Russia: Falun Gong Practitioners Introduce Falun Dafa and Expose the Persecution in St. Petersburg.

From January 6th - 8th, 2006, practitioners from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Pjatigorsk, Yekaterinburg, Vladimir State and Ukraine held group study and experience sharing during the holiday period. To introduce Falun Gong to the public and let them know about the persecution happening in China, they also held an anti-torture exhibition on the streets.

Practitioners spent two days focusing on studying Master Li’s new articles: "Teaching the Fa in the City of Chicago" and "Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005". Also they exchanged thoughts in particular on how to let the Chinese people in their local area know the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. Many practitioners shared their experiences and ways on how they changed their local circumstances, by studying the principles of Falun Dafa diligently, strengthening their righteous thoughts and letting people know about the persecution. Practitioners learnt a lot from each other and the whole sharing created a unique peaceful atmosphere.

Group Study

On January 6th, practitioners took part in a sharing conference and held gatherings at two underground stations in St. Petersburg’s city centre. By using display boards and a anti-torture exhibition with live actors, they revealed the cruel persecution that Falun Gong practitioners have suffered for over six years under the Chinese Communist regime. Practitioners talked to people about the persecution and distributed leaflets. Many people signed the petition to stop the persecution of their own accord.

After one lady, who believed in Christianity, learnt the truth, she asked practitioners for extra leaflets as she wanted to give them to her friends. In a short time, she came back again with a couple of people. They walked to the petition table to sign to stop the persecution directly.

When a practitioner went to talk to one man who had stopped to watch, the man did not take it seriously at the beginning, he asked, "What you are doing here, does it have something to do with me?” The practitioner answered, "If someone in Russia was put into prison simply for believing in the Orthodox Church, would you agree with it?” He replied, “I am against it, there should be freedom of belief.” Then practitioner asked him again: “In China, people were ruthlessly persecuted simply for believing in ‘Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance”, would you uphold it?” He replied, “No, I do not.” He finally nodded his head as he understood the truth.

Later on, a local official who granted us the space for this activity came with a local policeman. When a practitioner approached and tried to hand a leaflet to them, the official opened his document case and told him that he had seen it long ago. The policeman asked for a flier to read. When they were talking with practitioners, they said, “This is Russia, it’s not China. You can set your hearts at rest while you’re having activities here.” Practitioners expressed their sincere thankfulness for their righteous thoughts.