(Minghui.org) The Good Ole Days Festival was held in Hitchcock, Texas, August 15 and 16, and Falun Gong practitioners in Houston participated. People set up dozens of small tents on the grass to enjoy food and performances. The Houston practitioners’ tents were quite distinctive, drawing other attendees' attention. They had a pleasant conversation with Falun Gong practitioners and learned about the spiritual practice.

People have a group photo with Falun Gong practitioners.

The practitioners told the local people about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong in China and mentioned that the CCP infiltrated and misled the world in various forms. The practitioners also recommended these Americans read free e-books such as How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World and Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.

Many people took pictures of the covers of the books with their mobile phones, saying that they would definitely check them out online and share with friends and family. Some people went to the practitioners’ booth to learn how to fold small lotus flowers and had group photos with the practitioners.

There was a couple at another booth, Donna and her husband Robert. Practitioners introduced Falun Gong to them and talked about the persecution. The couple signed the petition to protest the persecution. Robert agreed that communism had penetrated the United States and said that he would go on the Internet to read How the Specter of Communism Is Ruling Our World and the Nine Commentaries. They also hung the handmade little lotus flower the practitioners gave them on their booth.

Donna and Robert

The on-site signature collection went very well. Ms. Kong, a new Falun Gong practitioner, said that she is from China. When she was in elementary school, she watched the CCP’s self-immolation propaganda stunt slandering Falun Gong. In 2017, she learned the truth about Falun Gong by getting around the CCP’s information censorship. She was shocked: “It’s amazing to see so many people still insisting on being good despite the pressure.” Since then, she has started to practice Dafa. She said that practicing Falun Gong had renewed her.

“I told these people that I came from an authoritarian country and felt the freedom of the United States. People in the free world do not know how brutal and evil the CCP is. They were happy afterwards and thanked us for coming forward and telling them about this.”

What impressed Ms. Kong the most was when a woman readily signed the petition and asked several friends to sign it and explained the reasons for it.

A man signs the petition.

Practitioners in Houston are holding a nine-day free Falun Gong teaching class, and several people expressed interest in learning.

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why is the CCP persecuting it?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology, and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.