Norway: The People of Stavanger Learn about the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (Photos)

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Oct. 23, 2004

(Clearwisdom.net) From Friday the 8th to Sunday the 10th of October 2004, Falun Gong practitioners in Norway held an activity to inform the people of Stavanger about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Stavanger is a beautiful city located on the Southern coast of Norway, it has 110,000 inhabitants and is Norway's third largest city.

Saturday October the 9th was market day in the city and the practitioners used this opportunity to tell people about the persecution being waged against Falun Gong in China, which was started by former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin. The practitioners divided into three groups to reach as many people as possible. At the main location we held an anti-torture exhibition, which drew the attention of many people. They stopped to look at the exhibits and study the posters. We found that re-enacting the brutal torture methods used to try to force Falun Gong practitioners to give up their beliefs in China was an effective way to raise awareness about the persecution against Falun Gong. Some people wanted to find out more and asked many questions. They also took our leaflets about the persecution before they left. The practitioners felt that people were much more open and ready to hear the truth than a year ago.

A Chinese lady stood and read the posters, which had English, Norwegian and Chinese text, very attentively and was completely absorbed in them. After a while, when it looked like she had finished reading the last poster, a practitioner went to her and began talking with her about the persecution. She said that she knows a lot about the persecution and she sympathizes with Falun Gong, but that she did not know there were practitioners in Norway. She said she now wants to learn more about what Falun Gong is. She then took our flyer and was very happy as it had the address of a Falun Gong website. She told us that she now wants to go and check out the Internet to find out more about Falun Gong.

A Chinese lady who lives in Norway, but is originally from Hong Kong said that although the authorities allow the practice of Falun Gong in Hong Kong, "They do everything they can to impede the practitioners". She seemed very concerned for them.


People came to find out more

Exercise demonstration

On Sunday, the practitioners went to a beautiful beach, which is located near Stavanger, to demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises. Many people were there for a Sunday walk and we gave them leaflets about Falun Gong. There were two special little girls who got very enthusiastic and interested in Falun Gong. They began to do the exercises together with us and liked the bookmarks we gave them. The bookmarks read: "Falun Gong is Good" and "The World needs Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance".