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Repairing a Bridge Builds Goodwill

Sept. 1, 2008 |   By a practitioner in Northeast China

(Clearwisdom.net) In a small, ancient city in the northeast of China, there is a bridge near the train station. The bridge is the only way for people to cross over the train lines and is the busiest passageway in the city. Because the bridge was not being maintained by the local authorities, it was in bad repair. Recently, some of the iron bars on the stairwell were stolen, leaving corrugated steel bars sticking out and open to view. It looked awful and not only gave the city a bad image but also severely inconvenienced the local people. Some were even injured: One local resident tripped over one of the corrugated steel bars when passing over the bridge and fractured an arm; an elementary school student was on her way to school when she tripped over a steel bar and scraped the right side of her face when she fell.

Local Falun Gong practitioners asked the agencies responsible to repair the bridge, but none of them responded or did anything. In the end, the practitioners decided to repair the bridge themselves.

The practitioners brought tools from home and cement to repair the bridge. They repaired more than 100 broken steps, created another stairwell on the south side of the bridge, and cleaned the muddy areas on both sides of the bridge. Many people crossed the bridge as they were working. When they heard that they were Falun Gong practitioners and were doing the repairs voluntarily, the passersby all said, "Falun Dafa is good." Some people also questioned, "The government said Falun Gong is not good, but why didn't they repair the bridge?"

Many people were moved by what the practitioners were doing. The owner of a restaurant brought them bottled water and helped them repair the bridge. The owner of a vegetable store said, "In case you need any more tools, take them from my home." There was a bricklayer who took one day off work (losing 100 yuan in income) to help practitioners repair the bridge. All the passersby gave signs of approval and said, "Falun Dafa is really good! We are witnessing that today." Practitioners replied, "Our Master taught us to consider others first and to follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance."

People who previously had misunderstandings about Falun Gong commented, "So Falun Gong is actually very good. I was deceived by the government. And the self-immolation was staged by the government, too. " There was a retired policeman that Falun Gong practitioners had tried to persuade to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) several times, but he never agreed. After he saw the practitioners' compassionate actions in person, he changed his attitude immediately and said, "Falun Dafa is good. I quit the CCP."

Whenever people cross the bridge, they are told, "The 'Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance' are repairing the bridge! Falun Gong is repairing the bridge! Take care of the bridge."

The little girl who had scraped her face went to the bridge and pointed to the steel bar she had stumbled over. She tearfully said, "Grandpa, you are so kind. Falun Gong practitioners are all very kindhearted. They repaired the bridge. This is the steel bar I tripped over and made me scrape my face. It took me more than a month to recover. I will remember all of you and tell my parents."

A little boy around six years old helped practitioners to clean up the garbage. He told practitioners, "I heard from my grandma that the bridge was repaired by Falun Gong practitioners and that they are very good! Before that, my grandpa said Falun Gong was not good, but after he heard about what my grandma said, he said that he would not allow anybody to speak ill of Falun Gong from now on."

The first day only a few practitioners worked on the project. As work progressed, more and more practitioners joined in. Some came after they heard the news and some that were just passing by joined in to help. In the end, there were more than 20 practitioners. People commented that there were still so many people practicing Falun Gong.

Practitioners bought cigarettes for the owner of the vegetable store that had offered them water, but he refused to accept them, saying, "Please return the cigarettes. You are repairing the bridge for us and this is something that should be remembered forever. It is I that should buy something to thank you all. We are happy to contribute a little, but you are the ones who are really saving people. Falun Dafa is really, really good!"

As they repaired and cleaned the bridge, practitioners kept explaining the truth about Falun Gong and asking people to quit the CCP. Many did quit the CCP and/or its youth organizations because of the practitioners' compassionate actions and their benevolent hearts. They are carrying out their responsibilities, fulfilling their prehistoric vows, and assisting Master during Fa-rectification.