be so rude. You should show your kindness and beauty. You should believe in your God as well. If I should become a Christian, God will have a way to show me His greatness and therefore let me believe in Him."
At this time, the guy looked a bit ashamed of himself.
"From what you did, I could not see the love God taught you. I believe that Jesus would be sad to see you like that, because you did not show the compassion a Christian should embody. If you want me to feel the greatness of Jesus, please show me your compassion as a Christian."
"Look at this board. What is happening in China is not just happening to us, but to all those who have faith. Your Christian brothers and sisters may also be enduring this. Please pray for them, not just for us, but also your brothers and sisters. Please also pray for those who are participating in the persecution, so they can give up their sinful behavior and correct themselves, so they can be redeemed.
At this point, he was very touched. He prayed for us and said, "I am sorry, Lord. I did not represent you well."
I am so happy that he could understand the truth and begin to look within himself.
Other Christians standing nearby were also touched. One of them went back to their group to tell the others about what happened. Later he came to talk to me and said, "I am sorry that my fellow brother misunderstood you guys. Some of them are really not very friendly to you."
I was touched because someone understood the truth. I said to him, "That's all right with me. At least we have you. I trust that you will help to clear up this misunderstanding." He replied, " Sure, I will."
2. "I will pray for you."
A young woman stood in front of our board for quite a while, but did not do anything. I went over to speak to her and asked why she did not sign our petition. She said, "What you are doing is useless. No human means can stop the persecution. You should believe in God. God and Jesus will help you stop the persecution." She went on to talk about how Christianity is the only righteous faith rooted in the universe with a long history and how Falun Gong should not be believed.
I did not rebuke what she said. I took a step back and said to her, "People are free to believe in what they want to believe. Everyone can make his or her own choice. It is wrong for the Chinese Communist Party to force people to give up their faith."
She seemed to agree with me on that. But then she still thought that we must plead to God to stop the persecution. He has the ability that we don't have. I said, "Jesus said that to believe in Him is to do what he told you to. Jesus taught us to love people, care about people around us. You should also do something to help those who are being persecuted."
She said that what I said made sense, but she still thought the reason people were being persecuted is because they did not believe in Jesus. If they change their faith to believe in Jesus, the persecution will disappear.
Then I told her the following: "In China, Christians are not exempt from the persecution. Falun Gong practitioners have been appealing for seven years, following the principles of truthfulness, compassion, forbearance. I am also a victim. Despite the fact that I had been thrown into a forced labor camp, I am still appealing peacefully. Why? Our purpose is to stop the bleeding, not to cause more bleeding. In fact, you must know that 2000 years ago, Christians endured a similar persecution."
She nodded. I continued, "Those people [back then] who were persecuted were not persecuted because they did not believe in Jesus, but simply because they did believe in Christianity. I admire them very much. It was because of their righteous faith and giving that we have Christianity today."
She nodded. "Why has the [Falun Gong] persecution lasted for so long? It is because few people have spoken up for them. These kind-hearted, noble people paid the price with their lives. We are in a modern society now. Therefore, we should have a better understanding of what is human and what a human society should be like. We should do something to safeguard them. We should not let tragedies repeat themselves."
She was touched, although she still did not believe that signing her name was the best way. She still believed that we should rely on God's power to solve this problem. So I suggested to her, "Could you pray for the end of Falun Gong persecution every day?" "Sure I will," she said. She was so happy that she found a way that could help us that was also consistent with her principles. She gave me a hug.
3. "I want to sign the petition, too."
An older lady came to look at our board. While she was looking, I talked to her. When she was apparently upset at seeing all this, I asked if she wanted to sign the petition. She refused. So I asked if she would pray for us and tell the truth to her fellow Christians so more people would pray for us. I said, "I believe in the power of human hearts. If more people believe that the persecution is evil and wish that it would end, it will happen."
Then she asked me, "Shall I start praying now." I said, "Sure." So she grabbed my hand and, in front of so many people, she said, "Lord God, Jesus Christ. This terrible persecution of Falun Gong is happening in China. Kind-hearted people are being slaughtered. Please, could you pay attention to that? Could you watch for those who are being tortured? The Chinese Communist Party must go, because so many people have been killed. They should live in peace. So many people have been killed because of it. These people should live in a peaceful environment. Amen."
Then, she prayed for a long period of time. At the end, she said that she wanted to sign the petition, too.
4. "Do you need water?"
One of the organizers of the Christian rally walked by our board many times. After she understood the truth, she not only supported us, but also helped us clarify the truth to her fellow Christians.
In between activities, I found opportunities to talk to her more. I said to her. "It seems that your activities focus on praying for something good, instead of changing something that is not so good. You pretty much ignore the issue of persecution right in front of you."
She explained, "You are right. However, our purpose at this rally is to pray for Canada. We have been praying for you at other times."
I replied, "Canada is part of the world. It's impossible for Canada to be good when other people are not good."
"You are right. What can we do for you? You guys have been sitting in the sun for so long. Let me bring them some umbrellas."
I replied, "That's OK. Compared to the suffering of our fellow practitioners in China, this is nothing."
She then offered, "Why don't I give you some water? It's really too hot."
She walked back to her group, and moved a box of water over to the practitioners. She also reminded the volunteers in her group to give two bottles of water to the Falun Gong practitioners when they walk by us.
