Hosting Shen Yun in the Dominican Republic for the First Time

(Minghui.org) Our local group of practitioners had been interested in bringing Shen Yun to our country since 2017. However, as a whole, we were not yet mature enough to face the challenges of hosting the performance, and we needed to do more work clarifying the truth to the legislative chambers and public officials.

We decided to try again in 2022. We requested for and were given an appointment with the director of the theater in Santo Domingo. The meeting was very positive and we had hopes we might finally host Shen Yun.

Then, suddenly, things changed. The theater director who had very kindly received us said that no date was available, and he maintained this position.

This setback made us reflect that, as a group, we had become complacent about the outcome. We had relaxed after seeing that everything was going so well. We were no longer strict about sending righteous thoughts and our daily group reading. Because of these gaps, everything suddenly changed.

The outlook was not good, and our hopes were hanging by a thread. We reinforced our sending of righteous thoughts and daily Fa study. Not having the theater meant that the possibility of hosting the performance was almost gone. This hit us hard. We could not keep from feeling sad and helpless, but we did not lose hope.

I asked Master in my heart to give us another chance. Not for us, but for the lives of those in our country that were waiting to be saved.

We then learned that the theater director had been replaced. We wasted no time and made an appointment with the new director. The new director was very kind and attentive. He was also very receptive when we clarified the truth about the Chinese embassy's interference with the performance and its persecution of Falun Gong spiritual practitioners.

Righteous Thoughts Help Dissolve Interference

Now we had show dates, but problems with the theater contract threatened to cancel the show. Local practitioners and practitioners from other countries supported us with righteous thoughts to break through the interference.

While I was sending forth righteous thoughts, I felt an incomparably great energy. I don’t know where it came from, but it was so immense and so merciful that no words could describe it. I felt confident that Master was with us. Thanks to Master and the efforts of all of the practitioners, we were able to overcome the interference. At last, the people in our country were going to be blessed and have the opportunity to be saved.

Master said:

“If you have strong righteous thoughts, Gods will help you. If your thoughts are not righteous, you won’t accomplish anything.” (“Fa Teaching at the 2016 New York Fa Conference” Collected Fa Teachings, Vol. XIV).

We stepped up our efforts to clarify the truth and formed groups to cover all the necessary points to bring Shen Yun's company into the country. We had very little time to do everything.

It was a big challenge for us because of our lack of experience on the one hand and the lack of time on the other. However, we had the help of practitioners from other countries who came to help selflessly and with their hearts set on saving lives in our country.

The Chinese Embassy Interferes

It didn’t take long for the Chinese embassy to begin to interfere. They called the theater to exert pressure, but they didn’t stop there. They also tried to influence ministers and public officials. They even called and visited media outlets to prevent Shen Yun publicity from being placed in the media.

We were like sand in their eyes. They did not expect that a very small group of practitioners on a small island could be strong enough to host a show of this magnitude. For this reason, they did everything they could to sabotage it and create interference.

Shen Yun was scheduled to perform in Santo Domingo, the capital, and in Santiago, the second-largest city in the country. The embassy then focused its interference on the Grand Theater of Cibao in Santiago. The director of this theater had already been told the facts and had also been informed about the embassy’s interference.

However, a communication was sent to the local Falun Dafa association from the Santiago theater, indicating that the show was canceled. This news left us all perplexed and surprised. Only a few weeks before the performances, a simple letter announced they had been canceled.

I did not lose hope. I put my faith in Master and trusted that we would overcome it like all the other interference.

After taking some action and with strong righteous thoughts, we were able to get an answer from the Ministry of Culture, the institution that governs the theaters. The letter canceling the performances was proclaimed invalid.

We had won another battle. Those at the embassy, faced with this defeat and in desperation, pulled more strings to get at the highest authorities in the country, and yet they failed.

Nothing Can Stop the Glorious Mission of Saving Lives

Everywhere that we went to promote the show, the embassy did what it could to sabotage our efforts. Though they had some small triumphs, they were insignificant in the face of the attitude of the lives who decided on their own to go to see Shen Yun.

Nothing worked for them. Not even articles in the newspapers defaming Shen Yun and Falun Gong. Nor did the mass mailings to all the public institutions to discourage people from going to the performances. On the contrary, these actions actually gave us more publicity, and more people wanted to go see the performance.

One man who attended the show told me, “They [the Chinese embassy] were very active in sending mailings,” but he still came to see the performance.

Comments from those who attended showed that all the attempts to stop the performances were unsuccessful.

The success was such that another performance had to be added, and each one of the performances was a full house. The audience members enjoyed every performance, and their warm applause resounded throughout the theater halls.

“Spectacular!” “Magnificent!” were some of the expressions of these beings who left the hall with big smiles on their faces at the end of each performance.

Thank you, Master, for your infinite mercy. And thank you to the local and foreign practitioners for all of your hard work. You put your whole hearts into bringing hope and salvation to the sentient beings in our beautiful small country.

Thank you, Master!Thank you, fellow practitioners!