Hungary: Spreading the Fa in Budapest (photos)

In the few days of holiday between Christmas and New Year celebrations, a group of Falun Gong practitioners from Germany, Bulgaria and Hungary held some activities in Budapest. During the day, the activities consisted of handing out flyers to tell people about the persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang’s regime in China, running an information desk and picture exhibition, and demonstrating the Falun Gong exercises in an underground pass, near the Metro Station. At night we held a peaceful appeal and sent forth righteous thoughts [thinking upright thoughts to purify oneself and one’s surroundings] near the Chinese Embassy. The Hungarian people were friendly and happy to learn about Dafa and they willingly took our flyers. Some Hungarian soldiers and police officers were also happy to read them.

There was one Christian lady who had heard some of the Jiang regime’s vicious lies. I tried to tell her about the principles of Dafa, how practitioners try to be good people and that Falun Dafa is a righteous practice. She didn’t believe me and began talking about how Satan made trouble for Christianity. I showed her our leaflet and explained how the persecution of Dafa in China today is similar to that of Christianity thousands of years ago. From this angle, she was willing to listen and soon accepted that Falun Dafa is a righteous practice. She asked if she could pray for me that night. I told her yes and she smiled, saying to herself, “he even lets me pray for him!”

The photo exhibition was also a success. Many people stopped, took a long look at the pictures and read the information. There were some Hungarians who even talked to us for as long as 30 minutes. There were others who were outraged upon hearing about the persecution of Dafa practitioners. One person took many leaflets and petition sheets, saying that he would tell everyone he knows about the persecution, arrange media contacts for us and urge people to sign the petition, which appeals for an end to the persecution in China and repression in Europe. Another person took several Chinese flyers and VCDs to give to his Chinese neighbours. Someone volunteered to help us translate written, video and audio material.

One problem that we faced was with arranging our appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy. At first the police were cooperative. As they were finalising the arrangements however, they suddenly changed their minds and told us we could not appeal outside of the Embassy. They claimed that due to snowfall both automobile and pedestrian traffic would be diverted through the area. Therefore, no protests could be permitted. We accepted the alternate location that they suggested. Although it was not as close to the Embassy, we were next to a bus stop and metro station, and many diplomats saw our appeal and extended their support to us. Many people learnt the truth about the Jiang regime's persecution of Dafa practitioners and we felt that the events were very successful.