Watchman Nee

A dramatic shift is well underway. The influence of Christianity is declining in the US, much as it has in Europe in recent years.  Yet the number of Christian converts has been surging on the continents of Africa, Latin America and Asia. The church in China is flourishing. Nobody saw this coming when western missionaries were expelled from China in the early 1950s. The witness of Chinese believers like Ni Te-sheng (1903-1972, English name-Watchman Nee) fortified the church against communist persecution. When Mao Tse-Tung came to power in 1949, he arrested outspoken Christians like Nee and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. A fellow prisoner who was later released testified to the impact Uncle Nee had on his life. This prisoner referenced the Chinese idiom that education by word is less effective than education by action. He saw faith in action in Uncle Nee and became a committed Christian. Watchman should have been released in 1967, but the Cultural Revolution intervened and Nee was sent to a distant labor camp, where he died after 20 years in prison. He left this note under his pillow, “Christ is the Son of God and died for the redemption of sins and resurrected after three days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of my belief in Christ.” Watchman wrote of prayer, “Our prayers lay the track upon which God’s power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, his power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails.” God is not limited to our prayers, but God chooses to work cooperatively with prayer. Watchman struggled with tuberculosis early in life as he was translating the works of Francis of Assisi. In response to his illness and aided by the inspiration of St. Francis, he composed this prayer poem that was later set to music: