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Witness Lee (1905-1997), a bondslave of Christ Jesus, labored
selflessly throughout his entire life and poured out his being for his
Lord's interest. Born in 1905 in northern China, he was raised in a
Christian family. At age 19 he was fully captured for Christ and
immediately consecrated himself to preach the gospel for the rest of his
life.
Early in his service, Witness Lee met Watchman Nee, a
renowned preacher, teacher, and writer. Witness Lee labored together with
Watchman Nee under his direction. In 1934 Watchman Nee entrusted Witness
Lee with the responsibility for his publication operation, called the
Shanghai Gospel Bookroom.
In 1949, Witness Lee was sent by Watchman
Nee and his other co-workers to Taiwan to insure that the things delivered
to them by the Lord would not be lost. Watchman Nee instructed Witness Lee
to continue the former's publishing operation abroad as the Taiwan Gospel
Bookroom, which has been publicly recognized as the publisher of Watchman
Nee's works outside China. Witness Lee's work in Taiwan manifested the
Lord's abundant blessing. From a mere 350 believers, newly fled from the
mainland, the churches in Taiwan grew to 20,000 in five years.
In
1962 Witness Lee felt led of the Lord to come to the United States,
settling in California. During his 35 years of service in the U.S., he
ministered in weekly meetings and weekend conferences, delivering several
thousand spoken messages. Much of his speaking has since been published as
over 400 titles. Many of these have been translated into over 14
languages. He gave his last public conference in February 1997 at the age
of 91.
Witness Lee's ministry emphasizes the experience of Christ
as life and the practical oneness of the believers as the Body of Christ.
Stressing the importance of attending to both these matters, he led the
churches under his care to grow in Christian life and function. He was
unbending in his conviction that God's goal is not narrow sectarianism but
the Body of Christ. In time, believers began to meet simply as the church
in their localities in response to this conviction. These local churches
were soon established throughout all the Western hemisphere. In recent
years a number of new churches have been raised up in Russia and in many
eastern European countries. |