(Minghui.org) It has been 22 years since 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners staged a peaceful appeal for the basic right to practice their faith in front of the National Petition Office in Beijing on April 25, 1999.

My wife and I both attended the appeal. On the evening of April 24, 1999, more than 30 practitioners from my region rented a bus. We left around midnight and arrived at the National Petition Office before 9 a.m. After a day of peaceful appeal, we returned in the evening. 

The fearless spirit of those practitioners who stepped forward to uphold their faith through the appeal left the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) deeply frightened. Three months later, the CCP launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong, which has continued to this day. 

Under the persecution policies of “ruining their reputation, bankrupting them financially and destroying them physically,” countless practitioners have been arrested, detained, imprisoned and tortured. Many were killed for their organs while they were still alive. Hundreds of thousands of families were separated and fell apart. 

My wife and I were also targeted for our faith. My wife was persecuted to death more than ten years ago. Several other local practitioners who attended the April 25 Appeal have also lost their lives. For those who have survived, they still carry on the spirit of the April 25 Appeal and work tirelessly and peacefully to raise awareness about the persecution and counteract it.

Still in my 40s when the appeal took place in 1999, I’m almost 70 now. Having witnessed the communist regime’s bloody history and destructive political campaigns throughout my life, Falun Gong practitioners’ peaceful resistance to the persecution gave me strong hope and faith. I believe such unprecedented courage will continue to inspire many generations to come, until the day when communism is completely rooted out in the world. 

When history turns the page, I believe the human race will embrace a new era with peace and beauty and the spirit of the “April 25 Appeal” will forever be remembered.