(Minghui.org) My family recently celebrated my father’s 80th birthday. He was very sick with advanced cirrhosis of the liver and ascites 13 years ago but recovered by sincerely reciting the phrases “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”

When the Chinese Communist Party began persecuting Falun Dafa, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline, in 1999, I was given three years of forced labor for refusing to give up my faith. Back then, my father was terrified. He was also deceived by the propaganda spread by the regime to demonize Falun Dafa. He refused to acknowledge Dafa or learn the basic facts about the practice and the persecution.

He suddenly felt ill in the winter of 2009 and couldn’t do his job. After a medical workup, he was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, with complications including ascites.

After a period of treatment at our county hospital without any improvement, my father was transferred to the cancer hospital in the city. The attending physician performed an abdominal puncture on the same day and released 6 kilograms of yellow fluid. The lab work did not detect any cancer cells but confirmed my father’s end-stage liver cirrhosis. As the Chinese New Year was approaching, my father was released for a family reunion, with a drain attached to his stomach.

During the Chinese New Year holiday, my father accidentally knocked out the tube connected to the draining pack, and fluid leaked all over the place. He went back to the hospital, and after several consultations, his symptoms continued without any relief. The doctor referred us to a hospital in Beijing. There he was given some medicine developed by the hospital before being sent home.

The medicine did not work. My father’s ascites kept worsening and the county hospital refused to treat him any further. They told us to prepare for the worst and provide comfort care for my father.

My father was emaciated and exhausted. He struggled with the pain and felt hopeless and helpless.

When he first came down with the illness, I asked him to recite the auspicious phrases “Falun Dafa is good, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.” He tried it and said that it didn’t work.

I knew he probably wasn’t doing it sincerely, so I continued to clarify the facts about Falun Dafa to him. He gradually began to listen, and also understood why reciting the phrases would be good for him. He began to sincerely recite the phrases.

Shortly after, my father got better and better. His ascites disappeared and he eventually recovered. It has been 13 years, and his liver disease has never flared up again. People who know my father are all amazed at the healing power of Dafa.

Four years ago, my father had a physical check-up. The CT scan showed that his liver was smooth, and the doctor could not believe that he had even ever had cirrhosis of the liver before.