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Witness Lee Wikipedia

Witness Lee (1905-1997), a bondslave of Christ Jesus, labored selflessly throughout his entire life and poured out his being for his Lord's interest. Born in 1905 in northern China, he was raised in a Christian family. At age 19 he was fully captured for Christ and immediately consecrated himself to preach the gospel for the rest of his life.

Early in his service, Witness Lee met Watchman Nee, a renowned preacher, teacher, and writer. Witness Lee labored together with Watchman Nee under his direction. In 1934 Watchman Nee entrusted Witness Lee with the responsibility for his publication operation, called the Shanghai Gospel Bookroom.

In 1949, Witness Lee was sent by Watchman Nee and his other co-workers to Taiwan to insure that the things delivered to them by the Lord would not be lost. Watchman Nee instructed Witness Lee to continue the former's publishing operation abroad as the Taiwan Gospel Bookroom, which has been publicly recognized as the publisher of Watchman Nee's works outside China. Witness Lee's work in Taiwan manifested the Lord's abundant blessing. From a mere 350 believers, newly fled from the mainland, the churches in Taiwan grew to 20,000 in five years.

In 1962 Witness Lee felt led of the Lord to come to the United States, settling in California. During his 35 years of service in the U.S., he ministered in weekly meetings and weekend conferences, delivering several thousand spoken messages. Much of his speaking has since been published as over 400 titles. Many of these have been translated into over 14 languages. He gave his last public conference in February 1997 at the age of 91.

Witness Lee's ministry emphasizes the experience of Christ as life and the practical oneness of the believers as the Body of Christ. Stressing the importance of attending to both these matters, he led the churches under his care to grow in Christian life and function. He was unbending in his conviction that God's goal is not narrow sectarianism but the Body of Christ. In time, believers began to meet simply as the church in their localities in response to this conviction. These local churches were soon established throughout all the Western hemisphere. In recent years a number of new churches have been raised up in Russia and in many eastern European countries.




God's Saving Work
Turned from Knowledge to Life
Called to Serve
Entering the Work
Building in China with Watchman Nee
Building in Taiwan
Building in the West
God's Saving Work
Witness Lee was born in 1905 in the Shantung province of northern China. His early childhood testifies to God’s loving provision in giving him a wise and caring mother who was a third-generation Southern Baptist raised in a thoroughly Christian home. His father, a farmer, died in 1923. To provide her children with the proper education in Chinese and English, his mother sold her only inheritance in order to raise enough money to send them to school. Such courage and foresight in her circumstances was rare in those days. Thanks to his mother’s sacrifice, Witness Lee was able to study in the Southern Baptist Chinese elementary school and in the English Mission College operated by the American Presbyterians in Chefoo.

After Witness Lee’s second-oldest sister experienced the Lord’s salvation, she began praying for him and introduced him to the Chinese Independent congregational church in his hometown, Chefoo. A few months later, in April 1925, at the early age of 19, he personally received the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior through the preaching of a sister in the Lord, Peace Wang. At that time he was extraordinarily ambitious regarding his education and future. But on the day of his dynamic salvation everything changed, as described below in his own words:

I still remember the experience of the God of glory appearing to me for the first time. That was on the afternoon of the day I was saved. When I walked out of the meeting hall into the street, I felt that everything was different. I stopped by the road and prayed to God, "God! I don't want anything else anymore. I only want Yourself." (The Glorious Vision and the Way of the Cross, p. 11)
On that day Witness Lee was called by Christ and consecrated himself to serve Him for the rest of his life. He became a true follower of his Master and never turned back from his vow. From that day on, he loved the Bible and collected as many Bible expositories as possible. He soon began meeting with the Brethren Assembly (the Benjamin Newton branch) in Chefoo and was attracted by their knowledgeable expounding of the Bible. In His search to know the Bible, he also noticed in Christian periodicals some outstanding articles on biblical truths by Watchman Nee.

In the spring of 1927, Witness Lee delivered his first spoken message, "Behold the Lamb of God," at the Chinese Independent Congregational Church in his hometown, Chefoo. At the end of that year he was elected to serve on the board, an unusual distinction for such a young man. However, he declined the position, left that denomination, and began meeting regularly with the local Brethren assembly. He attended each of their seven weekly meetings, earnestly absorbing all their doctrines. In 1930 he was baptized by immersion in the sea by their leader. Witness Lee continued to attend the Brethren meetings for seven and a half years.


Turned from Knowledge to Life
The greatest help Witness Lee received in the matters of the divine life came through his reading of Watchman Nee’s articles and books, beginning from 1925, the year he was saved. He purchased all of Watchman Nee’s books on the divine life and began to correspond with Watchman Nee, asking him questions about the Bible. In the meantime, he continued to study the Bible with the Brethren and received much scriptural knowledge from them concerning biblical types, prophecies, and parables. Although those teachings helped him to forsake worldliness and to avoid drifting from the Lord’s pathway, they provided little help in the matters of life, the Spirit, and the church. He realized that he had "received a great deal of knowledge from their teachings, but very little life." (Watchman Nee, A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, p.284)

Then in August 1931, Witness Lee had a real repentance:

I considered how much knowledge I had accumulated and yet how dead I was. True, I never returned to the world, yet, though I attended seven meetings a week, I was utterly cold and fruitless. At this time I experienced a deep and real repentance.

