Watchmen Nee (1903-72) & Witness Lee (1905-97)

They were 2 Christian workers from the same country - China. Both were brilliant students with promising futures. Both were dynamically saved as teenagers and became diligent students of God’s word and zealous gospel preachers. Both were prolific speakers and writers. Both were persecuted for their ministry. Both changed many lives.
The ministries of Watchmen Nee and Witness Lee have brought a treasury of spiritual truth and life to the Body of Christ. Tom Smith

Watchmen Nee was a Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age -the title of the biography written by his fellow worker Witness Lee. In the span of his 30 years of public ministry he made an indelible mark on the face of Christianity in China.

He was saved aged 17. His mentor was Margaret E. Barber ( See TES for more more info.). Nee was both a zealous preacher and a diligent student of the Bible.

His most widely recognized and appreciated books are The Normal Christian Life and The Normal Christian Church Life

Persecution resulted in Nee being imprisoned for 20 years (1952-72). This was his final note Christ is the Son of God who died for the redemption of sinners and resurrected in 3 days. This is the greatest truth in the universe. I die because of belief in Christ. Watchmen Nee

Witness Lee was born in 1905 in th Shantung Province of China. He was saved aged 15. His dynamic salvation put him on a pathway of pursuit for the Lord did not stop until his death in 1997.

Nee (1903) and Lee (1905) were born only 2 years apart but Lee regarded Nee to be his spiritual father. In 1932 Nee asked Lee to overseer of Shanghai Gospel Bookroom. For 17 years years they laboured together.

In 1949 Nee realized that the new Communist Government would try to end their ministry. Lee reluctantly agreed to leave China for Taiwan.

Lee continued to labour in Taiwan through the 1950s, He saw the church grow over the next 5 years from 350 to 20,000. After 9 years he started to make visits to the West. He conducted conferences in London and Copenhagen. Between 1958-61 he visited the USA 3 times.

Lee moved to the USA in 1962. In the USA he presented the riches of Christ from the whole Bible. He continued to travel and speak in conferences and annual trainings. in 1965 establshed The Stream Publishers which became * Living Stream Ministry*. His most notable publication was* Life-Study of the Bible*. It took 20 years to complete (1974-95). Lee died in June 1997.

To date over 3, 000 churches on 6 continents.

*Watchman Nee and Witness Lee taught the same thing, were of the same spirit, and ministered with the same goal - to minister Christ for the building up of the Body of Christ in oneness, expressed in local churches all over the earth
Tom Smith
Sources used
Contending for the Faith
Two ministers one ministry