(Minghui.org) Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts designated July 2021 as “Victims of Communism Remembrance Month” at a proclamation ceremony held on June 24, 2021. Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang attended the event and gave a heartfelt speech about the persecution his mother and those around him have suffered in China for their faith.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang gave a speech at an event hosted by Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts (right). The Governor designated the month of July as “Victims of Communism Remembrance Month” during the event.

Mr. Wang (first left) and Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts (second right)

In his three-minute speech, Mr. Wang said, “Over the past 22 years, countless Falun Gong practitioners were imprisoned, brutally tortured, and killed. In comparison, my family has been fortunate. This persecution is still going on today. I hope my story can help everyone realize the tyranny of communism and why Falun Gong practitioners are resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

In an interview with a Minghui correspondent, Mr. Wang revealed the various hardships he went through as his family were persecuted for their belief and how he became a steadfast Falun Gong practitioner.

Mr. Wang grew up in China. He moved to Nebraska in 2016 to pursue his post-graduate studies. His mother began to practice Falun Gong when he was 7 years old. Soon after, his mother miraculously recovered from tuberculosis that had plagued her for many years. She became healthy, optimistic, and kind. Their family led a happier and more harmonious life.

Although he did not practice Falun Gong then, he witnessed the changes in his mother. He believed that the principles of the practice, Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, were the universal truths, and he began applying them in his daily life. He often proudly told his classmates, “My mother practices Falun Gong. Falun Gong is great!” Recalling those times, Mr. Wang said with a smile, “Everything felt so wonderful then. When I accompanied my mother to the practice site, the sky seemed so blue.”

However, things changed after the CCP launched an all-out campaign to suppress Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. State-controlled TV stations constantly played footage demonizing the practice, and practitioners were arrested. Mr. Wang described the situation then—it seemed as if all hell had broken loose. His friends and classmates who believed in the lies fabricated by the CCP reprimanded and jeered at him. His mother was arrested for going to the provincial government to appeal for Falun Gong. Her supervisor at her workplace tried to send her to a brainwashing class.

Nearly every week, Mr. Wang heard about practitioners he knew being persecuted. His secondary school physics teacher was taken to a brainwashing class twice and tortured. A neighbor who was in her 70s was sentenced to a labor camp. A practitioner who worked in the local library died from torture at a brainwashing center. Countless practitioners were fired from their jobs, illegally detained, sentenced to prison, and brainwashed, he recalled.

Mr. Wang, who was only 11 at the time, felt suffocated by all these external pressures. He was hurt by his friends’ ridicule, scared of the brutal persecution, and worried about his mother, who continued to risk her life to tell people about the practice and the persecution. The greatest shock to him, however, was how a spiritual discipline that taught those around him to be better people could be so viciously demonized by the government.

Even though he was a child, he thought, “What kind of government is this? It reverses right and wrong, declaring something that is righteous evil, and turns so many good people into the country’s enemies.” For the first time, he understood that in China, one has to pay a price to be a good person; everyone was deluded by lies and made to do wrong.

He bore injustice and fear quietly. In his heart, he continued to support his mother in her faith and buried the words “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” deep inside. He silently lived by these principles. While growing up, he envied children in non-practitioner families who enjoyed themselves and did not suffer like he did. Slowly, however, he understood that all these comforts are temporary. “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance” warmed him like the sun and gave him hope. He did not feel lost in life.

Mr. Wang has had several extraordinary experiences with Falun Gong. In 2008, while walking along a footpath, he was hit by a car and landed on the car roof. The driver and passersby watched speechless, as if waiting for him to start swearing. But he jumped down from the car, smiled, and walked away. The driver heaved a sigh of relief and drove off. An elderly woman who witnessed the accident called him a fool, but he didn’t mind. When he got home, he found bruises on his leg, but they did not hurt at all. He was completely fine. He was grateful to Master Li, the founder of Falun Gong, for protecting him.

In 2009, he contracted a severe illness just before his exams. Many teachers and classmates who had the same illness stayed in the hospital for a long time. He believed Master would look after him, and he miraculously recovered in time to take the exams.

In 2014, after suffering from the persecution for 15 years, Mr. Wang read the Falun Gong teachings carefully and realized what cultivation truly meant. He knew why good people had to endure so much hardship. He understood why practitioners like his mother refuse to give up their faith despite the brutal persecution, and at the same time they feel compelled to save those who are misled by the CCP’s lies. He made up his mind to practice cultivation and to follow Fong Gong's principles.

Mr. Wang also mentioned how he was encouraged by other practitioners’ experiences published on the Minghui website as well as reports from practitioners outside China about how they raised awareness of the persecution. “When I read about practitioners outside China working tirelessly to inform people about the brutalities, it gave me great strength and courage,” he said.

“The peaceful scenes of practitioners holding activities in other countries, their kind smiles can melt away the coldness and misunderstanding in people’s hearts. The Minghui website is an important platform connecting practitioners inside and outside China. It helps us form a precious cultivation environment which is especially invaluable to practitioners in China who face a difficult situation,” he continued.

As he reminisces about the past, Mr. Wang is full of gratitude. “I consider myself very lucky,” he said. “Because my mother practiced cultivation when I was young, Falun Dafa has planted the seed of kindness in my heart. Therefore no matter how much hardship I suffered later on, they seemed to very quickly vanish.”

“My conviction in compassion has made me stronger. After going through countless tribulations, the seed planted in me is like the lotus plant that broke through layers of mud to finally emerge with a beautiful flower. I stepped on the journey of cultivation after finally realizing what Dafa is and with it comes happiness and hope,” he said.

“For 22 years, millions of practitioners in China suffered brutal repression. So many have died from the torture. Yet they continue to do what a practitioner should. These people have friends and family. For many years, they too held onto their kindness, suffering, and sharing the burden.

“Those who still have conscience in them will surely feel that in China, it is difficult to be a good person. On the other hand, those who choose to stand opposite kindness and help the CCP to persecute the good are in danger because it is a heavenly principle that those who do bad will be punished. Therefore, everyone in China is in fact a victim of this persecution, and no one can stay unaffected.

“No matter how terrifying the darkness is, it will not cover up the sun forever. While growing up, I realized the sun that is able to penetrate everything is actually in my heart. Therefore I want to say to those in China who are holding onto their conscience, including Falun Gong practitioners, their relatives, and those who have quit the CCP: ‘Please safeguard your kind thoughts. They are seeds for your future happiness and hope for a beautiful life. Those who choose to stand on the side of the evil, please listen to the truth Dafa disciples risk their lives to tell you. Make a responsible choice for your future.’”

He concluded by saying, “I came to the U.S. soon after I began to practice cultivation. In this free society, I feel as if I have gone back to the wonderful times before the persecution. The sky here is as blue as I recalled. I believe in the near future, people in China will once again see clear, blue skies! Please hold on to this hope, everyone!”