The next morning at an early hour I climbed to the top of a small mountain near my home. I cried to the Lord and wept in desperation. Morning by morning I went there to pray. From that day on I cared little about talking; I only wanted to pray. This experience lasted for several months, from August until February or March of the following year. (Watchman Nee, A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, p.286)
In the summer of 1932, Watchman Nee was invited by Witness Lee and other Christians to visit Chefoo. As soon as he met Watchman Nee, they began to have excellent fellowship concerning the Lord’s interest. As was characteristic of Watchman Nee’s ministry, he emphasized to Witness Lee the need to experience the divine life. This intimate fellowship caused Witness Lee to have a fundamental turn from knowledge to life. Describing this time with Watchman Nee, Witness Lee said:

My time with Watchman during those days deeply impressed me with the sweetness, loveliness, attractiveness, and newness of the Lord. Those days provided a new start for me in following the Lord and caused me to have a basic turn from knowledge to life. Because of those days with Watchman Nee, I began to have fellowship with the Lord in a more intimate way. The Lord became more precious to me. That experience was even greater than my experience of salvation. Those days with Watchman affected my pathway in the Lord throughout all the following fifty-nine years, since 1932. For eternity I can never forget those days! What a mercy and grace it was to me. (Watchman Nee, A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, pp. 288-289)

Called to Serve
From the day he was saved in 1925, Witness Lee desired to spend his life preaching the gospel. After he graduated from college and then helped his younger brother to graduate, the Lord reminded him of this matter. Although he knew that his destiny was to give his life to serve the Lord, he did not yet have sufficient faith to respond to the Lord’s call.

During the time of his first personal contact with Watchman Nee in 1932, when Nee had been invited to speak at the Chinese Independent Congregational Church in Chefoo and the Southern Baptist Seminary in Hwang-Hsien near Chefoo, Witness Lee deeply sensed that the Lord was calling him to serve. He described this experience as follows:



...I stayed in my room to have some time with the Lord. I read Isaiah 44:22 and deeply sensed as I read, "Return unto Me, for I have redeemed you," that the Lord was calling me to serve Him. I deeply felt that the Lord gave me verse 21 as a promise: "You are My servant; you will not be forgotten by Me." Also verse 23 seemed to be a clear word to me concerning the goal of His calling: "Jehovah has been glorified in Israel." The Lord’s presence was very real to me there, and I was thoroughly anointed, refreshed with His Spirit, and filled with joy and encouragement. (Watchman Nee, A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, p. 288)
After Watchman Nee left Chefoo, the Lord sovereignly brought several believers to Witness Lee. As more were added, a church was raised up in that city. The church first met in his mother’s living room. Later, as the number grew, the church secured a meeting facility. As Witness Lee’s fellowship with the Lord increased, the call to give himself full-time to the Lord’s service became stronger and stronger. He struggled for a time about taking this step of faith. In August 1933, the struggle became intense. Witness Lee realized that he could not go on with the Lord until he honored the vow he had uttered to the Lord eight years before. In tears Witness Lee responded to the Lord’s call and left his job to serve Him full-time. The sixty-five years of faithful service which followed that struggle have confirmed that God was fully behind that momentous call, which Witness Lee describes below:

During the three weeks between August 1 and August 21, I struggled much with the Lord. I deeply sensed that He was calling me to give up my occupation and serve Him by faith, but I dared not take definite action because of the lack of faith....

After three weeks of struggling with the Lord, I simply could not go on; so in the evening of August 21, following the prayer meeting, I explained my situation to the two leading ones and asked them to pray for me. After eleven o'clock that night, I went to the Lord and knelt before Him in my reading room....Tears filled my eyes. Finally I said, "All right, this is it." There was no other way. The next morning both of the two leading ones came to me and told me that after praying they felt it was of the Lord that I should leave my occupation and give my full time to serving the Lord. (pp. 290-291)
Some time later Witness Lee received a short letter from Watchman Nee encouraging him to drop his job and serve the Lord full-time:

Upon returning to my hometown, a letter was awaiting me from Watchman Nee. I looked at the envelope, noticing it was mailed from Shanghai. I opened it and read it. It was dated August 17, exactly in the midst of the time I had been struggling with the Lord. The letter said "Brother Witness, as for your future, I feel that you should serve the Lord with your full time. How do you feel? May the Lord lead you." It is impossible to tell what strong confirmation I received by receiving that short note from him. (Watchman Nee, A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, p. 291)
The day after receiving this letter, Witness Lee resigned his position and decided to go to Shanghai in order to fellowship with Watchman Nee.


Entering the Work
Beginning in October 1933, Witness Lee visited Watchman Nee in Shanghai for about four months. During this time Watchman Nee began perfecting Witness Lee for his service to the Lord. Watchman Nee had much fellowship with Witness Lee about four matters: knowing Christ as life, the Lord’s move in China from Watchman Nee’s salvation to the present, church history, and knowing the Bible in the way of life. Watchman Nee emphasized Christ as life and the church as the issue of His life.

From this point on, Witness Lee labored closely with Watchman Nee in the work of ministering Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ. Later, when Watchman Nee was no longer able to carry on the work, Witness Lee continued to labor according to the vision and pattern that he had observed in Watchman Nee’s life and work. Certainly Witness Lee would continue to develop the ministry entrusted to both of them, but this development would simply be an enlargement upon the basic vision of the enjoyment of Christ as life for the building up of His Body through the local churches.


Building in China with Watchman Nee
In 1934 Witness Lee moved his family to Shanghai to join Watchman Nee and was entrusted with the responsibility for Watchman Nee’s publishing work. Specifically, he was assigned to be the editor of the magazine The Christian, which was published from 1934 to 1940. He also became acting editor of Collection of Newsletters. Through this responsibility, Witness Lee became thoroughly acquainted with Watchman Nee’s ministry.

In 1934 Witness Lee began to travel throughout China, ministering the Word to believers and establishing local churches. In Chekiang province, many local churches were established as a result of his ministering there. From the end of 1935 until the summer of 1937, Witness Lee labored to establish churches in Beijing and Tientsin. He also traveled to the far northwestern provinces of Suiyuan, Shanghai, and Shensi to preach the gospel and establish the believers. Because of the Japanese invasion, Witness Lee returned to Chefoo in November 1937, and until 1943 spent most of his time caring for the church there as well as the church in nearby Tsingtao.

