We had been appealing to the German government in front of the Parliament Building (The Reichstag) in Berlin for one week on behalf of the 130 hunger strikers at the Masanjia Labor Camp, when it occurred to me immediately that the upcoming photo-shoot of the prominent entertainer - singer, comic and actor Helge Schneider in front of the Reichstag could not be a coincidence. From a distance, one could already see a crowd of journalists surrounding him. Another practitioner and I went straight toward the group. My yellow "Falun Gong" T-shirt could not be overlooked. We went up to him and asked if he would sign the petition regarding the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

He responded: "Of course; I will come with you right away to your booth."

A woman approached him and steered him toward a travel bus, to grant further interviews. I quickly said: "Do you promise to sign after the interview session?"

"Promise," was his reply.

Because of the rain, another practitioner and I waited by the bus, our yellow Falun Gong umbrella open. When he finally emerged from the bus, he looked in our direction, smiled and walked toward us. Together with him we crossed the street, followed by people from radio, TV and newspapers.

When we had arrived in front of our information placard, we handed him a petition list with the appeal to German Chancellor Schroeder. Mr. Schneider signed it while a photo- journalist filmed it. Falun Dafa newspaper in hand, Helge Schneider went back to his bus.

I was glad to have made use of this chance to make the media more aware of Falun Gong. Previously, I would not have had the courage to approach a celebrity so directly and ask him to sign a petition, but Dafa has empowered me with righteous thoughts and made me courageous and resolute.

September 13, 2001

Practitioners in Germany