(Clearwisdom.net) The two-month-long Vancouver Minghui School Summer Camp ended on September 1, 2006. That afternoon, the first local Young Falun Dafa Practitioners Experience Sharing Conference was held on the lawn of Minghui School. Over twenty Falun Dafa young practitioners shared their cultivation experiences.
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Young practitioners speak at the Experience Sharing Conference
 Young practitioners perform for the Fa-conference |
 Little practitioners demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises |
This was the Vancouver Minghui School's second summer camp. Starting in April of this year, a warm-hearted practitioner offered space to be used as a Minghui School classroom. With help from other students' parents, it was turned into a bright and spacious classroom. Since then, the Vancouver Minghui School has had a permanent location.
 Little practitioners perform the lotus flower dance on the beach |
In order to provide an environment for children practitioners to cultivate in a group and have a meaningful summer, as well as to help solve the problem of working parents having to provide care for their children during the summer vacation, three Falun Gong practitioners took the initiative to organize the summer camp schedule and activities. The teachers and parents decided that the main activities would be Fa-study, exercise, and sending forth righteous thoughts. The school also had Chinese, dance, music, and etiquette classes.
Over twenty children from ages 3 to 14 participated in the summer camp. The requirements of Fa-study, exercise, and other classes were very different from the participants' regular school. And the parents also had different expectations for a Minghui School.
In order to send forth righteous on time at 9 a.m., the students were required to arrive before 8:50 a.m. The teachers had breakfast prepared and cleaned up the classroom.
Most parents paid attention to this and overcame difficulties to send their children to school in time. Little practitioner Yarui is only 4 years old. For two months, he always woke up at 7 and was never tardy. Dong Yu is only 3 years old. He got up early every morning, and his first words after he woke up were, "Let's go to Minghui School."
The parents played an important role in the success of the camp.
"To consummate yourself, reaping Buddhahood,
Let joy be found in hardship."("Tempering the Will" in Hong Yin)
Every child can recite this poem but their parents' understanding of it vary. Some thought it was too hard for their children to get up early, so a few little practitioners couldn't send forth righteous with others every morning.
It was a big challenge for many little practitioners to keep calm and concentrated during sending forth righteous thoughts. Teachers at the Minghui School patiently told the children the reason for sending forth righteous thoughts, why they must clear their minds, and let them recite the verses. Many children did better and better each time.
Doing the exercises was another challenge. The teacher encouraged every child to do the five sets of exercises daily. At first, a few children who didn't do the exercises frequently at home couldn't bear it. The teachers encouraged the children to endure longer and longer and let them understand that "enduring hardship" can get rid of "bad karma."
All the children were treated as practitioners. If a child was naughty, the teacher guided him or her with a lesson from the Fa instead of using deception or threats, praise or punishment. The children quickly understood the Fa. Other methods could not have enabled them to truly understand.
In two months, the children had studied the nine lectures in Zhuan Falun, had done Fa-study, had done the exercises every day, and had sent forth righteous thoughts. Every child's xinxing level increased.
On September 1, the children held their first Fa conference. It was a warm and sunny day. The children put on their traditional Chinese costumes and formal clothes. The older children decorated the stage and meeting room with paintings and colorful ribbons and a "Minghui School" banner. They hung lotus flowers and displayed a picture of Teacher.
The young practitioners designed a program for the event, and the hosts introduced each speaker and performance in both English and Chinese. It was a vivid and relaxed conference. The children's voices and pure words made the parents smile.
Some children's Chinese was limited, so they wrote their speeches in English and asked their parents to translate them into Chinese. Some talked with their parents until midnight about what to write.
After the students in the upper grades completed their sharing, the practitioners from the dance class performed "Flower Fairy," "Little Bee," and the Mongolian dance "Grassland." All children performed the song "Falun Dafa Is Good." Last, all the young practitioners demonstrated the five sets of Falun Gong exercises.
The teachers were the happiest ones because their only wish is to see the children progress on the path of cultivation.