At the end of 1942 a great revival occurred in Witness Lee’s hometown of Chefoo through his personal shepherding of the believers and his faithfulness in closely following Watchman Nee’s ministry. Beginning on January 1, 1943, the church met continuously for one hundred days. As a result, over 800 believers consecrated their all to the Lord, some even offering to migrate to remote northwestern China for the gospel. Toward the end of that time, in May 1943, Witness Lee was arrested by the Japanese army and was imprisoned for one month. Shortly after his release he developed tuberculosis, his health having been greatly weakened by the imprisonment. In order to rest and fully recuperate, he moved to Tsingtao in 1944 and remained there for two years.

After the Second World War, his health fully recovered, Witness Lee resumed his labor in the work, spending most of his time in Shanghai and Nanking. In 1947 the Lord raised up a revival in these places also. In December 1947, he and a few other co-workers visited a number of local churches in the southern provinces including Hong Kong, Canton, Swatow, and Amoy, and labored there to help these churches enter into the revival sweeping through China. During his visit to Foochow on this trip, Witness Lee met with Watchman Nee and was instrumental in recovering the latter’s ministry, which had been suspended for six years due to several misunderstandings. Watchman Nee traveled back to Shanghai with Witness Lee in April, and the two brought in a further revival there. By 1949 more than 400 churches had been raised up in more than 30 provinces of China through the ministries of these brothers. The building up of the Body of Christ had greatly advanced.

In May 1949, due to the sudden change in the political situation, Watchman Nee directed Witness Lee to leave the mainland and go to Taiwan to continue the work of building up the Body of Christ. He also charged Witness Lee to continue the publication work of the Shanghai Gospel Book Room. Through the strategic move of sending Witness Lee to Taiwan, the Lord was able to begin to spread the local churches internationally.

Watchman Nee and Witness Lee met one final time in 1950 in Hong Kong. For over a month the two of them ministered together and brought in a revival in the church in Hong Kong. Watchman Nee then entrusted to Witness Lee the responsibility of overseeing both the work and the church in Hong Kong. He charged Witness Lee to instruct, teach, and lead the elders, and to make arrangements concerning the service and the deacons' offices, as well as the purchase of land for a meeting facility. He also charged Witness Lee with the responsibility for the publication work outside of China, which at that time was being carried out by the Taiwan Gospel Book Room in Taiwan and by the Hong Kong Church Book Room in Hong Kong.

A short time later Watchman Nee returned to mainland China. It was the last time these two co-laborers would see each other and the last time they would communicate directly. From that point on, Witness Lee faithfully carried on the ongoing work of building up the Body of Christ through establishing local churches that Watchman Nee had begun in China.


Building in Taiwan
In May 1949 Witness Lee moved to the island of Taiwan and began the work there in August of that year. Although they began with few believers and very few churches, through his diligent labor and unceasing ministry of the Word, the number of believers increased over thirtyfold within the first year. Within five to six years the number increased to over 40,000. It was a time of revival and rapid increase in the churches in Taiwan.

Witness Lee also began conducting annual conferences and trainings for the churches in Taiwan. Beginning from 1951, Witness Lee held trainings for full-time Christian workers. In 1953 he also held a formal training for his co-workers. Such trainings raised up a number of young workers who eventually carried on the work in Taiwan and the Far East over the next four decades.

Beginning in 1950 Witness Lee also traveled yearly to the Philippines, staying three to four months each time, to establish the churches there. Through his labor and ministry, eventually over a hundred churches were raised up there.

In response to Watchman Nee’s charge concerning the publication work, Witness Lee began to publish ministry books through the Taiwan Gospel Book Room, which in time became familiar to the public as the publisher of Watchman Nee’s work outside of China. Witness Lee also faithfully published a magazine called The Ministry of the Word, producing a total of 415 issues from 1950 until 1986.


Building in the West
From April to October 1958, Witness Lee was invited to conduct conferences in London, England and Copenhagen, Denmark, initiating his work in the West. Later, from 1958 to 1961, Witness Lee visited the United States three times. In 1962 he was led by the Lord to move to Los Angeles, California, and in December of that year he held his first conference in Los Angeles, in English. Those messages were eventually published as a book entitled The All-Inclusive Christ.

In the following years the Lord opened many doors, and Witness Lee received numerous invitations throughout the country to speak to a wide variety of Christian groups. Through these visits many people were gained and became precious materials for the building up of the local churches in the United States.

Throughout the 1960s, Witness Lee held a number of short conferences and longer informal trainings both in Los Angeles and in other cities across the United States. His messages were printed in a small quarterly magazine, The Stream. He also founded Stream Publishers in 1965, which later became Living Stream Ministry.

Beginning in 1964, believers from different areas of the country moved to Los Angeles to enjoy Witness Lee’s rich ministry and the glorious church life. In 1970, over 400 of them felt led by the Lord to migrate to ten cities throughout the United States to begin meeting as the church there. This migration continued for two years and laid the groundwork for further spreading. As a result, the number of local churches in the U.S. grew from 7 in 1969 to 27 in 1973, and then to 50 in 1977.

In 1974, Witness Lee moved to Anaheim, California and began to expound comprehensively on the Bible, book by book, concluding two decades later in 1994. This series of messages, entitled, Life-Study, constitutes his major ministry work. During this time Witness Lee also wrote extensive outlines, footnotes, and cross references for the entire New Testament. These were incorporated into a new translation of the New Testament, the Recovery Version, which was published in Chinese in 1987 and in English in 1991.

