Ministry
In 1936, before a group of fellow workers, Watchman Nee outlined the commission of his ministry:
From the time I was bedridden by illness until the time I was healed by God, I was being shown more clearly the kind of work God wanted me to do. This consists of the following four aspects:
Literary Work: After my illness, God made it known to me that the primary purpose of His imparting messages to me was not for explaining the Scripture, nor for preaching the ordinary Gospel, nor for prophesying, but for laying stress on the living word of life... All that I have written has one aim, which is that the reader will, in the new creation, give himself wholly to God and become a useful person in His hands. Now I whole-heartedly commit my writings, my readers and myself to God, who preserves men for ever, and hope that His Spirit will guide me into all His truths.
Meetings for the Overcomer: God opened my eyes to the necessity of raising up in churches at various places, a number of people who are victorious to be His witnesses... Therefore once every year a meeting for the victorious was held in which I faithfully proclaimed the messages which God has revealed to me.
Building up Local Churches: When the Lord called me to serve Him, the prime object was not for me to hold revival meetings so that people may hear more Scriptural doctrines nor for me to become a great evangelist. The Lord revealed to me that He wanted to build up local churches in other localities to manifest Himself, to bear testimony of unity on the ground of local churches so that each saint may perform his duty in the Church and live the Church life. God wants not merely individual pursuit of victory or spirituality but a corporate, glorious Church presented to Himself.
Youth Training: If the return of the Lord be delayed, it will be necessary to raise up a number of youths to continue the testimony and work for the next generation... My idea is not to establish a seminary or a Bible institute but to have the young people live a corporate life and practice spiritual life, that is, receive training for the purpose of edification and to learn to read the Scripture and to pray in order to build up good character. On the negative side, to learn how to deal with sin, the world, the flesh, natural life, and so on. At a suitable time they are to return to their respective churches to be tempered together with other saints to serve the Lord in the Church...
In the future my personal burden and work will generally comprise these four aspects. May all the glory be to the Lord.
Nee began to write and publish at a very early age. In 1923, he began to publish the magazine The Present Testimony, and in 1925, he started another magazine entitled The Christian. It was also in 1925 when Nee changed his name from Ni Shu-tsu to Ni To-sheng (English translation: Watchman Nee). At age 21, Nee established the first "local church" in Sitiawan, Malaysia, while visiting his mother, who had moved there from China. In 1926, Nee established another local church in Shanghai, which became the center of his work in China. By 1932, Nee's practice of meeting as local churches spread throughout China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. He maintained this pattern until his imprisonment.
In 1928, Nee published a three-volume book entitled The Spiritual Man. In February of the same year, Nee held his first "Overcomer Conference" in Shanghai. In January 1934, Nee called a special conference on the subjects of "Christ as the Centrality and Universality of God" and "The Overcomers". According to Nee, this was a turning point for him in his ministry. He said, "My Christian life took a big turn from doctrines and knowledge to a living person, Christ, who is God's centrality and universality."
In February 1934, Nee gave a series of talks in which he defined and expounded the practice of the local churches, stating that in the Bible, the church is never divided into regions and never denominated based on a teaching or doctrine. These talks were eventually published in the book The Assembly Life. He publicly condemned denominationalism as sinful, arguing that denominational churches were not true churches. He urged believers to leave them and join his local church system . This provoked strong opposition from the denominations, as many congregations transferred to his movement.
In Pingyang, Zhejiang, congregations formerly affiliated with the China Inland Mission, the Methodist Episcopal Church, and independent churches abandoned their denominational identities. By 1949, more than 100 churches had joined the Local Church, with tens of thousands of believers .
In May of 1934, Nee encouraged Witness Lee to move to Shanghai from Yantai in order to join him and Ruth Lee in their work editing Nee's publications.
In 1938, Nee traveled to Europe and gave messages that were later published as The Normal Christian Life. Upon his return, Nee gave a conference on the Body of Christ. According to Nee, this was the second turn in his ministry. Nee recounted, "My first turn was to know Christ, and my second turn was to know His Body. To know Christ is only half of what the believers need. The believers also must know the Body of Christ. Christ is the head, and He is also the Body."
In 1939, Nee became involved with his second brother's failing pharmaceutical company. Although acquiescing to family pressure, Nee also saw this as an opportunity to support his many co-workers who were suffering great poverty and hardship during the Second World War. Nee took over full management of the factory, reorganized it, and began to employ many local church members from Shanghai. At this time, some of the elders from the church in Shanghai questioned Nee's involvement in business, causing Nee to suspend his ministry in 1942. Shortly afterward, the church in Shanghai stopped meeting altogether.
On March 6, 1945, Nee moved to Chongqing to oversee the factory there. There, he delivered a series of messages on Revelation 2 and 3 published as The Orthodoxy of the Church as well as messages on the Song of Songs. On September 9, 1945, the Japanese army surrendered in China, ending the Second Sino-Japanese War. In 1946, Peace Wang and Witness Lee began to work to restore the church in Shanghai as well as Nee's public ministry there. Nee purchased twelve bungalows at Guling, Fujian to hold trainings for his co-workers in the Christian work. By April 1948, a revival was brought to the church in Shanghai, and Nee resumed his ministry there. After he returned, Nee was said to have handed his pharmaceutical factory over to the Christian work as an offering to God. He also strongly urged many others to hand over their possessions to the work . Within a short time, the church in Shanghai grew to over 1000 members.
