Chang Fei (a pseudonym) once worked in the catering industry in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. She had a husband who was an employee of the Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau. The couple had two sons, and their family of four lived a happy life. In the 1990s, when Qigong became popular, Chang Fei began to learn “Falun Gong” in 1994 for the purpose of improving health and keeping fit, which, however, made their family life increasingly difficult.
Although Chang Fei’s original intention of practiced Qigong was to improve fitness, she gradually went astray after being deluded by fallacies of “Falun Gong” cult. Seeing both her physical and mental states became deteriorated, her husband repeatedly tried to dissuade her from practicing and urged her to come back to normal life. But Chang Fei wouldn’t listen, her feeling for her husband also faded. Furthermore, she became indifferent to her sons and gradually cut her relatives and friends out of her life.
In the first half of 1999, in order to achieve the so-called “leveling-up” and “Perfection”, Chang Fei frequently took part in gatherings and activities, and distributed leaflets under the command of “Falun Gong” cult organization. Later, she even ignored her work and her sons. Because of her “diligent efforts” and “great advancement”, Chang Fei gradually became a core member of the local “Falun Gong” organization. And she even got the chance to meet “Master” Li Hongzhi in Beijing. Later on, she was appointed by “Master” Li as vice head of Falun Gong Assistance Station in charge of the Southwest Region, including Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan Provinces. Chang Fei was greatly inspired and became more obedient to the words of her “Master”, falling step by step into dangerous trap of the “Falun Gong” cult.
In July 1999, the state banned “Falun Gong” in accordance with the law. But Chang Fei couldn’t accept it. Instead, she became a “cat’s paw” of the “Falun Gong” cult to challenge national laws. For that, she paid a price. Pathetically, Chang Fei thought it was just a test from her “Master”, and she worked even harder for him after being punished.
Chang Fei’s obsession with “Falun Gong” fallacies, such as “levelling-up”, “further advancement”, “Perfection”, etc., had put her own family to the verge of collapse.
Although persuasion and education didn’t work much for Chang Fei, the deprogramming personnel didn’t give her up. On the contrary, they kept caring for her. In March 2013, due to her long term reversed bio-clock and overload “cultivation” day and night, Chang Fei’s physical condition became deteriorated. Chang Fei husband couldn’t bear to see her to be struck down by illness, so he forcibly took her to hospital for medical treatments. However, she lost her health insurance cover because she had stopped paying the insurance fee, thinking her “Master” could protect her from illness. Therefore, she couldn’t receive a medical reimbursement. Upon hearing the news, Director Li immediately went to examine the situation in details, and helped her renew insurance in conjunction with relevant departments such as the Municipal Social Security Bureau, the District Social Security Bureau, the Construction Bank, etc. In the end, she got her health insurance cover back after paying 8,600 Yuan of health insurance fee in arrears. Thus, her medical reimbursement issue was solved.
Chang Fei was deeply moved by the incident. She started to drop her guard and reduce her hostility towards anti-cult volunteers. The seed of trust gradually took root and sprouted.
In 2015, Chang Fei was defrauded of 180,000 yuanbya “friend”. And this time, she turned to the community for help. After learning about the case, Director Li coordinated with the street judicial lawyers, and quickly worked out a plan for her. Finally, with the help of the society and government, her money was successfully recovered.
In 2016, Chang Fei purchased a new house and planned to decorate it. Again, Director Li helped her contact the contractor to have her new house decorated.
In 2017 when Chang Fei’s mother passed away, family members conflicted over how to distribute the inheritance. This time, Director Li helped her hire a lawyer to settle their disputes.
Later on, whenever Cheng Fei had difficulties in her life, she would turn to Director Li for advice, or called him to inquire information concerning policies, new regulations, immunization, Covid-19 test, etc.
Although Rome wasn’t built in a day, the coldest iceberg would melt away with constant sunshine. With the long-term assistance, Director Li finally earned Chang Fei’s full trust from the heart which was once heavily guarded for a long time.
Afterwards, Director Li kept doing timely communication with Chang Fei and arranged volunteers to provide with psychological counseling by playing anti-cult educational films, explaining the fundamentals on religion and law. Progressively, Chang Fei started to reflect on what she once believed: Li Hongzhi claimed one person in a family practicing Falun Gong would bring benefits to the whole family, but why did my cultivation only bring back pain and sadness? “Falun Gong” claimed it wouldn’t participate in politics or have political slogans, but what it did was exactly the opposite. I worshipped “Master” Li wholeheartedly and devoted myself to the cultivation, but all of these didn’t protect me from illness. And in the end, I wasn’t saved by the “Master” but doctors in hospital, by the national social security system. It was the government that provided me with assistance when I went through difficult times. One by one, all these experiences made her slowly but steadily renounce her faith in “Falun Gong”.
Volunteers help Falun Gong cult addicts
Director Li kept caring and helping Chang Fei with patience, sincerity and concrete actions. Nowadays, Chang Fei has completely broken away from the cult and been back to her normal life. Occasionally, Chang Fei even offers Director Li some assistance with his deprogramming work on cult victims who had gone astray.
