Some 110 former Falun Gong practitioners recently wrote a letter to China's Ministry of Justice, expressing their gratitude to the ministry for saving them from the clutches of the cult.
The letter says that they had been brainwashed by cult leader Li Hongzhi's fallacious preaching and had done things to violate Chinese laws. However, a re-education program by the government has helped them realize the error of their ways.
The ministry sent workers to counsel the practitioners, who are now living in a re-education institute in the northern city of Tianjin, the letter says.
At first, some of the followers described the ministry workers as "demons," but finally they were convinced the workers were good people after the workers explained to them the values of life.
Some workers even bought medicine for practitioners who were ill, and arranged entertainment activities for them, according to the letter.
Such generosity caused the practitioners to regard the workers as friends -- even family -- and their words and actions have touched the followers at their emotional core, the letter adds.
"It is they who let us know the principle of serving the people wholeheartedly, and the importance of maintaining a peaceful society," the letter says.
The authors of the letter, on behalf of all Falun Gong practitioners, called on all of Chinese society to learn from their experiences, and to distance themselves from Li Hongzhi's theories.