An Inspiring Story from a Toronto Practitioner Starting the SOS! RescueWalk in Portugal

By a Western practitioner in Canada

September 24, 2001

Saturday, September 14, my sixty-one-year-old mother left Toronto for Portugal, to help European practitioners start the southern route of their European "SOS! Urgent" campaign to rescue Falun Dafa practitioners persecuted in China. Her route of the worldwide SOS RescueWalk would cover Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Lots of interference and tribulations came just before her departure. She realized she had no maps or planned route. The luggage that she had to carry was much heavier than she had expected. She had no Portuguese flyers and could not speak any Portuguese. Finally, she realized that she would be traveling alone.

She did not feel prepared, and wondered, "Am I wasting my time? Am I wasting my money? Am I wasting my efforts on impossibilities?"

Four days before my mom was suppose to leave, the United States disaster happened. Airlines delayed and cancelled flights. People were shocked and scared. Family members worried for my mom and told her not to go. "Are you crazy? What if a war breaks out? You are wasting your time! No one will listen to you now!"

At that moment my mom knew she had to go. She felt strongly in her heart that all good people must hear about Falun Dafa. All good people must see that there is an answer, a way back to goodness. No matter what happens in this world, all good people must hear that Falun Dafa is the righteous Fa. The world needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance, especially in this serious time.

My mom landed alone in Portugal, on Sunday, with her full backpack and heavy suitcase. She started her journey through Lisbon, the capital city. She pulled her heavy suitcase behind her down the busy boulevard of Avenida da Liberdade. The cars sped past her on both sides. She took out her yellow "Falun Dafa Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance" banner and put it on the back of her suitcase. She continued to walk in the hot sun. She stopped, looked at all the people driving by and decided to do the standing exercises in the middle of the busy boulevard. That day, hundreds of people witnessed the peacefulness and dignity of the beautiful exercises as they drove by.

The next day she decided to visit the parks around the city to perform the exercises for all to see. People from all over Portugal watched as she did the standing exercises all over the city. Children stopped to stare. People took pictures. The police smiled at her and told her she was free to practice the exercises anywhere she wanted to.

Practitioners in America found some Portuguese flyers and emailed them to her. She also found a translator in the city who could translate her English information package into Portuguese, so she could give it to the media and to the Prime Minister of Portugal.

Through all the trials, tribulations, pain and fear, my sixty-one-year-old mom stepped forward all alone, in a foreign country, on her path to spread the Fa. Everything came together and all her fears and tribulations disappeared. She knew why she had come to Portugal and she felt so happy for all the people who had the predestined opportunity to see that "Falun Dafa is good!"

In her email to me, my mom wrote, " I do the exercises and read [Zhuan Falun] as often as I can. I can really feel the power of the righteous thoughts here."

"Thank you, Master, for letting me experience all this. It's a little scary but I know you are always with me."

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