Have you heard of Watchman Nee? If you have - you'll enjoy remembering him as much as I do. If you haven't - you're in for a treat.

Watchman Nee - or Nee Shu-tsu as his given name was - was born in China in 1903. His English name was originally Henry Nee. He attended a Methodist missions school and was noted for being blessed with a particularly sharp intelligence. His own faith began though through the words and actions of a Chinese evangelist named Mrs. Dora Yu. Yu preached at a series of evangelistic meetings where Yu spoke to an audience which included Nee's mother. Nee's mother was so impacted by Yu's words that she went home and apologized to her son - a relatively unprecedented course of action. This so surprised Nee - that he also went to some of these meetings and was himself profoundly impacted by what he heard. He went home and spent hours wrestling with what it meant to come to Christ ... here are his own words on the matter from his biography.

On the evening of 28th April, 1920, I was alone in my room, struggling to decide whether or not to believe in the Lord. At first I was reluctant but as I tried to pray I saw the magnitude of my sins and the reality and efficacy of Jesus as the Saviour. As I visualized the Lord's hands stretched out on the cross, they seemed to be welcoming me and the Lord was saying, "I am waiting here to receive you." Realizing the effectiveness of Christ's blood in cleansing my sins and being overwhelmed by such love, I accepted him there. Previously I had laughed at people who had accepted Jesus, but that evening the experience became real for me and I wept and confessed my sins, seeking the Lord's forgiveness. As I made my first prayer I knew joy and peace such as I had never known before. Light seemed to flood the room and I said to the Lord, "Oh, Lord, you have indeed been gracious to me."

On the evening of 28th April, 1920, I was alone in my room, struggling to decide whether or not to believe in the Lord. At first I was reluctant but as I tried to pray I saw the magnitude of my sins and the reality and efficacy of Jesus as the Saviour. As I visualized the Lord's hands stretched out on the cross, they seemed to be welcoming me and the Lord was saying, "I am waiting here to receive you." Realizing the effectiveness of Christ's blood in cleansing my sins and being overwhelmed by such love, I accepted him there. Previously I had laughed at people who had accepted Jesus, but that evening the experience became real for me and I wept and confessed my sins, seeking the Lord's forgiveness. As I made my first prayer I knew joy and peace such as I had never known before. Light seemed to flood the room and I said to the Lord, "Oh, Lord, you have indeed been gracious to me."

On the evening of 28th April, 1920, I was alone in my room, struggling to decide whether or not to believe in the Lord. At first I was reluctant but as I tried to pray I saw the magnitude of my sins and the reality and efficacy of Jesus as the Saviour. As I visualized the Lord's hands stretched out on the cross, they seemed to be welcoming me and the Lord was saying, "I am waiting here to receive you." Realizing the effectiveness of Christ's blood in cleansing my sins and being overwhelmed by such love, I accepted him there. Previously I had laughed at people who had accepted Jesus, but that evening the experience became real for me and I wept and confessed my sins, seeking the Lord's forgiveness. As I made my first prayer I knew joy and peace such as I had never known before. Light seemed to flood the room and I said to the Lord, "Oh, Lord, you have indeed been gracious to me.

— Watchman Nee, Watchman Nee's Testimony

Nee went on to attend Yu's institute and train as a Christian worker despite still being high-school aged. However - his youthful character caught up with him and he was dismissed for laziness - and sleeping late. Nee wasn't giving up though - and sought a British missionary, Margaret Barber to mentor him. Nee was discipled by Barber until her death in 1930. She was strict with him - but appears to have taught him much. Nee matured, and became notoriously self-disciplined. When Barber passed she left all her possessions to him. 

While Nee received essentially no formal Bible training - he did study the Bible in depth - and read many works on it - sought the teaching of the best of the Bible teachers he had access to - and prayed fervently. This would not be the recommended path of education today - but this was the path that Nee took. He wrote many books - including one in which he detailed his Bible study methods in a book he creatively called "How to Study the Bible". 

Nee had extraordinary energy and enthusiasm for continuing to study and grow - as well as to serve and minister. Many who worked with him declared him a man who could do it all. Nee also suffered much - not only because he was unwilling to compromise on his beliefs - but because a Chinese citizen during WW2 - he lived through an extremely turbulent and dangerous time in Asian history. He was frequently detained, harassed, and suffered the pangs of lack - lack of housing, warmth, food - and health care. He had significant health issues which further complicated his situation. Despite all this - he spoke all over China and authored at least 40 books. 

That all said - Nee was instrumental to growing the Chinese church - and was effectively the Chinese Billy Graham. This afforded him many opportunities to travel and speak - until that is he came under increasing scrutiny of the newly formed Communist government - until he was finally arrested and imprisoned in 1952. He was convicted through testimony provided under duress by some of his closest friends, ministry partners and associates - some of whom also lost their lives.

His wife was the only person allowed to visit him while he was imprisoned. He was frequently tortured and suffered unimaginably until he passed away while still detained in 1972. His wife was informed of his death after the fact and allowed to collect his remains. 

Nee had some ideas - which were summarily rejected by the wider world - foremost among these was his idea that there could only be one authoritative local church - his. It is hard to say to what degree this idea came from his self-directed education in theology. A more thorough and formal education would have not hurt him. What remains is that he was passionately committed to the cause of Christ and the history of the Christianity in China cannot be considered apart from him or his work. He endured terrible suffering even before his arrest and long imprisonment - yet never denied Christ. Though I do not agree with all of his theology - I find him a commendable example and an exemplary role-model of someone who unflinchingly surrendered their whole life to Christ regardless of the cost.

You can read more about Watchman Nee here - which links to watchmannee.org. I also pulled some information from Devotional Classics - a book on many Christians by Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith, Wikipedia