(Minghui.org) “Falun Gong practitioners are good people. My job would be much easier if half of the people in my village practiced Falun Gong. These practitioners should be respected. I must do my best to protect them.” These are the words of our village head after his attitude toward Falun Gong changed.

He had been misled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda since assuming the post in 2006. He once said he would not allow anyone in the village to practice Falun Gong. However, his attitude completely changed after he saw first-hand what Falun Gong practitioners are really like.

Working Very Hard for the Community

Our township was assigned to dig an irrigation canal to serve several villages back in the summer of 2006. It was very hot during that time. Every family in our village was told to send one person to participate.

At the work site, most people sat under trees and never did any work. However, three Falun Gong practitioners from the village went into the canal to scoop out mud, and finished the task for the entire village.

The village head came and saw us working in the canal. He said to the other villagers sitting nearby, “Don't you feel shame that dozens of you are sitting here watching these three work?”

He then asked me, “Why do you work so hard?” I answered, “It is all right for us to do more work. How could we be Falun Gong practitioners if we sat in the shade like everyone else?”

He said with smile, “Today I witnessed that Falun Gong practitioners are good people. My job would be much easier if everyone behaved like you practitioners.”

Road construction was done in the village a few years ago. While the work was being done, every family was assigned a place to lay sand on the muddy road. My son and I spent two days bringing sand from other places, and spreading it on the road to meet the official requirement, while others spent a few hours doing a mediocre job.

Officials from the region jointly inspected the road. Our village head told the other officials, “Any part of the road which meets the requirements must have been done by Falun Gong practitioners. You don't have to ask.”

At one of our village meetings, the head emotionally said, “Falun Gong practitioners step forward when there is hard work, while never competing for personal interest or fame. Everyone should learn from them. I said some negative words about Falun Gong before, as I did not know Falun Gong well. The CCP persecutes Falun Gong, but they continue to be good people by following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. Falun Gong is righteous.”

The village head alerted us on several occasions when police were coming to arrest practitioners. He also went to the police station to request the release of practitioners. He said to the police, “These Falun Gong practitioners are good people. It is wrong to arrest them. I will try my best to protect these good people as long as I am the village head.”