Books in the Bible No. of Messages No. of Pages
Old Testament 39 865 7,787
New Testament * 27 1,361 13,432
Total 66 2,226 21,219

• Including Conclusion Messages

In addition to his ministry of the Word, Witness Lee also traveled extensively during the 1960s and 1970s, visiting many places in the United States and Canada. He also returned to the Far East on many occasions to strengthen and perfect the churches in Taiwan. In the 1960s he made frequent visits to the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Japan. In 1965 he also visited Brazil and other South American countries. During the 1970s Witness Lee visited Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Israel and many European countries. Such tireless labor produced the building up of the Body of Christ throughout the entire globe. By 1980 there were 70 local churches in the U.S. and 426 worldwide.

In the fall of 1984, Witness Lee began helping the churches to practice a "small group" church life that centered on home meetings for prayer and for the study of the truth. The churches were also encouraged to preach the gospel from door to door, to nourish and teach new believers individually, and to help the members speak for the Lord in the meetings. Such practices helped to draw out and develop the function of many members of the church to build up the Body of Christ, a direct fulfillment of Ephesians 4:11-16. As a result, the enjoyment of Christ and the vitality of many of the members greatly increased, as did the number of members. By 1985 the number of believers meeting in the local churches in the U.S. had grown to 10,200, and there were 98 local churches in the U.S. Worldwide, there were 129,000 believers meeting in 605 local churches.

In order to perfect more young believers to know the truth in the Bible and to participate in the Lord’s building up of His church, Witness Lee established international Bible Truth and Church Service Training centers for those serving the Lord full-time. There are nine full-time training centers in the following locations:

Location Date Started
Philippines 1984
Taipei, Taiwan 1986
Anaheim, California 1989
Moscow, Russia 1992
Hamilton, New Zealand 1993
Jakarta, Indonesia 1995
Seoul, Korea 1996
London, England 1997
Mexico City, Mexico 2000

Many of the graduates of these trainings have continued to serve the Lord full-time and to help spread the Lord’s testimony throughout the earth.

In addition to establishing full-time trainings during the 1990s, Witness Lee continued to minister the high truths from the Bible for the nourishment of the Body of Christ. He also continued to encourage the practice of the small "vital" groups locally along with the practice of the blending together of the co-workers and churches globally. The churches continued to multiply. By 1996, the year before Witness Lee went to be with the Lord due to cancer at age 91, there were approximately 250 local churches in the U.S. and 2,300 local churches worldwide, not including mainland China.

Just as the Lord used the early apostles to minister Christ for the building up of His church, He has greatly used Watchman Nee and Witness Lee in our day. They were faithful to continue the New Testament ministry, which produces the Body of Christ. Through their ministries the churches grew to a total of 400 in China by 1949 and to 2,300 worldwide by 1996. Watchman Nee was indeed a seer of the divine revelation in the present age, and Witness Lee was just as certainly a wise master builder according to this same divine revelation in the present age.


Witness Lee’s life and ministry greatly glorify the Lord. He never published his testimony in its entirety, but he did share portions of it throughout his ministry. Witness Lee also recorded some of his personal experiences of the Lord in the biography he wrote, Watchman Nee, A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age. Five representative passages of his testimony are included below:

Saved and Seeking
Turned from Knowledge to Life
Called to Serve
Entering the Work
Sent Out from China
Saved and Seeking
My mother’s maternal grandfather was a Southern Baptist, who in turn brought my mother into Christianity. She studied in the American Southern Baptist mission school and as a teen-ager was baptized into the Southern Baptist Church about 1885. I was born in 1905. She brought me in contact with her Baptist Church in Chefoo. I studied in the Southern Baptist Chinese elementary school and in the English mission college operated by the American Presbyterians in Chefoo. Though I attended the Southern Baptist Church services and Sunday school in my youth, I was not saved and was never baptized by them. Eventually, for about five years, I ceased attending any Christian services.

After my second sister experienced salvation, she prayed for me and introduced me to a very fine Chinese pastor of the Chinese Independent Church. This pastor paid me a number of visits, encouraging me to attend his Sunday morning services. After a long delay on my part, on the second day of the Chinese New Year in 1925, I decided early in the morning to attend the services of that Chinese Independent Church. After about two and a half months, they baptized me into their membership by sprinkling. But it was not until a short time later that I was actually saved and turned to the Lord through the preaching of Sister Peace Wang in April of the same year. At that time I was exceedingly ambitious as a young man for my education and my future. But after I was saved under Sister Peace Wang’s preaching that afternoon, while I was walking home, I stopped and prayed to God, according to Sister Wang’s message, somewhat as follows: "God, I don't like being usurped by Satan as Pharaoh, through the world as Egypt; I would like to serve You and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus through the villages at any cost for my whole life."

From that day I loved the Bible. The word of the Bible became sweeter than honey, as mentioned in Psalm 19:10 and in Psalm 119:103. The Word nourished me, changed my life, and caused me to love the Lord and follow Him. I collected as many books on the Bible as possible.

Soon I was led to attend the Brethren Assembly (the Benjamin Newton branch) in our town. The way they expounded the Bible and taught biblical truths attracted me very much. From the year I was saved, I continuously attended their meetings for seven years. I learned much from them, especially in the matters of biblical types, prophecies, and parables. Their teachings helped me to give up worldliness in its outward aspect and kept me from drifting away from the Lord’s pathway. However, I did not receive much help from them in the matters of life, the Spirit, and the church. I received a great deal of knowledge from their teachings but very little life.

