Local Church Discussions - View Single Post

Friedel · 03-31-2014, 06:40 AM

THE TAIWAN YEARS (PART 1)

With all the posts about history now available on the forum, I believe this posting should suffice to provide the bridge between Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and from Taiwan to the USA. It is not at all the rosy picture Witness Lee had painted over the years; as a matter of fact, the facts of history tell a different story about what he had done with the mantle he had supposedly inherited from Watchman Nee.

Let me state at the outset that I do not claim to have the complete picture of events. Factors such as language, distance and the mere fact that survivors of these times are difficult to trace, hampered me greatly. However, if I had made a claim or had provided incomplete details, the problem lies with me alone; if anyone can correct me or provide better insight and more details, please forward it to me. I will gladly revise this post to include it all.

Introduction

In 1962, Brother Faithful Luke of Singapore visited Simon Meek in Manila. Luke and Meek were of the same age and had been very close co-workers with Watchman Nee in China. They both recalled attending Watchman Nee’s first training conference in Gu-Ling, Foo-zhou, in 1949. Although he was expected to be there, Witness Lee did not turn up and Watchman Nee was extremely disappointed. With a sigh he said to Luke and Meek: “Witness Lee has done many good things but he was unwilling to learn the way of the cross.” It was a crucial conference, yet Lee decided not to attend.

Brother Faithful Luke personally told this to my source in 1962. This person had been invited a year earlier by Simon Meek to the Philippines when the Church in Manila split. The churches in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and elsewhere, also experienced splits over the person and actions of Witness Lee. In fact, some of the Watchman Nee groups to this day refuse to acknowledge any ties with Witness Lee’s Local Church.

I found this on www.emanna.com (run by Living Stream Ministry): “Witness Lee received the Lord Jesus in a personal way in 1925 at the age of 19. Eight years later, he started serving the Lord full-time. He met Watchman Nee in 1932 and became his closest co-worker. He was sent by Watchman Nee to Taiwan in 1952 to continue their ministry; rather than both being imprisoned by the Communists. In 1962, he was led by the Lord to begin his speaking and writing for Him in the United States.”

I have already pointed out that it is my impression that Witness Lee grossly exaggerated and misrepresented his role as Watchman Nee’s heir and therefore the one responsible for carrying on working with the Local Churches elsewhere. He deftly created this perception and then forcefully assumed this “role” as God’s deputy authority on the earth today, as God’s oracle and as Watchman Nee’s designated successor to carry on the work Nee had started in China.

I have also stated before that Watchman Nee had not placed much trust in Witness Lee before 1949. In Shanghai during 1946-49 Watchman Nee made some very important decisions without consulting Witness Lee. The most Lee ever did, according to reliable sources who were there, Watchman Nee only sent him to preach the gospel everywhere and to edify the beginners.

Did Faithful Luke and Simon Meek lie or should we reject what we find on the LSM website?

What Really Happened In Taiwan?

As early as 1938 a brother from the mainland, Liu Kiang Yung went there to serve the saints on the island fulltime. In those days about 20 members met in a house on Shanghai Street for their meetings. It was also the permanent lodgings for the fulltime workers and had been donated by Watchman Nee to the assembly meeting in Taipei.

After the Communist takeover of China in the middle of 1948, many believers moved to Taiwan with their schools, universities, government agencies and the military. By the spring of 1949 there were about 150 people meeting in Taipei and many others were meeting in places all over the island. The house Watchman Nee had donated in Shanghai Road, Taipei, had by then become too small for meetings.

Two brothers then proceeded to buy a piece of property in Section Two of Taipei. They soon afterwards erected a wooden structure that could accommodate about 350 people but it quickly also became too small and they had to rebuild it to provide space for 800 people meeting. This is the current Assembly Hall 1, Taipei on Tien San Ban Liu.

At the beginning of 1949 Watchman Nee visited Taipei at the request of the believers there. He also established the eldership, consisting of five brothers of whom three were fulltime elders.

In April 1949 Witness Lee and his family moved to Taipei from Mainland China. It is reported that at the time Witness Lee was suffering much from depression, which is understandable given the political turmoil and how much he had previously suffered at the hands of the Japanese. To help him overcome his mental state he was encouraged by members of the assembly in Taipei to visit other localities. On these trips he was accompanied by some co-workers to visit saints in the southern part of Taiwan. Witness Lee soon overcame his depressed state and recovered his health. The reconstruction of the meeting hall was completed around the time.

The first conference for all Taiwan was called for August 1, 1949 and it was attended by about 300 people of whom about 200 were from the greater Taipei region. About 70 of these came from the central and southern parts of Taiwan. There were also between 30 and 40 others, members of other denominations, who attended the conference. Most, if not all of these people, had been living in Taiwan before the arrival of Witness Lee.

