(Minghui.org) Recently I discussed with a fellow practitioner from our Minghui team about writing Fahui articles. I felt so uninspired–although I wrote a number of experience sharing articles during the 16 years of my cultivation, I didn’t have any idea what to write in relation to my Minghui work. I explained that as a Minghui language team coordinator, I don’t have too many challenges; our team is stable and quite harmonious, and everyone is doing what they are supposed to do in his or her own role. When someone is behind with work, others will make it up. We don’t impose anything on anyone, and nobody imposes anything on us. Most of the time we are like one body.
The moment I said that, it struck me. Isn’t this already something extraordinary? I did have something to write after all!
Small Things Becoming Big
Our team joined the Minghui family in 2012. At that time, we had a local Falun Dafa website in which we republished articles from Minghui, as well as from other sources. Some fellow practitioners felt we should start a Minghui website in our native language. I thought it would be better to join efforts in starting The Epoch Times, but after meeting with person responsible for multi-language Epoch Times, it was recommended to begin with Minghui or Clear Harmony before even thinking about The Epoch Times.
I joined Minghui as an editor and translator, thinking it would be the first step to The Epoch Times. Nine years later we still don’t have The Epoch Times, but we do have Minghui as a window into Falun Dafa practitioners’ cultivation, exposing the persecution and spreading updates about Falun Dafa, and what is more, we have a stable cultivation environment under the umbrella of Minghui.
At first, we were just a group of translators, each translating according to his or her own capability. Some members were doing work only occasionally, while some were sleepers who rarely contributed. We didn’t have group Fa study, meetings or gatherings to exchange experiences. We published one article per day and we were happy with our start. The start was fine indeed, but the problem is that after couple of years, instead of going up, the number of translations started to go down. At the same time, our coordinator’s cultivation state was not as good as before and she seemed stuck. I tried to help her, but my mentality was one of helping a fellow practitioner, not a Minghui coordinator. Actually, I didn’t realize how important her role was or how serious Minghui work was.
In 2016, I attended the New York Fa conference. As she could not go, the coordinator asked me to attend the global Minghui meeting. My encounter with Minghui team members, learning how the website works and sharing with other coordinators was quite revealing to me–I began to realize how irreplaceable the Minghui website is and how precious is this opportunity to work for such a global media. My thinking–that The Epoch Times is big and that Minghui is small–was wrong. Whatever Master endorses is big.
In 2017, I joined another meeting. In a private talk, the multi-language coordinator expressed his concern for our coordinator's cultivation state. I shared his concern, but what could we do to help? Then he asked how I felt about replacing the coordinator. I didn’t really know what to say. She was a fellow cultivator, a friend of mine, and a soul mate. We’d been through a lot together. Still, I knew she couldn’t handle it and was on the verge of quitting Dafa cultivation.
I accepted the role, even though I had other projects on my mind. Perhaps I thought it would be just temporary, until her cultivation state improved. Five years have passed since then, and Minghui has become the priority project for me. As for my predecessor, she is our chief editor and most devoted team member. Her sharings are valuable beyond words. She is a great cultivator.
New Start
The multi-language teams received guidelines to treat Minghui work as working for a company , with each member having responsibilities and obligations. Thus, I had to ask our team members if they were willing to take on a weekly workload. Most of them agreed, but some didn’t and quit the team.
Just as doing our work well is a must, regular Fa-study and sharing are also a must. That’s where we draw the line between ordinary companies and Dafa work, and that’s where our achievement comes from. We are not here to work for Dafa media, but to cultivate through work, in a work environment.For that reason, sharing is crucial. I almost never get silence when I ask who would like to start our discussion. And if I do, we can start by discussing a preferred new article. This always leads to our own understandings and experiences. Our weekly Minghui meeting has become the best place for sharing.
Each Team Member Is Precious, But No Team Member Is Irreplaceable
One of the team members had taken on the task to translate one headline article each day. He does it 365 days a year. Unlike other translation jobs, this one is time-sensitive and requires maximum dedication and steadfastness. The practitioner felt this was rewarding, so he continued for years in this role.
One day, however, we received an urgent message that he was in a hospital. He had symptoms of a stroke. We couldn’t reach him to find out more, so we started to immediately send righteous thoughts for him.
For the first time in years, the daily headline article was not translated. I thought, “If the old forces wanted to target us, isn’t this a perfect scenario? He is the key translator. Out of three daily articles he produces one. Who could replace him?”
I knew we needed a backup plan, but until then, the headlines must be published. Without much thinking, I took on the job myself. The next day, I did it again, and on the third day it became almost a routine for me.
I don’t know if this helped, but that practitioner was discharged from the hospital on the fourth day, and the first wish he had was to continue his headlines job.
I learned that no team member is irreplaceable. If we think someone is irreplaceable, the old forces can use this human mentality and take him away from us. Master has mentioned this multiple times. That, of course, goes for coordinators as well.
Reaching More People
We were asked to create social media pages for each of our languages. Knowing that not many people would visit the page without proper promotion, I wasn’t in a hurry. Later, however, when we were asked to prioritize expanding our reader base, things started to make sense.
In terms of social media promotion, I’m quite experienced, but it was always video materials that we promoted. I was doubtful whether we could reach a large audience with articles.
However, when we found an appropriate article, we gave it a try. Quite contrary to my expectations, the article was a hit–it reached many readers and touched many hearts. I can say that in three months, we reached tens of thousands of people, and thousands actually reacted in a positive way. The article mentioned the special words (“Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good”).
One person commented on the article, “This is the first time I've heard this. There is hope for humankind, although it does not seem so, especially now. What you revealed to us is really magnificent.”
Another one wrote, “I will use [the special words] on myself, and I will tell them to whoever needs help. Thanks!”
One person posted a question: “How do I apply this to myself?” Someone else's response was like a doctor’s prescription: “Repeat [the special words] every day whenever you can.”
Many others just wrote: “Falun Dafa is good. Zhen, Shan, Ren (Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance) is good!”
We all work hard but rarely see the results of our efforts. This time, however, they were obvious, and we felt the reward was great.
I suggest we all do more to improve the visibility of our Minghui websites to reach more people. Having a great media is not our goal. Saving people is.
Thank you, Master! Thank you, fellow practitioners!
(Presented during the 2021 Minghui Website Fa Conference)
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