While I was seeking to know the Bible in a thorough way, there appeared in my hometown a Christian periodical entitled The Morning Star. I obtained and read all available issues of that paper. As I read, I frequently noticed articles under the by-line of Watchman Nee. It was obvious that those articles were the most outstanding ones on biblical truths. They were the best in the whole paper. The more I read them, the more I enjoyed reading them. From the way this writer addressed his readers, I imagined he was an aged Christian teacher, perhaps over sixty years of age. Actually, he was a young man only two years older than I. Then an issue of the paper was published with a notice saying that Watchman Nee would publish his own paper, to be entitled The Christian. Immediately, I subscribed to this magazine. From 1925 through 1927 1 received all twenty-four copies. When one issue would come, I would devour the whole thing in the same day if possible. Besides reading The Christian, I purchased all the books he published on the spiritual life. From these I received the greatest help in the matter of life. I greatly appreciated and highly treasured this magazine and these books.

At the same time, I was led to read Watchman Nee’s article in The Lamp unto My Feet, a periodical published by the Newton Brethren in Chefoo. This article also deeply impressed me.

During these days I began to correspond with Watchman, and this initiated our first contact. I wrote, asking him questions about the Bible, all of which he answered. In one letter I asked him for advice concerning the best book on understanding the Bible. He answered that to his knowledge, the book which could be of most help in knowing the Bible was John Nelson Darby’s Synopsis of the Books of the Bible. He added that unless I read it four or five times I would not be able to understand it well. Eight years later, while I was staying as his guest in Shanghai, he gave me this set of books as a gift.


Turned from Knowledge to Life
Brother Du and I then went to our former denomination and proposed that they invite Watchman Nee to come speak to them. Although we had left that denomination, we left them with a very good impression of us. They accepted our proposal and invited Watchman to come speak. When Du Chung-Chin was returning to Shanghai, I asked him to extend my invitation to Watchman to come visit our town, which he did. At the same time the Southern Baptist Seminary in Hwang-hsien, a city close to Chefoo, also invited Watchman to speak there. So in the summer of 1932, he came to speak at these two places. I, with others, went to meet the steamship on which he was arriving, and when the two of us saw each other, immediately we knew one another. We had corresponded with each other for some time, and there was a mutual recognition. He put himself into my hands and spoke with me of the things that were on his heart. He spoke to a large crowd for approximately one week in the auditorium of the Chinese Independent Church. I received much help from his messages, and following that conference I also accompanied him to the Southern Baptist Seminary in Hwang-hsien.

In those years the Pentecostal movement was very strong in north China, and the seminary where Watchman spoke had come under the influence of this movement. In those meetings I saw for the first time the strange practices of the Pentecostals. Some were jumping, some were laughing, and some were shouting. There were many strange sights. After the presiding pastor, with some effort, calmed down the meeting, Watchman gave his message. He gave an inspiring word on the gospel of God’s love from Luke 15.

Following the first meeting, Watchman and I walked home together. On the way I said, "What kind of way is this to have meetings—shouting, jumping, and rolling?" He replied that in the New Testament there are no ordinances telling us how we should meet. His word shocked me and made me wonder whether he was agreeable with those strange practices of the Pentecostal movement. Eventually, I discovered that he did not agree with that kind of practice, but neither would he insist on any outward form.

I was staying in the seminary dormitory. One afternoon while a Pentecostal meeting was being held in which Brother Nee was not speaking, I stayed in my room to have some time with the Lord. I read Isaiah 44:22 and deeply sensed as I read, "Return unto Me, for I have redeemed you," that the Lord was calling me to serve Him. I deeply felt that the Lord gave me verse 21 as a promise: "You are My servant; you will not be forgotten by Me." Also verse 23 seemed to be a clear word to me concerning the goal of His calling: "Jehovah has been glorified in Israel." The Lord’s presence was very real to me there, and I was thoroughly anointed, refreshed with His Spirit, and filled with joy and encouragement.

Following the meetings at the seminary, Watchman returned to Chefoo and stayed in my home for two or three days. We had some excellent fellowship concerning the Lord’s interest.While staying in my home, he asked me to introduce him to Mr. Burnet, the founder of the Newton Brethren Assembly in my hometown. Mr. Burnet was an aged man and an excellent Bible teacher who had learned at the feet of the Brethren teacher Benjamin Newton. At the time the three of us came together, I realized that Mr. Burnet did not appreciate Watchman’s testimony for the Lord. Mr. Burnet stressed the accuracy of biblical knowledge, while Watchman emphasized the necessity of life.

My time with Watchman during those days deeply impressed me with the sweetness, loveliness, attractiveness, and newness of the Lord. Those days provided a new start for me in following the Lord and caused me to have a basic turn from knowledge to life. Because of those days with Watchman Nee, I began to have fellowship with the Lord in a more intimate way. The Lord became more precious to me. That experience was even greater than my experience of salvation. Those days with Watchman affected my pathway in the Lord throughout all the following fifty-nine years, since 1932. For eternity I can never forget those days! What a mercy and grace it was to me.

The day before he left, Watchman charged me to do nothing after his departure; otherwise, others would think I was following him. I replied, "How could I do anything? In this town no one is standing with me."

But on the day of his departure, something happened. In the evening a brother who was a member of the board of the denomination I had left came to ask Watchman if he would help another believer in distress. When I told him that Watchman was gone, we agreed to have a time of fellowship together. It was summer, so we went down to the beach. After a lengthy time of fellowship, about ten o'clock that night, this brother turned to me and said, "You must baptize me tonight in the sea." After much hesitation, I did it. Through this event a meeting started in my home. I wrote to Watchman explaining what had taken place. He came in April of the following year to confirm and strengthen us in the Lord’s recovery and was a guest in my home for about ten days. He ministered to us in our meeting hall in the evenings and spoke to the denominational Christians in the Chinese Independent Church auditorium in the mornings. His messages greatly edified all the attendants and helped the building up of the church there in the Lord’s recovery.

At this time I related how the Lord had called me to serve Him when I was with him in Hwang-hsien the year before. To this he made no comment.


