Russia: Stories of Spreading Falun Gong in City of Tver

The 31st of August is the 700th birthday of the city of Tver in Russia. As a result, Dafa practitioners from Moscow went to Tver to promote Falun Dafa and let people know about the brutal persecution that is happening in China.

In the Soviet era, Tver was named Kalinin city but had its name changed back to Tver in 1990. The city has a population of 500,000 and is located at the point where the Volga and Tver rivers meet.

Helpers in Promoting the Fa

We went to the market in the city centre, as well as the parks and harbours to demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises and distribute materials. I saw some children who were also distributing advertisements. They skated while handing out their materials. It occurred to me that it would be wonderful if we could also have skates so we could hand out flyers faster. When we were distributing materials, two boys came along and said they would like to hand out materials for us. They skated and gave out materials to the crowd. They returned for more when they had given out all of the materials. Later they went home to get their bikes. Perhaps they wanted to travel further to hand out the materials. That day, we distributed several thousand Dafa booklets and newspapers.

A Most Splendid and Spectacular Scene

On our way to Tver, it was gloomy and sometimes rained. We encountered a heavy downpour when we were in the park and market. However, our activity was not disrupted. Everyone demonstrated the exercises in the rain. Dafa practitioners’ yellow clothes, their synchronised movements and their peacefulness left a deep impression on the residents of Tver. The sight of Dafa practitioners demonstrating the exercises in the rain became one of the brightest and most spectacular scenes in the city.

The Importance of Sending Forth Righteous Thoughts

Practitioners insisted on sending forth righteous thoughts around the clock. A little practitioner, Sophia, who was 12 years old was not feeling well before the trip. Yet, she did not mind and insisted on going with everyone to demonstrate the exercises and send forth righteous thoughts. Later, her pain stopped. She said to her grandmother, “Grandma, now I know how important sending forth righteous thoughts is.”

We continued to send forth righteous thoughts and practise the exercises. In the afternoon, the sky finally cleared up.

Predestined People Attracted to Dafa

In Tver, we met some people who had a predestined relationship with Dafa. A man who had opened a food stand near the harbour had just finished his seasonal work and was about to go home to Baku in Azerbaijan the following day. He was very pleased to meet us. He said, “One more day and I will have to say goodbye to you.” He heard about Falun Gong in Azerbaijan but had never had the chance to learn it. This time he carefully watched the exercise demonstrations. He also helped us distribute materials to promote Dafa to passers-by. We left him some Dafa materials, newspapers, Video-CDs and several Falun Gong books. He was very pleased to take the materials home. We exchanged addresses and telephone numbers so that we could send more materials to him later on.