Watchman Nee , Ni Tuosheng or Nee T’o-sheng was a Chinese church leader and Christian teacher who worked in China during the 20th century. His evangelism was influenced by the Plymouth Brethren.
He was brought up in a Christian family and was converted when he was 18. Instead of going to University he gave himself to Bible study and evangelism and many students were won for Christ.
In 1922 he initiated a church meeting in Fuzhouu, Fujian province. He became well known for his preaching and writing.
In 1928 he moved to the treaty port of Shanghai which would remain the centre of his ministry for the rest of his life. he established a small meeting place on a lane known as Wen Teh Li. He produced a magazine called Revival, later called
The Christian which carried extracts from his sermons.He also wrote a number of books (See Publications).
In 1933 he visited the UK to seek advice from the Brethren. Unhappy with the Chinese denominational churches he wanted to build a less rigid pattern. He established a Sunday evening act of worship around the Lord’s Table. The Shanghai church flourished. By the 1940’s there were 470 groups in fellowship as The Little Flock. (nickname). The emphasis was on evangelism.
In 1941, during WW11, to help raise money he opened, with his brother, a chemist, a pharmaceutical company. The company flourished but the church missed his leadership. He was asked to leave. He was accepted back in 1948.
October 1949 the Communist Party took control. to set up the People’s Republic of China. 1951 they revealed plans to take the Chinese Church under its control
He was arrested in 1952 and at his trial in 1956 many false accusations made. If he had agreed to stop preaching he could have been released. Instead he spent the last 20 years of his life in prison.
He died in 1972 aged 68.
Little is known about his years in prison except his physical condition deteriorated and he continued faithfully to the Lord.
Watchman Nee was an outstanding Christian leader whose vision of an indigenous church in China prepared believers for the onslaught of Communism and the fiery trials which followed. Geoffrey Hanks.
Sources
Wikipedia
70 Great Christians by Geoffrey Hanks (pages 295- 298)
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