By a Florida Falun Gong Practitioner

(Clearwisdom.net)

Bringing the Children to America

In January of 2005, I went to the Fa Hui in San Francisco. It was there that I first learned that a group of practitioners were organizing their efforts to rescue the Falun Gong children out of China.

I began to realize early on that the children were at the very front of the persecution of Falun Gong. The twisted and deviated heart of the CCP was sparing no one in its efforts to stop the spread of Dafa. I saw that the CCP actions against the children were like a dark and evil storm pounding down on the very foundation of Chinese society, the family structure. Like a dangerous and abnormal weather condition gone out of control, this black and heartless rain sought to wash away everything and everyone connected with the Fa. My decision to help was immediate and unconditional. Though I only brought back with me from that Fahui some postcards about the persecution, I had a starting point to help the children. Another practitioner and I shared with all of our co-workers at our jobs all about this nightmare taking place in China today. We collected the postcards daily, put stamps on them, and immediately mailed them out to President Bush.

Spreading the Children's story across Florida

At "Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Manhattan International Fa Conference," Teacher Li said,

"Now when you are confronted with persecution, and confronted with all sorts of negative opinions you can handle it rationally and when you clarify the facts you do that out of a desire to save sentient beings so you have a great impact."

I contacted practitioners in south Florida to ask for their help in the rescue effort. One practitioner translated into Spanish a flyer for rescuing the children that was found in New York and most of the rescueflgchildren.org website, thus making it possible for other Latin American countries to become informed and involved with this rescue effort.

Two south Florida practitioners and a New York practitioner had an opportunity to talk to a Venezuelan television station about Falun Gong. They exposed the persecution against the children, and the recorded show was broadcast to other Latin American countries.

Additionally, Florida practitioners clarified the facts and exposed the evil at a torture exhibit site and at a women's expo in Miami. Many people attending these two events began to hear the true story of the CCP efforts to place innocent children in harm's way. One Miami practitioner even informed a new practitioner in Cuba about the children's rescue effort worldwide. This Cuban practitioner may be the only practitioner inside this communist country right near the US. His reply to the Miami practitioner was simply, "I want to help!" A practitioner in the Fort Lauderdale area helped to create hong Fa material in the form of a coloring book to allow children to learn about this special issue that is touching hearts worldwide. I feel as did she that making age-appropriate materials to allow children here in the United States a chance to understand what happens to those who have placed their future in the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance is an important part of the truth-clarification process. Children can understand this persecution, especially when it is directed towards them.

Going to New York

In "Teaching the Fa at the 2005 Canada Fa Conference," Master Li said,

"You have seen that under these circumstances the mainstream media outlets of each country around the world have, for the most part, not reported on the persecution of Dafa disciples, keeping silent while crimes and sins are committed."

Two local practitioners traveled to New York to help with the "Rescue Falun Gong Orphans" effort on the streets of Manhattan and talk about the Charity Concert at Tribeca Performing Arts Center to rescue the orphans. On one weekend trip they were able to get a local practitioner to obtain a permit for a few practitioners to be at Grand Central Station. Throughout the day only six practitioners participated but as the day progressed they harmonized their efforts, shared their understandings, and it was a magical day at the Station. New Tang Dynasty television showed up, many people looked on in interest, took in information from an emotionally moving flyer, signed a petition bringing them a bright future, donated money, shared their reasons for helping the NTDTV crew, and heard about the Charity Concert. We all felt very fortunate to be a part of the day's activities. By the end of the day the practitioners were asking us to move to New York. One Orlando practitioner helped by contacting performers for the Charity Concert which was a new and exciting opportunity for him. He also tried to get Florida's legislators to write a letter of support and invite them or their staff to attend the Charity Concert. Three Florida practitioners from Miami and Orlando went to New York on the weekend of the concert to volunteer their help. They distributed flyers in the pouring rain on the day before the concert. On the day of the concert, we collected signatures in the Tribeca area all day long. We sold tickets and passed out flyers to a warm and friendly Tribeca community. I heard some practitioners say the performances that Saturday night were better than those at the Gala. It was truly very moving, emotionally-charged performances with a powerful and clearly heartfelt message expressing the timely need to get these children out of harm's way. All across our state we wrote about our experience through thoughtful emails and Team Speak discussions, and the need to rescue the children came to the attention of Florida's hearts and minds.

A few projects to raise awareness

In "To the European Fa Conference in Stockholm," Master Li said,

"Gather up and rescue the beings you are to save. Have righteous thoughts and righteous actions, dissolve all hindrances and spread the facts widely."

We are still trying to find ways to explain to children and adults here in the United States how children just like them are homeless because their parents are good people, the best people! We have found hand puppets and would like to create a truth-clarifying dialogue to perform for the children. We found many stuffed animal toys which we redesigned and turned into truth-clarification stuffed animals. We hope these will be given to children on the streets of Manhattan and other cites for a donation to rescue the Falun Gong orphans. We call the program the "Bear in the Bag program." There are small labels attached to the bears which tell them about a particular Falun Gong child needing to be rescued out of China, information for the rescueflgchildren.org website, and of course a short statement about the bears. All of this fits neatly into a "Hello Kitty bag." (If you do not what those are, just ask your children.) Children everywhere go to them like steel to a magnet. We noticed that all the bears we purchased were produced in China. Naturally, we wondered if detained practitioners played a role in their production. We thought if they did we wanted them to know their efforts and suffering would not go unnoticed. We would use their bears if they made them to clarify the truth. The rescue effort is still going on. Many of my co-workers where stunned to learn that the CCP would go to such lengths in an attempt to stop Falun Gong. It seems that there is no line the dying CCP will not cross. But every day more people are waking up to the CCP's morally bankrupt actions and compassionately speaking out against such injustices which it has engaged in. My co-workers now know the truth. The families of Falun Gong practitioners and their children are a great treasure to China, a true legacy to be left behind for the world. Help us rescue the children!

First published in English at PureInsight Net http://www.pureinsight.org/pi/articles/2005/8/29/3272.html

Posting date: 9/5/2005
Original article date: 9/5/2005
Category: Practitioners' Insights

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