Those meeting in the local assemblies across Taiwan at this time numbered around 500. Between 150 and 200 of these could not attend this first conference.

Because of the rapid increase in numbers, many young people left their fulltime occupation to serve the believers. Many of these had either just graduated from college or were still studying. A need therefore developed to have a fulltime training to equip these new fulltime Christian workers to carry out their work. Several of the church members then asked Witness Lee whether he would be willing to take responsibility for the training.

About 100 people attended the training but not everyone was necessarily a fulltime worker. Since many of the trainees came from all over Taiwan, it gave Witness Lee much influence throughout the island. It is said that the trainees became Witness Lee’s “special disciples”. Initially the cooperation between all the local assemblies on Taiwan was very good but Lee’s control over the training gave him de facto control over the Local Churches.

Two Visits by T. Austin-Sparks Cause Division

Although Taiwan is an island surrounded by the ocean, it is a very open society, and the church members had the opportunity to communicate and have fellowship with other believers who were meeting in the denominations. And, many young people discovered that there are other groups who also work for the Lord. Their ideas were a little different from what they heard from their own church and leaders. So, many of them went to Witness Lee and asked for a chance to have some fellowship and communication with other groups.

Because of the repeated request Witness Lee eventually relented and he agreed to invite Theodore Austin-Sparks to visit Taiwan for some meetings. These meetings were received very well but it also started raising doubts in the hearts and minds of many believers about Witness Lee’s absolute authority.

Witness Lee later confessed privately and in public his regrets for inviting TAS to Taiwan. After the conference meetings by TAS in 1955 and again in 1957, several questions were raised and some believers decided to break away from Witness Lee’s group.

The work of Witness Lee expanded rapidly which meant an increase in financial demands. In the beginning years very few meeting in Taipei had jobs paying well but as the membership grew, people with a better income joined and the income of the work subsequently also increased. Meetings had also started in other countries due to migration.

The finances were initially handled very informally. Fulltime coworkers were told to handle their own financial situation according to their own conscience before the Lord. Nobody took care of their living and their assignment and locality was determined by Witness Lee and those close to him. Everybody had to accept their assigned locality without murmuring. All financial contributions were controlled by the senior coworkers.

It did not take long for this arrangement to cause unhappiness and create friction. Many coworkers were forced to live very frugally, sometimes under extremely difficult circumstances. It was during this time that the senior co-workers made some questionable financial decisions.

(To be continued)

