(Clearwisdom.net)
On Saturday the 8th, 15th and 22nd, we held a workshop at the church of religious science in Santa Rosa, CA. And on each of those weekends, more than forty people were in attendance. The first weekend boasted the highest number with more than 55 new people coming to learn the exercises. Now, I would like to relay some of my experiences that lead up to these marvelous events and what I learned about them. I'm writing this not for myself but to set a precedent through righteous action and to show the evil that even amidst their brutal persecution the Fa is still offering people salvation undauntedly.
Last summer at a local health and harmony fair, a local practitioner and I each took a day to pass out flyers about the persecution and get petitions. We each passed out thousands of flyers and between us got around 500 signatures. What was important for me was not the numbers but that we were able to genuinely talk to that many people who had never heard about Dafa before in a righteous way. One group of people that had a booth at the fair was the Church of Religious Science. When I approached them with a compassionate and righteous mind we naturally started to talk about the persecution and I could see their compassion emerging.
Later that day, one of the ladies from the booth came out to the practice site to learn the exercises. And shortly thereafter, began helping us get contacts in the area with various human rights groups. She also wanted us do a workshop for her women's meditation group, consisting of twelve members in total. Another idea of hers was to help us set up a workshop at her church. We happily agreed. Once this idea was set in motion, she started to have sign ups after mass at a table outside the church. In very short time, we had over 60 people signed up.
This workshop was successfully held on three consecutive Saturdays with many practitioners from the bay area driving two hours to lend a hand. Each weekend we held the workshop, they were there to help out in any way they could! The first Saturday we showed some introductory videos about Dafa, taught the first three exercises, and had time for a discussion. The second weekend, we finished showing the exercises and had a discussion. At the end of this workshop, many people purchased Dafa books. The third weekend we did the exercises together and shared some of our experiences in a question and answer discussion. In the end, the workshop was a success.
Last weekend, to our delight, we held our first morning practice group with six newcomers from the workshop!
As I reflect on these experiences, what was important to me was that we were able to continually show all these people Dafa and we gave them ways to help themselves and to have a good future. At times I was aware that Master has gone ahead and cleared everything out for us and all we had to do was go there. Through righteous actions we were able eliminate the evil and offer these people salvation.
Category: Parades & Other Community Events
