Watchman Nee, one of the most influential Chinese evangelists of the 20th century, was born on November 4, 1903, to Ni Weng-Hsiu, an officer in the Imperial Customs Service, and Lin He-Ping (Peace Lin). When his mother attended a Girls’ School in Shanghai to improve her English, she met Dora Yu, a young woman who later gave up pursuing a career in medicine to serve Christ as an evangelist. After attending one of Dora’s meetings, Nee’s mother was moved to apologize to her son for a previous incident of unjust punishment. Her action impressed Nee so much that he was determined to attend the evangelistic meetings to see what it was all about. Nee had been raised Methodist and been baptized as a child, but after returning from attending one of Dora’s meetings, he realized he needed to be born again. He wrote:
“On the evening of 28th April, 1920, I was alone in my room, struggling to decide whether or not to believe in the Lord. At first I was reluctant but as I tried to pray I saw the magnitude of my sins and the reality and efficacy of Jesus as the Savior. As I visualized the Lord’s hands stretched out on the cross, they seemed to be welcoming me, and the Lord was saying, ‘I am waiting here to receive you.’ Realizing the effectiveness of Christ’s blood in cleansing my sins and being overwhelmed by such love, I accepted him there. Previously I had laughed at people who had accepted Jesus, but that evening the experience became real for me and I wept and confessed my sins, seeking the Lord’s forgiveness. As I made my first prayer I knew joy and peace such as I had never known before. Light seemed to flood the room and I said to the Lord, ‘Oh, Lord, you have indeed been gracious to me.'”
~Watchman Nee’s Testimony, by Watchman Nee
From that day forward, Watchman Nee’s life was remarkably transformed by Christ.
He influenced many people to know Christ during the twenty plus years after being born again. He was imprisoned after the rise of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949. China’s doctrine of state atheism caused Christians to come under great persecution but—Nee and his testimony never wavered. He was imprisoned for years and was only allowed one visitor—his wife. He was finally scheduled for release in 1967, but the Chinese government managed to keep him detained until he died on May 30, 1972. There was no announcement of his passing; in fact, his remains were cremated on June 1, 1972, before his family could even get to the prison.
Nee’s grandniece went to pick up his ashes and she recounted experience:
“In June 1972, we got a notice from the labor farm that my granduncle had passed away. My eldest grandaunt and I rushed to the labor farm. But when we got there, we learned that he had already been cremated. We could only see his ashes…Before his departure, he left a piece of paper under his pillow, which had several lines of big words written in a shaking hand. He wanted to testify to the truth which he had even until his death, with his lifelong experience. That truth is—‘Christ is the Son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and resurrected after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of my belief in Christ. Watchman Nee.’ When the officer of the labor farm showed us this paper, I prayed that the Lord would let me quickly remember it by heart… My granduncle had passed away. He was faithful until death. With a crown stained with blood, he went to be with the Lord.”
~Watchman Nee: A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age.
His story (and many of his writings) inspire me to remember…
When my heart belongs to God, my circumstances do not limit God’s power to work through me.
No matter how bad your circumstances may be right now, NOTHING and NO ONE (except you) can keep you from making your life remarkable. You have a choice. Paul wrote:
“And He [God] said to me [Paul], ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
II Corinthians 12:9-10
“Outside of Christ, I am weak; inside of Christ I am strong.” ~Watchman Nee
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