03-31-2014, 06:40 AM	#26
Friedel Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Posts: 96	Re: OUR SHARED HISTORY THE TAIWAN YEARS (PART 1) With all the posts about history now available on the forum, I believe this posting should suffice to provide the bridge between Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and from Taiwan to the USA. It is not at all the rosy picture Witness Lee had painted over the years; as a matter of fact, the facts of history tell a different story about what he had done with the mantle he had supposedly inherited from Watchman Nee. Let me state at the outset that I do not claim to have the complete picture of events. Factors such as language, distance and the mere fact that survivors of these times are difficult to trace, hampered me greatly. However, if I had made a claim or had provided incomplete details, the problem lies with me alone; if anyone can correct me or provide better insight and more details, please forward it to me. I will gladly revise this post to include it all. Introduction In 1962, Brother Faithful Luke of Singapore visited Simon Meek in Manila. Luke and Meek were of the same age and had been very close co-workers with Watchman Nee in China. They both recalled attending Watchman Nee’s first training conference in Gu-Ling, Foo-zhou, in 1949. Although he was expected to be there, Witness Lee did not turn up and Watchman Nee was extremely disappointed. With a sigh he said to Luke and Meek: “Witness Lee has done many good things but he was unwilling to learn the way of the cross.” It was a crucial conference, yet Lee decided not to attend. Brother Faithful Luke personally told this to my source in 1962. This person had been invited a year earlier by Simon Meek to the Philippines when the Church in Manila split. The churches in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and elsewhere, also experienced splits over the person and actions of Witness Lee. In fact, some of the Watchman Nee groups to this day refuse to acknowledge any ties with Witness Lee’s Local Church. I found this on www.emanna.com (run by Living Stream Ministry): “Witness Lee received the Lord Jesus in a personal way in 1925 at the age of 19. Eight years later, he started serving the Lord full-time. He met Watchman Nee in 1932 and became his closest co-worker. He was sent by Watchman Nee to Taiwan in 1952 to continue their ministry; rather than both being imprisoned by the Communists. In 1962, he was led by the Lord to begin his speaking and writing for Him in the United States.” I have already pointed out that it is my impression that Witness Lee grossly exaggerated and misrepresented his role as Watchman Nee’s heir and therefore the one responsible for carrying on working with the Local Churches elsewhere. He deftly created this perception and then forcefully assumed this “role” as God’s deputy authority on the earth today, as God’s oracle and as Watchman Nee’s designated successor to carry on the work Nee had started in China. I have also stated before that Watchman Nee had not placed much trust in Witness Lee before 1949. In Shanghai during 1946-49 Watchman Nee made some very important decisions without consulting Witness Lee. The most Lee ever did, according to reliable sources who were there, Watchman Nee only sent him to preach the gospel everywhere and to edify the beginners. Did Faithful Luke and Simon Meek lie or should we reject what we find on the LSM website? What Really Happened In Taiwan? As early as 1938 a brother from the mainland, Liu Kiang Yung went there to serve the saints on the island fulltime. In those days about 20 members met in a house on Shanghai Street for their meetings. It was also the permanent lodgings for the fulltime workers and had been donated by Watchman Nee to the assembly meeting in Taipei. After the Communist takeover of China in the middle of 1948, many believers moved to Taiwan with their schools, universities, government agencies and the military. By the spring of 1949 there were about 150 people meeting in Taipei and many others were meeting in places all over the island. The house Watchman Nee had donated in Shanghai Road, Taipei, had by then become too small for meetings. Two brothers then proceeded to buy a piece of property in Section Two of Taipei. They soon afterwards erected a wooden structure that could accommodate about 350 people but it quickly also became too small and they had to rebuild it to provide space for 800 people meeting. This is the current Assembly Hall 1, Taipei on Tien San Ban Liu. At the beginning of 1949 Watchman Nee visited Taipei at the request of the believers there. He also established the eldership, consisting of five brothers of whom three were fulltime elders. In April 1949 Witness Lee and his family moved to Taipei from Mainland China. It is reported that at the time Witness Lee was suffering much from depression, which is understandable given the political turmoil and how much he had previously suffered at the hands of the Japanese. To help him overcome his mental state he was encouraged by members of the assembly in Taipei to visit other localities. On these trips he was accompanied by some co-workers to visit saints in the southern part of Taiwan. Witness Lee soon overcame his depressed state and recovered his health. The reconstruction of the meeting hall was completed around the time. The first conference for all Taiwan was called for August 1, 1949 and it was attended by about 300 people of whom about 200 were from the greater Taipei region. About 70 of these came from the central and southern parts of Taiwan. There were also between 30 and 40 others, members of other denominations, who attended the conference. Most, if not all of these people, had been living in Taiwan before the arrival of Witness Lee. Those meeting in the local assemblies across Taiwan at this time numbered around 500. Between 150 and 200 of these could not attend this first conference. Because of the rapid increase in numbers, many young people left their fulltime occupation to serve the believers. Many of these had either just graduated from college or were still studying. A need therefore developed to have a fulltime training to equip these new fulltime Christian workers to carry out their work. Several of the church members then asked Witness Lee whether he would be willing to take responsibility for the training. About 100 people attended the training but not everyone was necessarily a fulltime worker. Since many of the trainees came from all over Taiwan, it gave Witness Lee much influence throughout the island. It is said that the trainees became Witness Lee’s “special disciples”. Initially the cooperation between all the local assemblies on Taiwan was very good but Lee’s control over the training gave him de facto control over the Local Churches. Two Visits by T. Austin-Sparks Cause Division Although Taiwan is an island surrounded by the ocean, it is a very open society, and the church members had the opportunity to communicate and have fellowship with other believers who were meeting in the denominations. And, many young people discovered that there are other groups who also work for the Lord. Their ideas were a little different from what they heard from their own church and leaders. So, many of them went to Witness Lee and asked for a chance to have some fellowship and communication with other groups. Because of the repeated request Witness Lee eventually relented and he agreed to invite Theodore Austin-Sparks to visit Taiwan for some meetings. These meetings were received very well but it also started raising doubts in the hearts and minds of many believers about Witness Lee’s absolute authority. Witness Lee later confessed privately and in public his regrets for inviting TAS to Taiwan. After the conference meetings by TAS in 1955 and again in 1957, several questions were raised and some believers decided to break away from Witness Lee’s group. The work of Witness Lee expanded rapidly which meant an increase in financial demands. In the beginning years very few meeting in Taipei had jobs paying well but as the membership grew, people with a better income joined and the income of the work subsequently also increased. Meetings had also started in other countries due to migration. The finances were initially handled very informally. Fulltime coworkers were told to handle their own financial situation according to their own conscience before the Lord. Nobody took care of their living and their assignment and locality was determined by Witness Lee and those close to him. Everybody had to accept their assigned locality without murmuring. All financial contributions were controlled by the senior coworkers. It did not take long for this arrangement to cause unhappiness and create friction. Many coworkers were forced to live very frugally, sometimes under extremely difficult circumstances. It was during this time that the senior co-workers made some questionable financial decisions. (To be continued)