Called to Serve
Just as I desired to spend my life preaching the gospel on the day I was saved, so after I graduated from college, the Lord reminded me of this same thing. But I took the excuse that I had to help my younger brother finish his college education. After he graduated from college, I was again reminded by the Lord that I should give up my occupation and spend my full time preaching the gospel. At that time I knew my destiny was to give my life to serve the Lord. However, I did not have a faith bold enough to perform it.

After the church in my home town was raised up, I still kept my occupation and at the same time cared for the meetings. By 1933, just one year after the church began, the work was booming. There was a great demand upon my time. During the three weeks between August 1 and August 21, I struggled much with the Lord. I deeply sensed that He was calling me to give up my occupation and serve Him by faith, but I dared not take definite action because of the lack of faith.

Among all the brothers in the church at that time, only my younger brother and I made what would be considered good money in our occupations. For this reason most of the needs of the church were taken care of secretly by the two of us. Therefore, when the call of the Lord came to give up my occupation, I considered all the needs. Not only would the amount being offered to the church be lessened if I gave up my employment, but others would have to care for me. So I was struggling with this matter.

After three weeks of struggling with the Lord, I simply could not go on; so in the evening of August 21, following the prayer meeting, I explained my situation to the two leading ones and asked them to pray for me. After eleven o'clock that night, I went to the Lord and knelt before Him in my reading room. The Lord immediately rebuked me: "You have an evil heart of unbelief in falling away from the living God!" (Heb. 3:12). I said in my heart, "I have a wife and three children to take care of." The Lord responded, "Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things...and all these things will be added to you" (Matt. 6:32-33). At that time I became clear that I had to spend my full time serving the Lord. The only factor which caused me to hesitate was lack of faith. I deeply sensed that the Lord was there. His presence was so real that I could not deny it. But up to this point I could not pray. Then He warned me, "If you will take My word, take it; otherwise, I am through with you." Immediately following that word, I felt that the Lord departed. I could pray no more; I could not even say Amen. Tears filled my eyes. Finally I said, "All right, this is it." There was no other way. The next morning both of the two leading ones came to me and told me that after praying they felt it was of the Lord that I should leave my occupation and give my full time to serving the Lord.

The next day I went to resign my job. After resigning, I went to the post office and found a letter awaiting me from Chang-chun, the capital of Manchuria under Japanese occupation. Opening it, I found to my surprise the first invitation I ever received in my entire life calling me to go to another place to speak for the Lord. It was immediately after my resignation that I received this letter. It seemed to be a definite confirmation of the Lord regarding my resignation, and I was much strengthened and encouraged. I accepted the invitation and went. Through my visit an assembly was raised up there. The preacher, the elders, the deacons, and others of the Presbyterian denomination, close to twenty, all turned to the Lord’s recovery and were baptized by me in the river in one day.

I spent seventeen days in that place. While I was there, a letter arrived from the general manager of the company in which I had been employed, telling me that they would not let me go but would promote me and increase my salary. The time was late September. I began to consider; it was the policy of our company to give the employees a bonus at the end of the year. I was tempted by the thought that if I would work for only a little more than three months I could still get that bonus and then quit.

Upon returning to my hometown, a letter was awaiting me from Watchman Nee. I looked at the envelope, noticing it was mailed from Shanghai. I opened it and read it. It was dated August 17, exactly in the midst of the time I had been struggling with the Lord. The letter said, "Brother Witness, as for your future, I feel that you should serve the Lord with your full time. How do you feel? May the Lord lead you." It is impossible to tell what strong confirmation I received by receiving that short note from him. That little note simply annulled the letter from my general manager. I was leaping in my heart. I said to myself, "This matter is settled. Even if someone would offer me the whole world, I would not take it. Tomorrow I will go to the office and tell the general manager that I reject his good offer." The next day I did exactly that. Then I felt that I must go to Shanghai to see Watchman Nee and discover why he wrote me that note at that particular time, August 17.

In Shanghai Watchman related to me the following story. He told me that while he was returning to China from Europe his ship was sailing on the Mediterranean Sea. One day while in his cabin, burdened and praying for the Lord’s work in China, he felt he should write me a note telling me that I should spend my full time serving the Lord. When he told me that, I was fully convinced that he was a person wholly with the Lord. Otherwise, how could I be thousands of miles away struggling with the Lord and he be on the Mediterranean Sea receiving a burden to write me concerning this matter at the very instant God was dealing with me? I was persuaded that he was a man of God. He did not need to ask me to work with him; I had already made the decision. I had to follow him and work with him. This incident I have just related became the basic factor in our working together for the Lord.


Entering the Work
While in Shanghai in October 1933, Watchman received me as his guest. I stayed with him for about four months, and during that time he did a number of things to perfect me. Concerning some of these things, I was clear what he was doing, and concerning others I was not clear at the time. I spent much time with him. We were together for many hours, and I always gave him the opportunity to speak. I would not speak, for I realized that the more I spoke, the more foolish I was. I gave all the time to him. He never talked with me about vain things but always took the opportunity to speak with me mainly about four matters.

First, he helped me know the Lord as life. Before I stayed with him, I loved the Lord and had already obtained a great deal of doctrinal knowledge of the Bible. But I was not clear concerning life. It was not until I spent time with him that my eyes were opened to see the matter of life.

