Watchman Nee was born Ni Tuoseng on November 4, 1903 in Shantou, Manchu, China. He was the third of nine children. His father, Ni Weng-hsiu, was a well-respected officer of the Imperial Customs Service. His mother, Lin He-Ping, as a child excelled at an American-staffed Methodist mission school. While in Shanghai at the Chinese Western Girls’ School Lin He-Ping met a young woman, Dora Yu, who decided to give up a career in medicine to serve as an evangelist and preacher.
As an infant Watchman Nee was baptized by a bishop of the Methodist Church as both his parents were Methodists. In 1916 when Nee was 13 years old he entered the Church Missionary Society Vernacular Middle School to begin his Western-style education.
When Nee was 17 years old in the spring of 1920, Dora Yu was invited to hold a ten-day revival at the Church of Heavenly Peace in Fuzhou. Nee’s mom attended the revival and after, she proceeded to express her regret to her son for an unfair discipline for an incident that had previously occurred. This made such an impression on Watchman that he decided to attend the meeting the next day to get a feel of what was happening. Upon his return from the event, Nee gave the following testimony:
“On the evening of April 28, 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.’ ”
While at Trinity College, Watchman Nee spoke to his classmates regarding his salvation. He later wrote:
“Immediately I started putting right the matters that were hindering my effectiveness, and also made a list of seventy friends to pray for daily. Some days I would pray for them every hour, even in class. When the opportunity came I would try to persuade them to believe in the Lord Jesus…with the Lord’s grace I continued to pray daily, and after several months all but one of the seventy persons were saved.”
Shortly after his conversion, Nee wanted to be trained as a Christian worker. Although he was still a high school student, he attended Dory Yu’s Bible Institute in Shanghai. Because of his bad and lazy habits such as sleeping in late Nee was soon dismissed. Nee as he was seeking to improve his character, he found a British missionary, Margaret E. Barber who became his teacher and mentor. The two would meet weekly for spiritual guidance. Margaret Barber died in 1930 and left all her belongings to Nee.
While still a teenager, Nee fell in love with Charity Change. Their families had been friends for three generations. Charity was not a Christian and ridiculed Jesus in Nee’s presence. As this bothered him, he felt he needed to give up on the relationship. Charity became a Christian ten years later after finishing her university education. In 1934, during Nee’s fourth, “Overcomer Conference” in Hangzhou, the two were married. They had no children. Charity cared for Nee during his frequent illnesses and while he was imprisoned. she was the only one permitted to visit him.
Watchman Nee began writing in 1923 and at that time he published the magazine, “The Present Testimony.” At 21 years old he established the first local church in Sitiawan, Malaysia, He continued writing and planting churches.
With the rise of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, Christians were under great persecution. Many foreign missionaries had false charges and arrests brought against them.
Watchman Nee was arrested on April 10, 1952, in Shanghai by Public Security officers from Manzhouli, Manchuria and charged with theft of state property, bribery, cheating on government contracts, tax evasion, and stealing of government economic information. Also, Nee was “re-educated”. There was a nationwide sweep on January 11, 1956, targeting the co-workers and elders in the local churches. Some faced long prison sentences while other died in labor camps. The Religious Affairs Bureau on January 18, 1956 began twelve days of accusation meetings and many charges were brought against Nee. Then June 21, 1956, Nee went before the High Court in Shanghai, and it was announced that Nee was found guilty on all charges and excommunicated by the elders of the church in Shanghai. Nee was sentenced to fifteen years imprisoned with reform by labor. Only his wife could visit.
Charity died one year prior to Nee’s death. He was not allowed to attend her funeral. The responsibility of caring for Nee while in prison fell to Charity’s eldest sister. Nee was scheduled for release in 1967 but was detained until his death on May 30, 1972. No announcement was made of his death nor any funeral held. He was cremated on June 1, 1972 before his family arrived at the prison.
Watchman Nee was a church leader and Christian teacher in China during the 20th century. During his thirty years of ministry, Nee published many Christian books. Also, he established churches throughout China. Watchman Nee was imprisoned for his faith and spent his last 20 years of his life in prison. On July 30, 2009, Nee was honored by Christopher H. Smith in the U. S. Congress.
Here is only a sample of Watchman Nee’s quotes:
- “Do not be taken in or flattered by your own success or fame. Take not only as to whether or not the old creation, including everything which comes by birth, has gone through the cross.”
- “A Christian ought to realize what the weights laid on his spirit are. If he encounters it in the morning and does not deal with it at once, he experiences defeat the whole day long.”
- “Prayer is the acid test of the inner man’s strength. A strong spirit is capable of praying much and praying with all perseverance until the answer comes. A weak one grows weary and fainthearted in the maintenance of praying.”
- “How true it is that without the guidance of the Holy Spirit intellect not only is undependable but also extremely dangerous, because it often confuses the issue of right and wrong.”
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