Germany: Introducing Falun Gong in Henningsdorf

In connection with other information activities, a small group of practitioners from Berlin decided to organise a weekly information day in one of Berlin’s districts or suburbs.

Many passerby showed great interest and most of all, they had a lot of time to spend with us. We were able to tell them about the persecution. An unemployed person told me that although he had not much money, he wanted to find a way to help stop the persecution. First, I told him that we did not collect money or ask for donations, but that it would be appreciated if he signed our petition in support of the lawsuit against Jiang Zemin. He signed and was visibly glad he could take a small part in our efforts to stop the persecution.

We noticed an elderly woman with a hearing disability, who looked at the display about the victims who had died in the persecution. She was visibly moved by the tragic stories. She especially found the pictures depicting the torture methods very shocking. She told us, while continuously shaking her head in despair, how stunned she was by what she just saw.

She then looked at me seriously and asked about Falun Gong, while pointing at the words “Falun Gong.” I thought hard to how I could best explain Falun Gong to her. Then, I had a wonderful thought. I pointed at a picture, depicting children in peaceful meditation. As she kept looking at me with this questioning look, I gave her a newspaper and showed her an article entitled “What is Falun Gong?” With a pleasing smile she pressed the paper to her heart and in this way showed her gratitude.

Shortly after, another practitioner spoke with a Christian lady. First she said that she had little time, but after noticing our displays, she took a lot of time to listen to us about the persecution. She asked many questions of the practitioners and then said after a while, “I feel very comfortable around you. I stayed here for such a long time, although I really did not have the time.” This lady said her farewells with a radiant smile, thanked us and wished us lots of luck and success.

During the day we particularly noticed the large amount of children that stopped to learn the exercises. One practitioner taught a small boy the first four exercises. After learning the exercises the boy remarked that he found them rather enjoyable. Besides, he was surprised to find that the pain he had suffered in his shoulder before doing the exercises had disappeared.

To surprise the passerby we handed out paper lotus flowers we had been making all day long. Many of the children found great interest in the lotus flowers and wanted to learn how to make them. A little girl said, “I think we can’t find these kind of flowers here. I have not seen them. My mother will be very interested to find out where I learned to make such lovely flowers.”

The busy street seemed to empty slowly and we saw less and less shoppers and passers-by. Finally the last people left for their homes. We suddenly realised how quickly this information day had passed.