One afternoon as we sat together, neither of us said a word. I was seated on a sofa and he in a rocking chair. While he was rocking, he began to ask me, "Brother Witness, what is patience?" I was puzzled. The question was too simple. Surely we all know what patience is. But since this question came from his mouth, it had to be of considerable import. I dared not answer. While he was rocking, he continued, "What is patience?" I did not understand what his intention with me was at that time. He had a burden, but I did not comprehend it. Eventually I said, "Well, patience to me is a sort of endurance. When people ill-treat you and persecute you, yet you endure the suffering, that is patience." He shook his head and said, "No!" Then I said, "Please tell me, what is patience?" He answered, "Patience is Christ." I could not understand it. It sounded like a foreign language to me. I asked, "Brother, what do you mean by saying that patience is Christ? Would you explain it to me?" He only continued rocking. He offered not a word of explanation. "Patience is Christ," he repeated. I was not only puzzled but deeply bothered. We remained in that state for a long time. I would not raise any other question, and he would say nothing else. I was very eager to know what he meant, but after a long period with no explanation forthcoming, I was fully disappointed. It was late in the afternoon, and eventually I said, "Brother Nee, the time is gone; I must return to have my dinner." He replied, "All right."

When I returned to the guest house, I was really troubled. I went to my room and prayed, "Lord, what does it mean that patience is Christ?" The Lord spoke to me in those days, and my eyes were opened. I saw that Christ Himself is my patience. Real patience is not a kind of behavior, but just Christ lived out from me. I saw it! It was in this way that Watchman helped me so greatly in the matter of life.

Second, during these times of fellowship Watchman also related to me the history of the Lord’s move with him from the year he was saved up to that day. I was not fully in the church, nor was I in the work in those first ten years of the Lord’s recovery; so he used hour after hour to convey the things to me concerning the Lord’s move in those years, not in a brief way but in full detail. At the time I did not understand his reason for relating those things to me, but later I knew. He purposed to perfect me and build me up. He was laying a good foundation.

Third, he instructed me in matters concerning church history from the first century to the present. He recounted all the main things which occurred concerning the church, and the way he did it was deeply significant. He did it from the aspect of the Lord’s recovery and with the goal of the Lord’s recovery in view.

Fourth, he also helped me grasp the living way to know the Bible. I had been helped by the Brethren to know the Bible in the way of letters, but he helped me know the Bible in the way of life. In all our conversations together, I received much help from him in these four matters. A good foundation was laid for my work, even up until the present time, in the matters of life, the church, and the work.

One afternoon while I was studying, he came to my room and threw two sets of used books on my bed. He said, "Here are some books for you," and immediately left. One group of books was John Nelson Darby’s five-volume Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, and the other group was a four-volume set of Henry Alford’s New Testament for English Readers. I realized that his purpose in giving me these two sets of books was to perfect me in knowing the Word of God.

In addition, he also put me into a position where I could participate in the work and minister in the local church in Shanghai. This afforded me an excellent opportunity to learn how to serve the Lord. Before putting me into such a situation, however, he tested me. His way of testing was secret. In the beginning I did not know what he was doing; I did not realize that I was being tested. In the previous years while we were corresponding, he did not really know me. But when we stayed together for a longer period of time, he was observing and secretly putting me to the test. First, immediately after arriving in Shanghai, I was asked to speak in the general Sunday morning meeting. This caught me by surprise, but I gave a rather long message on the pathway to glory from Matthew 13:53—17:8.

At that time the church in Shanghai met in two halls. The main hall was hall one while hall two was somewhat secondary. Not long after I arrived in Shanghai, the brothers arranged for me to hold a conference in hall two. I believe that this was according to Watchman’s instructions in order to test me a little. I spoke every night and was exposed to all. I was on the test for about a week. Watchman was not there, but whatever I said found its way to him. I must have passed the test for I was later charged to speak regularly in the first hall.

One day Watchman brought me a bundle of letters from various places. Various persons had written him asking questions about the church, church practice, life, and about the interpretation of the Bible. He said, "Witness, I am too busy. I do not have time to devote to all these things. Would you reply to these letters and answer all their questions for me?" I never imagined that this could be a test, but it was. I said to him, "There are probably some questions to which I will not know the answer." He replied, "That does not matter; if you have questions, just ask me." By the Lord’s mercy I answered all of the letters. The longest answer I wrote was on sects and the structure of the church. Watchman appreciated it very much and published it in the fourth and fifth issues of Collection of Newsletters. Watchman’s third overcomer conference was held in Shanghai in January 1934. Many co-workers and saints attended the conference from different places throughout the country. It started on a Monday. Nearly all the outsiders arrived on the Lord’s Day before the conference began. On the morning of the Lord’s Day, while we were all waiting for Watchman to come and speak, a short note was delivered to me from him asking me to speak in that meeting. Both I and the attendants were all surprised that he did not show up in that meeting. But I spoke in the meeting according to his request and acquired some new experience.

During that ten-day conference, I received much help from his messages. They were indeed marvelous, marking a real turn in both my Christian life and in my church life. My eyes were opened to see Christ in His preeminence in all things according to God’s eternal plan. I took brief notes on all his messages, which he eventually published in the March and April issues of The Present Testimony in 1934.

One day before the conference, we were having fellowship together. At that time he asked me how I daily studied the Bible. I replied that I was in Acts and Colossians. Immediately he said that these two books were a very good match. At first I did not understand what he meant, but eventually I was helped to see that Acts reveals to us how Christ ascended to the heavens and was made both Lord and Christ (2:36), whereas Colossians reveals that Christ should have the preeminence in all things and should be all and in all in God’s economy (1:18; 3:11). There was never another person in my entire Christian life who helped me know the Scriptures in such a profound and living way, especially regarding the revelation of Christ with the church.

On one occasion the first hall in Shanghai arranged to hold a gospel meeting, but no one knew who the speaker would be. Many thought that Watchman would speak. I was feeling quite relaxed and prepared to hear a message from him. I hoped also to learn more concerning how to preach the gospel. About an hour before the meeting, there was a knock at my door, and a note was passed on to me. It said, "Brother Witness, you give the message on the gospel tonight." It shocked me! What should I do? At any rate, I had to speak.

That night I spoke from John 16 concerning the Spirit convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. I pressed the people with the matter of sin because we were born of Adam, of righteousness because we can believe in Christ, and of judgment because we follow Satan. I told the people that here are three persons—Adam, Christ, and Satan. We were all born sinners in Adam, but now God has offered us the opportunity to get into Christ to be justified by taking Him as our righteousness. By believing in Christ we are transferred out of Adam into Christ. However, if we do not believe in Christ, we will remain sinful in Adam, and one day we will be together with Satan sharing God’s judgment upon him. As I delivered this message, I could not see Watchman in the meeting. I did not know where he was, and no one told me where he was. But after a period of time had elapsed, one day as we were walking down the street, he suddenly turned to me and said, "Brother Witness, not many in this country can give a message from John 16 on the three points of sin, righteousness, and judgment and on Adam, Christ, and Satan as you did. I encourage you to go on." When I heard this, I said to myself, "How did he know this?"

Eventually, I discovered that while I was speaking he was standing behind the door listening to my word. He heard everything. By that time I was aware that he was continually testing me.

In 1934, after I had been in Shanghai for about four months, Watchman came to see me one day. He said, "Brother Witness, we the co-workers here all feel that you should move your family to Shanghai and work together with us. Bring this matter to the Lord, and see how He will lead you." I brought the matter to the Lord, and at this time my eyes were opened to see a very significant matter. I saw from the book of Acts that there was only one flow, one current on the earth; it began from the throne of grace and came down to Jerusalem. From Jerusalem it took its course through Samaria, traveling to the north to Antioch; then from Antioch it turned westward to Asia Minor and to Europe. I saw that in the entire book of Acts there was only one current of the Lord’s work on this earth and that there was no record of the work of anyone who was not in the current. When Barnabas separated from Paul and began another current, the account of his work in Acts terminated (Acts 15:36-41). The later co-workers, such as Timothy and Apollos, after being raised up by the Lord for His work, all were merged into one flow of the Lord’s move, though they did not need to go to Jerusalem for this purpose (Acts 16:1-3; 18:24-28). The Lord revealed to me that the flow of His work in China must be one. Since it had begun from Shanghai, I should not go to the north and keep another flow. If the Lord was going to do something in the north, I must first enter into the flow in Shanghai; then eventually the flow in Shanghai would travel to the north. Although a work was already started in the north, I became crystal clear concerning the one flow. With this vision in view, I returned to the north following Watchman’s conference, stayed for awhile, and then returned to Shanghai to stay and work with him. Hence, there was one flow and one current of the Lord’s work in China.


Sent Out from China
In November 1948, Brother Nee called an urgent conference of all the co-workers in Shanghai to pray, fellowship, and seek clear guidance concerning whether we should stay or leave China. At that time I was in Hangchow holding a migration conference with the church there. On the last day of the conference, I received a cable from Brother Nee asking me to return immediately to Shanghai. Upon arriving in Shanghai, I found him eagerly waiting to hold the meetings. In the opening meeting he did not first have fellowship with us; rather, he simply announced that since everyone knew the political situation, Brother Lee must leave the country. He said, "Regardless of whether he likes it or not, he must be asked to go abroad." It was a serious time. Hardly anyone said a word. There was prayer, and Watchman closed with these words: "Let us bring this matter to the Lord and see how the Lord will lead us." That was the decision.

Because of the change in the political situation in northern China, Brother Nee fellowshipped with me that Chang Wu-cheng, Sen Feng-lu, and Liu Hsiao-liang in Tsingtao should migrate with their families to Taiwan for the spread of the Lord’s recovery. The two of us sent these brothers a cable to that effect.

Following the co-workers’ conference, Watchman still charged me to stay in Shanghai to oversee the building of the new meeting hall. In February of the following year, in the opening of the second co-workers’ conference, concerning the matter of staying or leaving, Watchman repeated his announcement of the previous conference to the effect that I must leave the country. This time, after some prayer, he announced to all the rest that his feeling was that he and they must stay and prepare themselves to sacrifice everything for the Lord’s work.

Following the meeting, while dinner was being prepared, Watchman and I took a walk. I asked, "Brother, why have you decided that I must leave the country, while you and all the rest stay and sacrifice everything for the Lord’s work? Does this mean that you think I am not worthy?" He explained, "Brother, you must realize that although in this desperate situation we trust in the Lord, it is possible that the enemy will one day wipe us out. If this happens, you will be out of China, and we will still have something left. So you must go." I told him, "If this is the case, I will take your word and go." Then he asked whether I would go to Hong Kong or Taiwan. I answered, "I have no idea; I haven't given it a thought. Whatever you say, I will do." That was all.

At this time Watchman and I wrote a letter to Brothers Chao Ching-hwai, Chang Wu-cheng, Sen Feng-lu, Liu Hsiao-liang, and Chang Yu-lan in Taipei, appointing them as elders of the church there for its full establishment.

After this I remained on in Shanghai, attempting to finish the building of the new hall, and Watchman went to Foochow to carry out his second training.

Two months later, I received a cable from Watchman at his training center, saying that I must turn over all responsibilities in Shanghai to the local leading ones and come to him immediately. This I did. After I arrived in Foochow and stayed in his training center for a short time, the situation required me to go to Taiwan. This took place in May 1949.

Following his second training, Watchman assigned three of his trainees, one brother and two sisters, to come to Taiwan to help me in the Lord’s work. The brother came to Taiwan and, after investigating the situation there, dropped Brother Nee’s assignment. The two sisters, however, came and worked in Taiwan according to Brother Nee’s intention. Watchman wrote me a long letter of recommendation regarding them, especially concerning the change in their disposition.

Last Modified:   2005-04-13